Experts from Russia and Poland take part in St Petersburg University’s conference on field training

On behalf of the organisers of the conference, Elena Kaiukova, Associate Professor in the Department of Hydrogeology at St Petersburg University, said that this year the 70th anniversary of the Crimean practical training at St Petersburg University (Leningrad State University) was not the only reason of the conference. This year, Vladimir Prozorovskii would have turned 90 years old. Vladimir Prozorovskii was Doctor of Geology and Mineralogy, Professor in the Department of Dynamical and Historical Geology at St Petersburg University; Honorary Professor of St Petersburg University; and Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences. Throughout his life, he was associated with St Petersburg University (Leningrad State University). He was at the origins of the creation of the Crimean practical training. He always supported and defended the Crimean practical training.

‘It is well known that field training is the most important element in the training of modern experts in various natural sciences. The Crimea is a unique area for the practice due to its geological diversity and fairly good exposure,’ Elena Kaiukova explained. ‘Several generations of geologists from various universities in Russia and the CIS have had field training here’. The first students were sent to the Crimea in 1952. There were about 90 second-year students. Since then, this tradition has not been interrupted. The exception was the Covid year 2020.

The conference brought together more than 50 people from various universities and geological organisations in Russia and Poland. Among them are: St Petersburg, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Tomsk, Omsk, Belgorod, Rostov-on-Don, Saratov, Yekaterinburg, Petrozavodsk, Krasnodar, Simferopol, Yalta, Sevastopol, and Saky.

The 6th conference focused on the water resources of the Crimea, since water is an important factor in the development of this region. The conference discussed the key issues of the methodology for conducting higher education practical training. It also presented new research and data obtained in the study of geology, geophysics, and hydrogeology in various regions of the Crimean Peninsula.

At the conference, Elena Kaiukova made a presentation on the current state of the water resources of the Crimea. She also spoke about the importance of the hydrogeological block in the practical training of geological mapping and the contribution of students to the study of the natural waters of the Crimean Mountains.

Kirill Chistyakov, Director of the Institute of Earth Sciences at St Petersburg University, Chairman of the Conference Programme Committee, said that the conference ‘Geology and water resources of the Crimea. Field training of students within the framework of higher education’ aroused interest among a wide range of lecturers in various geosciences due to the special importance of field experience in developing the competencies of researchers in the field of geology, geography, ecology, soil science, and hydrometeorology.

In fact, field training for students in these areas of study can be referred to as the third semester, along with the autumn and spring semesters. The traditions of conducting internships, their range and content have been verified by lecturers and students throughout decades.

Kirill Chistyakov, Director of the Institute of Earth Sciences at St Petersburg University

‘The first permanent training base for field internship began its work in Sablino near Petrograd back in 1920. It was for students of the Geographical Institute. Since 1925, it was the Faculty of Geography of Leningrad State University, and now it is the Institute of Earth Sciences at St Petersburg University. Since then, the network of teaching and research centres of universities has grown significantly. The Krymskaya Teaching and Research Centre of St Petersburg University in Trudoliubovka enjoys well-deserved fame and recognition,’ said Kirill Chistyakov.

Kirill Chistyakov, Director of the Institute of Earth Sciences at St Petersburg University, emphasised that holding such a conference is relevant both in terms of improving field training due to changes in research methods and in terms of important tasks for the development of the Crimea, where providing water resources is of great importance for the population and industries. The event attracts the attention of lecturers from different universities. This contributes to the emergence of new opportunities for field training and raising the status of the University.

Vladimir Arkadiev is a member of the organising committee and Professor in the Department of Sedimentary Geology at St Petersburg University. He presented a report "70 years in the Crimea". In his report, he spoke about the history of student study trips to the peninsula and the controversial issues of conducting the Crimean practical training on geological mapping. ‘Practical training is at the core of the successful training of future specialists. In current conditions, when in many universities of our country, there is a reduction in the number of practices, holding such a conference is very important,’ said Vladimir Arkadiev. He added that the range of topics discussed at the conference was very wide. The participants discussed various issues of the geological structure of the Crimean Peninsula and current issues of organising and conducting various types of practical training. Among them are: geological, hydrogeological, mineralogical, geophysical, oceanological, and geoecological to name just a few. A special section focused on conducting geological, geoecological, botanical, and archaeological excursions.

Marina Kashkevich is Associate Professor in the Department of Geophysics and Head of Practical Training in Geography, Geology, Geoecology and Soil Science at St Petersburg University. She said that this year a large block of joint reports was presented by lecturers and doctoral students of the Department of Land Hydrology and the Department of Geophysics at St Petersburg University. Among them are: Associate Professor Galina Priakhina; Associate Professor Sergei Popov; a doctoral student Alina Boronina; and a doctoral student Anastasiia Sukhanova. ‘The presentations discussed the role of practical training and internships in the development of young specialists in our industry,’ Marina Kashkevich explained. ‘Doctoral students shared their own impressions. While they were still students of the University, they were engaged in real research and production projects; took part in several Russian Antarctic expeditions; and solved important tasks of transport operations safety in Antarctica. They also shared how knowledge and skills acquired during field training helped them solve these issues.’

The first international conference "Student field training in natural sciences education in universities in Russia and abroad" was held in 2002 at the Krymskaya Teaching and Research Centre of St Petersburg University in the village of Trudoliubovka. The conference marked the 50th anniversary of the Crimean practical training at St Petersburg University. It brought together more than 100 lecturers from 30 universities in Russia, Ukraine, Belgium, Poland, and Germany.