Several research facilities were established or reused within the zone to study the long-term effects of radioactive contamination on plants and animals. One of the fields of study focused on aquatic ecosystems, especially fish and freshwater organisms living in rivers, lakes and reservoirs around the zone.

The nearby Pripyat River, together with cooling reservoirs and smaller water bodies, became important research locations. Scientists studied how radioactive isotopes such as cesium-137 and strontium-90 accumulated in aquatic organisms. Fish were especially useful for this type of research because they are part of the food chain and can indicate how contamination spreads through an ecosystem.

Inside some abandoned research buildings in the zone, educational material and scientific illustrations of fish species can still be found on the walls. These diagrams were commonly used in Soviet biological laboratories and research institutes to identify species and explain anatomy or ecological characteristics. The presence of these charts suggests that the building was used for biological or ecological research related to aquatic life.

Research conducted in the Chernobyl region helped scientists understand how radiation moves through soil, water and living organisms. It also provided important data on how wildlife populations respond to long-term exposure to radiation. Over time, the absence of human activity allowed many animal species to return to the exclusion zone, turning the region into a unique open-air laboratory for environmental science.

Today, many of these research buildings stand abandoned. Peeling paint, outdated educational posters and remnants of laboratory equipment remain as silent evidence of the scientific work carried out in the years following the disaster.