Students and graduate students of Irkutsk State University joined the international youth forum Arctic Expedition, held at Seliger and bringing together young scientists studying the Arctic zone. Four representatives of ISU were selected, and the university covered their participation costs. The forum includes lectures, discussions, workshops and competitions, and winners will have a chance to go to Barneo station and then reach the North Pole.
Representatives of Irkutsk State University have joined the international youth forum “Arctic Expedition,” which will take place from February 2 to 7, 2015, and will be held in the village of Svetlitsa in Tver Oblast on Lake Seliger. The youth forum will be held in two stages. The first of them has already begun: the opening ceremony took place on February 2 in the village of Svetlitsa on Lake Seliger.150 young scientists under the age of 29 became participants in Stage I; their field of interest is related to the study of the Arctic zone. The Russian Federation is represented at the forum by 110 people from 27 regions of the country, the most distant of which is Khabarovsk Krai. Representatives of the Arctic Council member countries will also take part in the forum: the USA, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, and Sweden. All participants in the International Forum are actively engaged in scientific work and have publications in collections and journals, including those recommended by the Higher Attestation Commission of the Russian Federation, as well as in journals included in the international citation databases Web of Science and Scopus. More than 60% of the participants had experience taking part in expeditions and research projects.
Four ISU students represent Irkutsk Oblast at Stage I of the International Forum:
Konstantin Onuchin (Research Institute of Biology, ISU, postgraduate student): participant in the 2013 Circum-Baikal Expedition, studies the dynamics of the abundance of net zooplankton in southern Baikal, processes macroghectopus samples, and simultaneously studies data from long-term series on the abundance of Baikal cladocerans. Research experience — 4 years;
Dmitry Karnaukhov (student of the Faculty of Biology and Soil Science, 5th year): studies the phenomena of daily vertical migrations of amphipods in Lake Baikal. There are 4 publications on this topic, and 3 grants have been received;
Maria Dementyeva (student of the Faculty of Biology and Soil Science, 4th year): has been engaged in research work for 3 years, participant in the school-seminar for young scientists “Field Methods of Hydrometeorological and Paleogeographic Research in Polar Regions” on Lake Ladoga;
Darya Manziy (student of the Faculty of Geography, 3rd year): studies the hydrological characteristics of large water bodies of the Baikal region and assesses their pollution, is a member of the secretariat of the Transbaikal International Model UN, participant in a number of All-Russian Model UNs.
ISU students performed excellently in the forum’s selection round, writing an essay on the topic “The Arctic and the Development of the Arctic Zone,” answering the question “Why must I, above all, be at the North Pole?” Their research papers and publications related to the study of the Arctic and the Arctic zone were presented to the expert commission. The expenses related to the participation of students and postgraduate students in the forum were covered by Irkutsk State University.
Dmitry Karnaukhov, a student of the Faculty of Biology and Soil Science, said
— “My friends and I decided to give it a try and submitted applications, attaching our research papers and results of our studies. Our works do not concern the Arctic directly; they have global significance and broad application. For example, I submitted a paper on the study of daily migrations of amphipods. I have long been studying this issue, studied migrations in Baikal, but amphipods also live in the Arctic seas — it is interesting to see how they behave in those conditions.”
The youth forum “Arctic Expedition” is a new project organized by the team of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs and the Russian Geographical Society, aimed at developing initiative and a spirit of leadership in young people. The forum is also educational in nature and includes thematic lectures, discussions, exhibitions, master classes, live communication, and the exchange of experience between participants, invited guests, and experts.
According to the final results of the trials, contests, intellectual and adventure games, which will be summed up on February 7, several winners will be determined.
Participants who pass the selection process will move on to the second stage of “Arctic Expedition” and in April 2015 will travel to the Russian drifting polar station “Barneo” to reach the North Pole from there.
Based on materials from the Ministry of Physical Culture, Sports and Youth Policy of Irkutsk Oblast.