Scientists from TSU Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics Carried out an Expedition to the Ob River during which they Studied the Link between the River Ecosystem and the Social Environment

The scientists from TSU Research Institute of Biology and Biophysics made an expedition to the Ob River.
During the expedition the scientists found out how the transformation of the Ob ecosystem affects
communities living on the riverbanks.
Water samples were taken at 40 control points from Kozhevnikovo village to Khanty-Mansiysk to study
the impact of natural and social factors on the river basin.
The expedition led by Larisa Kolesnichenko, Senior Researcher of BioСlimLand Center (TSU), was
organized within the grant of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (№ 18-00-01493) "Assessing,
Understanding and Predicting Climate and Anthropogenic Transformations of the Ob Ecosystem".
Not only scientists but also master's students of the Siberian Institute of the Future ("Study of Siberia
and the Arctic" program) took part in the expedition. Among them was Vladimir Ivanov, 2nd year
graduate student.
- It was my first expedition, - says Vladimir, - Our main task was to take a lot of samples at the control
points, to understand how external factors affect chemical composition of water, microbiological level,
and PH. One such point was Surgut. We investigated city’s environmental impact on the river, its
hydrobiological characteristics and how these changes affect local residents.
The team also conducted sociological studies as part of a joint project with Moscow State University.
Anthropologist Lidiya Rakhmanova together with master's students conducted surveys in Ust-Tym and
Novonikolskoye villages.
While studying the effects of global climatic, anthropogenic and socio-cultural changes in the Ob basin,
natural and social scientists joined forced to explore how these effects manifest themselves and "refract" in the practices of human communities.