Proving Grounds: Ecological Fieldwork in the Pacific and the Materialization of Ecosystems (July 2018)
This article investigates the emergence of ecosystems as objects of study and concern. It contends that the history of ecosystem science cannot be separated from the history of nuclear colonialism and environmental devastation in the Pacific Proving Grounds. From the close of World War II until 1970, the US Atomic Energy Commission was the main sponsor of ecological research in the United States and its territories. During this period, the United States detonated 105 nuclear weapons in the Pacific Proving Grounds. The Cold War science that destroyed nature simultaneously made it available for study. Building on recent work at the intersection of environmental history and history of science, this article emphasizes the role of nonhumans, including nuclear weapons and marine organisms, in the creation of scientific knowledge.
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