Participants 2019

Grigorii Akhmanov

Chief Scientist; Project Leader. Associate Professor of the Faculty of Geology of the Lomonosov Moscow State University; director of the UNESCO-MSU Training and Research Centre for Marine Geology and Geophysics; head of the UNESCO Chair of Marine Geology

Already 25 years, pretty a long time, I deal with marine geological, geophysical and geochemical investigations. I took part in my first marine research expedition in 1993, as a student of the Faculty of Geology of Lomonosov Moscow State University. It was one of the UNESCO-MSU Floating University expeditions of the legendary International “Training-through-Research (TTR)” programme, which owns many really incredible discoveries in the field of marine geology. Then, with the UNESCO Floating University I have been in many research cruises, I have taken part in their organization, I took up teaching. Five years ago, the big annual seagoing expeditions have appeared to be practically impossible due to the changed global and national conditions. However, it was very important for me to save the well-elaborated and established system of the Floating University and to give to present-day students a chance to experience what I have experienced. That is how a project, called TTR-Class@Baikal, was launched at the Baikal Lake in collaboration with the Limnological Institute of Russian Academy of Science. Today the project maintains and continues traditions of the UNESCO Training-through-Research program.

Forthcoming expedition of the Class@Baikal is the 5th, jubilee one. Time runs very fast. There are some achievements, there are much to be done. It is not easier than before, but it is more interesting now. And, the most important is that our students, like 25 years ago, can participate in real scientific discoveries.

The cruise itself is always a great event. Especially for me, as for the project leader. It is something great already because we have managed to organize it once again. To be a Co-Chief Scientist of an expedition onboard RV “G.Yu. Vereschagin” is a big pleasure as well. The close-knit and very friendly crew headed by very professional captain… Hard-working, initiative, enthusiastic students and youth scientists, the best of the best in own fields of interests… An opportunity to carry out a real multi-disciplinary research, to study geological objects and phenomena in various forms and with different points of view… This is what any chief-scientist dreams about. There is everything for a creativity and discoveries of Nature.

All four previous expeditions were very successful. The data collected in the Class@Baikal cruises became the basis for 4 research papers, 7 MSc and 14 BSc thesis, more than 100 presentations on scientific conferences, including international forums. This is just statistics. Much more important is that the Class@Baikal, primary educational project, has got recognized by scientific community. “Training-through-research” is in action on Lake Baikal.

Scientific tasks and plans of the forthcoming expedition is just amazing. The Class@Baikal-2018 team is very strong. We can do a lot! We love Baikal, we wish to study it. And we are going to share our love and knowledge with the World.

Khlystov Oleg

Chief Scientist. Head of the Laboratory of Geology of the Lake Baikal, Limnological Institute of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences.

My interests: geology, marine geology, relaxation, family, activity holidays, skis, etc.

Have you already been in sea expeditions? Yes. It is my 26th field season. I was two times in the Sea of Okhotsk (2004), once in the Mediterranean Sea (2016)

What will you do in this expedition? (your tasks) The management of expedition, bottom sampling, sediment temperature measurement .

Are you been encouraged by results of last year expedition? Yes and no. We could work more and better in the geophysical leg.

Write, please, about the day/situation/moment which was been most remembered for you from the last expedition.

The previous expedition to Baikal was remembered by new people, new methodologies. In general we had a lot of good interesting moments, very difficult to put first things first.

Khabyev Andrey

Solovieva Marina

Leader of Geophysical team. Geophysicist of MSU Seismic Data Analysis Center.

I am a master of geology (specialization is marine seismic) and I am an interpreter in the MSU Seismic Data Analysis Center. The most interesting fields for me are near-surface processes: gravity flows, landslide processes, mud volcanism, neotectonics and other. My first visit on the Baikal Lake was in 2013. It was an expedition of the MSU Geological School where we studied unique geological objects outcropped on the shores of the Baikal Lake and observed its amazing beauty. My indissoluble connection with this place, great deference and love for the Baikal Lake were born in that moment.

