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Last update:
Feb. 25, 2007

General Info

Soil-ecological excursion
“South Siberina” in 2007

WELCOME TO WEBPAGES OF OUR EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH PROGRAMS !

Since 1995, we have been organized soil-ecological excursions, field courses and other educational and research events in different regions of Siberia. Through this activity, we try to generate study and research opportunities in Siberia for Russian and foreign natural scientists. Our main objective is to create international cooperation in education and science with universities for the benefit of everyone: for foreign students, their professors and for local Russian scientists.

The primary goal of our soil-ecological excursions

Please have a look at OUR NEW COOPERATION INITIATIVE

and field courses is the interdisciplinary exchange of experience and knowledge, and surmounting the language barrier by demonstrating the interrelationships of various undisturbed (by human activity) ecosystem

German students can receive a financial support from the DAAD for participation in our programs.
Please check
the
procedure.

components. The focus of our programs is on relationships between vegetation, soil, and climate factors. Soil formation processes and soil profile with its proper horizons are considered as result from the interaction of climate, vegetation and geological substrata. Characteristics of soil formation and ecosystem succession under continental climatic conditions, as well as the impressive wealth of unaltered or virtually untouched landscapes of great beauty with extremely high biodiversity (up to 120 species of tall vascular plants per 100 square meters in few sites), are compared with those of agricultural and forest plantations.

The current excursion programs are the result of 12-years long of field-trip experience, teamwork, and increasing support on part of the scientists from different countries and different fields of study. The active development of the excursion enables us to include new areas of increasing interest, to collect data about the region that are only rarely available in English, and to apply basic research in soil and vegetation sciences to such applications as global ecological problems and environmental protection.

The excursions are guided by experienced Russian scientists (e.g. ecologists, soil specialists, geobotanists, and geomorphologists) from the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry (Novosibirsk), Central Siberian Botanical Garden (Novosibirsk), Biology & Soil Department of the Tomsk State University (Tomsk) and Geography Department of the Altai State University (Barnaul). The guides inform participants throughout the excursion route, and because opinions and interpretations often vary among participants and guides, the outcome is often a highly instructive, expert debate.

Please visit the proper webpages about the programs we are undertaking in Siberia...

... and feel free to contact us

in Germany

in Russia and all other countries

Prof. Dr. Christian Siewert
Fachhochschule Weihenstephan, Fachbereich Landschaftsarchitektur, Oekologische Standortkunde und nachhaltige Bodennutzung
Am Hofgarten 4, 85350 Freising, Deutschland

Dr. Pavel A. Barsukov
Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry, 18 Sovetskaya St., Novosibirsk, 630099, Russia

Tel.: + 49 8161 715373

Tel.: + 7 (383) 222 5088

Email: christian.siewert@fh-weihenstephan.de

Email: pavel-b@inbox.ru

OUR NEW COOPERATION INITIATIVE since 2006

Thirteen years of successful experience in conducting excursions and summer schools with West European scientists and students allows us to suggest new ways of environmental education together with European professors working in areas of basic and applied natural sciences (e.g. ecology, soil science, botany, geology, geomorphology, physical geography, landscape architec-ture and planning, forestry, and agriculture).

The professors will get possibility to organize their teaching events (such as excursions, expedi-tions, summer schools etc.) for their students in Siberia with our comprehensive help getting access to

- untouched Siberian landscapes of great beauty with high level of biodiversity along differ-ent biogeographic latitudinal zones and altitudinal belts
- guidance of field courses, seminars and lectures by leading Russian scientists with excel-lent didactic skills and good knowledge of foreign languages (English, German)
- full-day service delivered by experienced Russian service team (including kitchen staff) even in field conditions
- getting contacts with leading scientists in Siberian research institutes, universities, acad-emies, laboratories, organizations, authorities and enterprises in different cities
- reliable service in organization and management (mutual references are available).

Taking into account specific scientific and/or educational interests and tasks of European professor/scientist, the Siberian specialists will beforehand develop a proper plan of a teaching event including route chart of a field excursion or will adapt our already existing well-developed excursion routes and programs to a special task.

It is worth to underscore that the team of Siberian specialists are able to help an European professor to organize and manage both excursions with an emphasis on natural untouched ecosystems and specialized courses on the most important environmental themes such as sustainable land use, ecologically clean production technologies, nature protection and conservation, soil erosion and contamination, global warming, greenhouse gases production, water supply, desertification, waterlogging etc.

Making this offer we anticipate to

- expand cooperation in environmental researches with untouched by human activities ecosystems in Siberia as reference objects,
- get funding to develop the unique education possibilities in Siberia from national and international funds,
- be involved in research projects and environmental educational programs, including proposals to European Commission in the fields of mutual interest,
- get more possibilities to maintain biodiversity and natural resources in Siberia.

The most of involved Siberian scientists are working in different research institutions of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences and are formally organized into interregional NGO “Siberian Institute for Ecological Initiatives”.

The NGO was arranged by support of some German Uni-versities in particular Berlin TU and University of Applied Sciences Freising-Weihenstephan. At present the core group includes specialists from Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry, Central Siberian botanical garden, Institute of Ecology and Water, Institute of Geography, Institute of Ecology and Systematic of Animals, Institute of Human Ecology. As well as several professors from the following Siberian universities are active members: Tomsk State University, Novosibirsk State University, Altai State University and Irkutsk State University.

Russian supporting team is well informed about European traditional scientific terms and problems so it would be possible to formulate local problems in international/or European content.

So it s obvious that there is an exceptional possibility to make summer excursions for students in Siberia in order to illustrate different problems in ecology, soil science, botany, geology, geomorphology, physical geography and other basic and applied natural sciences in World scale on Sibe-rian examples.


Should you have any queries or proposals, please contact the executive director of Siberian Institute for Ecological Initiatives Dr. Barsukov in Novosibirsk, Russia (e-mail: pavel-b@inbox.ru , tel.: +7 383 222 5088) or Prof Dr. Ch.Siewert at the University of Applied Sciences Freising-Weihenstephan (e-mail: cs@csiewert.de , tel.: 030 5031797).

Hope you will take this opportunity to create cooperation with us.
Best regards,

Pavel Barsukov

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