Early-career researchers from six countries at the Dokuchaev’s Readings 2024
St Petersburg University has held the Dokuchaev’s Youth Readings, which marked two milestones in the history of St Petersburg: the 300th anniversary of St Petersburg University and the 120th anniversary of the V.V. Dokuchaev Central Museum of Soil. The conference brought together geologists from Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, and Uzbekistan. The conference primarily focused on the traditions and innovations in soil science.
Youth readings were traditionally opened by Boris Aparin, Professor in the Department of Soil Science and Soil Ecology at St Petersburg University, Research Supervisor of the V.V. Dokuchaev Central Museum of Soil, and Vice-President of the V.V. Dokuchaev Society of Soil Science.
‘Soil science as a fundamental science originated at St Petersburg Imperial University. In 1883, Professor Vasily Dokuchaev defended his doctoral dissertation at the University,’ said Boris Aparin. ‘Vasily Dokuchaev developed soil science into a new important branch of natural science, developed a doctrine of soil as an independent natural body, formulated the basic laws of the genesis and distribution of soils, and was the first to develop and put into practice a system of sustainable land use.’
Vasily Dokuchaev’s scientific life was inextricably linked with the University, said Vladislav Gurzhiy, Associate Professor in the Department of Crystallography at St Petersburg University, Chairman of the scientific committee in the field of Earth Sciences and related environmental sciences, Chairman of the Committee on Organic Mineralogy and Biomineralogy of the Russian Mineralogical Society. In 1881, Vasily Dokuchaev became Associate Professor in the Department of Mineralogy at St Petersburg Imperial University, and four years later he became Professor.
‘After graduation, Vasily Dokuchaev was a keeper of the Geological Room at the University. His first scientific works and discoveries were made in the field of geology, particularly in mineralogy. These works laid the foundation for a new direction in science. This direction was far from the soil science. It was more about dynamic or genetic mineralogy as Vasily Dokuchaev proposed to shift away from describing minerals to a comprehensive process of studying their origin, existence, change and destruction,’ emphasised Vladislav Gurzhiy.
The conference featured reports in the following areas: ‘Chemical and physical properties of soils and methods of their research’; ‘Geography and genesis of soils, features of their classification’; ‘Information technologies and GIS technologies in soil science’; ‘Modern agricultural technologies in agriculture’; and ‘Popularisation of soil science’.
The participants of the Dokuchaev’s Youth Readings were greeted by Pavel Krasilnikov, President of the V.V. Dokuchaev Society of Soil Science, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Soil Science at Lomonosov Moscow State University, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. ‘The Dokuchaev’s Youth Readings are a great tradition. In 2024, we are celebrating the 300th anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences and St Petersburg University, and the 120th anniversary of the V.V. Dokuchaev Central Museum of Soil, which was founded in 1904 by Pavel Ototskii, Vasily Dokuchaev’s student, a soil scientist and hydrogeologist’, said Pavel Krasilnikov. ‘Vasily Dokuchaev dreamed for a long time about opening a museum of soil science, but, unfortunately, did not live to see the day of its opening. Today the V.V. Dokuchaev Central Museum of Soil is the most important centre of soil science. It is a scientific and educational centre.’
Elena Sukhacheva, Professor in the Department of Soil Science and Soil Ecology at St Petersburg University and Director of the V.V. Dokuchaev Central Museum of Soil, thanked all those present for congratulations to the Central Museum of Soil, which for 27 years together with the University has been organising the Dokuchaev’s Youth Readings. The V.V. Dokuchaev Central Museum of Soil created the V.V. Dokuchaev Soil Science Institute, a leading scientific institution in the field of soil science, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2027.
Almost every fourth abstract for a candidate’s dissertation in soil science in Russia contains a reference to materials from the Dokuchaev’s Readings, where the results of the young scientists’ research were tested, said Aleksey Rusakov, Professor and Head of the Department of Soil Science and Soil Ecology at St Petersburg University. ‘The reports from the Dokuchaev’s Readings are also cited in doctoral dissertations. This is an excellent indicator, which, I am sure, will only improve over time,’ said Aleksey Rusakov.
A special place in the conference was occupied by the school panel ‘Understanding the soils: conference for young researchers’. School children presented the results of their first scientific research, the topics of which covered the most pressing problems of modern soil science.