In 2014 I have participated in the First Class@Baikal expedition. Since then my life is closely connected with the Baikal Lake. I am going there already for the ninth time and this expedition will be the sixth one for me. Besides, I have participated in three expeditions to the White Sea and I have worked at the Teletskoye Lake, also giving lectures and seminars. So I have a considerable experience both in marine seismic surveying and teaching.

During the previous four expeditions I have grown from an incompetent student into a specialist, and now I have been entrusted with an honorable and very responsible appointment of the leader of the geophysical team of the cruise. Therefore, my main tasks in this expedition will be a coordination of all members of the geophysical team and transfer of knowledge to the students. In addition, my responsibilities include planning of seismic profiles and bottom sampling, data quality control and an interpretation of the seismic data.

A significant amount of geological and geophysical data was obtained in the previous Class@Baikal expeditions. Based of them I prepared and successfully defended master's dissertation, participated at several international conferences and published an article. One of the most important achievements is that I have got the research grant of RFBR for study of deep-water depositional system Khuray which is the most interesting object for me.

The Class@Baikal project provides a unique opportunity to extend boundaries of your interest area and to learn other aspects of marine geological and geophysical studies. In these expeditions I gained invaluable experience, while I was watching at a work of geological teams and geochemical and lithological sampling. I saw the mysterious gas hydrates, touched the Baikal bottom sediments and learned its geological structure. I am sure that the upcoming Fifth anniversary international expedition Class@Baikal will be even more successful, interesting and informative, and Baikal will bring new surprises to us!

Adriano Mazzini

Expert, Geological group. Senior Researcher, the Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics (CEED - University of Oslo)

Kudaev Artur

Leader of Sedimentological team. Undergraduate student of the Department of Petroleum Geology and Geochemistry, the Faculty of Geology, the Lomonosov Moscow State University

My Master’s (higher education) work is about “Subaqueous slope sliding as an indication of focused hydrocarbon discharging on water area”. I’m very proud that I can use unique data from The Baikal lake bottom sediments to find new knowledge in sciences. It is very difficult, but joint efforts within our scientific group bring their results.

I hope that the result of this year's expedition will be very successful. Because I will have to train young students, in whose eyes I already see a great desire to work and create science.

Egoshina Evgeniya

Geochemical team. 3rd year student at the Faculty of Geology of Lomonosov Moscow State University, Petroleum geology department.

My name is Egoshina Evgeniya, and this year I graduated a bachelor degree in geology and geochemistry of fossil fuels. My research interests mainly include the study of the geochemistry of oil and gas, but a expert geologist should be comprehensively developed.

That is why I love the Class@Baikal project - here you will learn everything: core processing in cooperation with world-class lithological scientists, dispersion gas samples and work on the most complex equipment in the field, try yourself as geophysics at night shifts.

This year I am going on an expedition to Lake Baikal for the second time, but as a member of the geochemical detachment. In addition, it was decided to test microbial methods for the search for hydrocarbons. Directly on the ship, we will take samples and sow biota.

I am confident that the expedition Class @ Baikal_2019 will be one of the most intense, interesting and will bring us many scientific discoveries.

Vidishcheva Olesya

Leader of geochemical team

The main scientific interest of mine is geochemistry of hydrocarbon gases and during the cruise I will be taking a part in bottom sampling of sediments, hydrocarbon gases, in degassing of sediments and preparation for transportation of hydrocarbon gases in laboratories of the Moscow University.

I have been studying Baikal since 2014. This expedition will be the fifth. For five years of the program "Class @ Baikal" I wrote a Bachelor's and Master's degree on the "Composition and origin of hydrocarbon fluids in bottom sediments of Lake Baikal". I plan to continue this topic in my PhD program. Now we have a large database on the hydrocarbon gases of Lake Baikal, but there are still many questions.

The expedition of Class @ Baikal is an excellent chance to take part in all the stages of the gas-geochemical exploration of the water areas: from the preparation to the scientific cruise, analysis in laboratories and interpretation of data.