From 22 June to 28 June, Yulia Andrianova and Ella Gazaryan, third-year students from the Department of Zoology and Parasitology of the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences of VSU, completed an internship in the Republic of Mordovia in the Mordovian State Nature Reserve named after P.G. Smidovich. During these days, the girls managed to collect entomological material in six forest areas (Drozhenovsky, Zhegalovsky, Pavlovsky, Polyansky, Novenky, and Inorsky), as well as in other places of the nature reserve.
“The Mordovian nature reserve is a real paradise for a zoologist! It is a combination of taiga and broad-leaved forests with a forest-steppe zone. This is a pristine area abundant with wildlife and unique natural places. In out memory, we have the distinct smell of coniferous forest and bison beds, which we sometimes ran into while moving around the nature reserve. The reserve team was very welcoming. I managed to collect interesting scientific material on Hemiptera, which I am researching,” said Yulia Andrianova.
The students’ trip to the nature reserve is not just a mandatory stage of training zoologists at the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences. It is also part of the research conducted by the Department of Zoology and Parasitology of VSU related to the monitoring of problem groups of medically important animals.
“My scientific work is related to the study of blood-sucking insects. In the nature reserve, I conducted research and collected material related to mosquitoes and gadflies. I had big expectations for the trip. Before leaving, I looked through photos and was eager to see the nature reserve with my own eyes. This place is absolutely gorgeous, very calm and quiet. You can take walks along hiking trails and eat strawberries and blueberries there. But the most interesting of all was to observe the animal world. I have very bright memories of the nature reserve, it was sad to leave, and I wish I could repeat this experience,” said Ella Gazaryan.
