News

March 3rd celebrated the Russia-Norway Cooperation Day at KarRC RAS.
This important day began with the launching ceremony of the exhibition “Polar Night. Life and Light in the Dead of Night”, based on the findings obtained through collaboration with foreign colleagues. Norwegian researchers from the University of Tromsø – Arctic University of Norway, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, University Centre in Svalbald, and Akvaplan-NIVA, together with scientists from the St. Petersburg State University and KarRC RAS Institute of Biology have carried out research revealing a bustling activity even in the dark of the polar night. The gathering was greeted by the Consul General of Norway in St. Petersburg Dag Malmer Halvorsen, Coordinator of the Exhibition Svetlana Murzina, and KarRC RAS President Olga Bakhmet. The settings during the launch mimicked those of the polar night. The sea angel, comb jellies, mussels, Fyodor the polar explorer – this is what awaited the visitors behind dark curtains!

After the exhibition launching ceremony, the guests proceeded to the KarRC RAS Conference Hall to take part in the seminar “Current environmental issues of the World Ocean: plastic in the ocean”. The mobile exhibition “Plastics at sea. Sources, consequences, solutions” was displayed in the lobby.

Dag Malmer Halvorsen, Consul General of Norway in St. Petersburg, made the presentation “Clean ocean for all”, telling about the importance of reducing the use of plastic. Also, the “Flounder” animation film directed by Ole Cristoffer Haga (2016, Norway) was demonstrated. It tells the story of a gull family to raise the issues associated with the use of the “black gold” – oil.

Alexandra Smirnova, Director of the Association “Centre for Problems of the North, Arctic, and Cross-border Cooperation”, presented on the current results of the international project “SUPER: Sustainability under pressure: environmental resilience in natural and cultural heritage areas with intensive recreation”.

Mikhail Zobkov, Head of KarRC RAS Northern Water Problems Institute’s Hydrochemistry and Hydrogeology Laboratory, told about the propagation of microplastics using the case of Lake Onego.

Snorre Hagen, Research Director at the Laboratory of Molecular Ecology, Department of Ecosystems in the Barents Region, informed the audience about the activities of the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), giving quite a detailed account for the Institute’s research areas: from insects to cloudberry, from bear to trout.

The last speaker on the scientific agenda of the seminar was Chief Researcher at the KarRC RAS Institute of Biology Laboratory of Plant and Animal Parasitology Evgeny Ieshko, who told about the CBC Kolarctic project “SALMUS: Salmonid fish and freshwater pearl mussel – riverine ecosystem services and biodiversity in the Green Belt of Fennoscandia”.

The closing event of the day was signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Karelian Research Centre RAS and the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO). We thank the participants and wish scientists close cooperation for the future!