YuSU students studied hydrochemistry of the Black Sea at the Floating University Winter School

Students of the YuSU Higher School of Ecology Sofya Rakhova and Victoria Shanyova participated in the Floating University Winter School. This is a scientific and educational programme for students, postgraduates and young scientists in the field of marine sciences, working on the principle of "learning through research". The first stage of the cycle was held at 11 venues in 8 cities of Russia - Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Vladivostok, St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Arkhangelsk, Rostov-on-Don and Sevastopol.

Our students were on the track "Hydrochemistry of the Black Sea", which was held in Sevastopol. The students submitted their applications for participation in December. In their motivation letter, they indicated their research topics and wrote about what they wanted to learn.

"The topic of my research is the distribution of dissolved organic carbon with the depth of peat deposit, I also study how the seasonal concentration changes. In my letter I highlighted the fact that I am motivated to study and expand my knowledge of the current state of the world's ocean waters, as this is directly related to my research interest. Since we work with water samples, accordingly, we applied for the track "Hydrochemistry of the Black Sea", - said Victoria Shanyova.

The participants of the Winter School listened to a series of lectures and practised in laboratory conditions. It should be noted that on this track the participants are trained to determine the content of biogenic elements and oxygen in sea water and analyse the obtained data.

"We worked with devices - spectrophotometers and photoelectrocolourimeters. We also went on an excursion to the A.O. Kovalevsky Institute of Biology of the Southern Seas of the Russian Academy of Sciences, where we learnt about the collection of marine animals and their habitat. We spent a day on board the legendary research vessel "Professor Vodyanitsky". We were shown the main departments, equipped laboratories and had several lectures on the ship on the methods and results of the conducted research. At the end of the day we had free evening time, during which we walked along the streets, admired the views and enjoyed the noise of the sea", - said Sofia Rakhova.

The next stage of the Winter School also involves qualifying. It is a multi-day voyage on a ship, where research will take place in different territories of the seas. Participants will learn about the main gas-emitting areas in the southern basins of Russia and on the shelf of the seas of the Eastern Arctic, and methods of methane emission research in the offshore areas.

"Of course, we would like to go further, as it will be a great expedition experience, and will also broaden our scientific interests. We have more than eight offshore expeditions to choose from. Each of them differs in terms of research task, time of work on the vessel and object of research", - said Viktoria Shanyova.