April 2013. Student Biology Olympiad in Zhytomyr

This year’s All-Ukrainian Biology Olympiad was held in Zhytomyr at Zhytomyr State University (the abbreviation’s full name is shown in the photo). Sixty-eight students participated, with two representatives from each of the universities that took part (with minor exceptions to this rule). I had never been to Zhytomyr before, and I’m just glad I got to go. A city with its own style What struck me was the organizing committee’s remarkably efficient work. A lot of people were involved. Whenever they weren’t running around town or ensuring the Olympiad ran smoothly, they gathered under the stairs in the natural sciences building. Their actions followed a clear plan. The start of the Olympiad is always a specific official event. In Zhytomyr, there were surprisingly few speeches by officials, and the opening of the biology Olympiad was combined with a concert. Of course, folk instruments... Of course, dancing... ...and music. The styles varied; much of it was really quite an acquired taste. Well, and you can’t do without sharovars. The hosts... At the faculty, in that lecture hall where the jury worked. Pope Francis as a media personality... Korolev was born (and lived there for only a short time) in this city. He is highly regarded. The room where S.P. was born. And the coolest museum of cosmonautics. Mostly models, but very seriously made. A model of the descent module... ...and a view through its porthole And this module is the real thing, scorched in the atmosphere Seriously... ...and not so seriously The practical tour I took part in. Four groups of students came in one after another. The Kharkiv students (without any prior arrangement) sat in the same spot. Here, in the center at the front, sits Daniil... ...and here, in the same spot, but a little later, in a different group—Valeria A former teachers’ college can’t do without pedagogical wisdom On the last day before the Olympiad closed (April 25), the jury was taken to an agrobiological station located on the outskirts of the city. This is a little house for apitherapy. Do you see the four beehives underneath it? You have to spend the night in the cramped little room above them, enjoying the scent of the bees and their buzzing. As a place for meditation—it’s top-notch. I think the idea could be expanded. Blatto-therapy, arachno-therapy, frino-therapy, ophidio-therapy... After dragging three colleagues (including the two selfless hosts) away from the festive table, I went for a walk around the neighborhood. I wanted to collect specimens of the nominative species of water lilies to compare them with ours, which belong to a species recently restored from oblivion. These are examples of cryptic species with insufficiently described differences. There were no garlic toads in the water (once, I think, we heard their voices coming from the water), but they were roaming the roads And this is a sand lizard crossing a dusty road It readily demonstrated a defensive posture, but the defensive coloration on its underside was, alas, completely invisible due to the dust. I never thought that the moor frog’s defense mechanism could fail so spectacularly. And, by the way, what good is it in the dark? A formal portrait of two esteemed colleagues. At night, in the cemetery... We didn’t see or hear any frogs at all. We saw a female crested newt (I just wanted to take a look at her) in the water, but we couldn’t catch her. The most active were the tree frogs. The gray toads, it seems, had already spawned (it was April 25, after all). There were a few random individuals in the water More croakers, with gray coloring... ...and green ones. These are just color variations They’re croaking like crazy We weren’t the only ones hunting amphibians. In the water, adders were looking for them... ...and on land—hedgehogs. Here are two interesting details. A colleague from Lutsk—in my jacket (he was freezing). A colleague from Zhytomyr—with my suitcase (helping out) The jury finished their visit to the agrobiological station in the fresh air They aren’t going to beat up the colleague from Kherson; that’s just how he dances And finally, the closing of the competition. The jury chair sums up the results. It was a very family-like atmosphere. One of the procedural innovations was that each group of awardees (and, in addition to the seven prize-winning spots, many certificates were handed out for the best results on individual tasks) was gathered on stage and photographed. Here are six of the seven winners. Lera Sapozhnikova, who took third place (with the seventh-best score), left in the morning (we had to buy those tickets). I accepted the certificates on her behalf, but I didn’t have my picture taken in her place. Congratulations to Sapozhnikova! Many thanks to Zhytomyr and our colleagues from Zhytomyr State University!