He has expanded the research to other rivers, including the Yakima, a major Columbia tributary.

CNN: Something's fishy with chinook salmon

The local Native American Yakama tribe (formerly Yakima) from Eastern Washington also recognized the importance of telling one's story.

BBC: A route of life-changing moments

He was born in the logging town of Clatskanie, Oregon, in 1938, and grew up in Yakima, Washington.

NEWYORKER: Rough Crossings

During moments of sadness or frustration, I often think of a family scene years ago in the town of Yakima, Wash.

NPR: The Faith of Our Fathers

Millions of dollars and thousands of jobs poured into the remote area about 75 miles east of Yakima where nine nuclear reactors were eventually built.

CNN: Federal funds aim to clean up nuclear wasteland

In pain while selling used cars in Yakima, Wash.

FORBES: Outsourcing Your Health

Last year Joe Munyaneza, an entomologist at the Yakima Agricultural Research Laboratory in Washington state, found that tubers from plants exposed to these insects showed typical zebra-chip symptoms, while those from unexposed plants had none.

ECONOMIST: Plant disease

The site -- about half the size of Rhode Island, in an area centered roughly 75 miles east of Yakima -- continued to buzz during the Cold War, with more plutonium production as well as the construction of several nuclear reactors.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS