KarRC RAS Director General Olga Bakhmet spoke in St. Petersburg at a meeting of representatives of legislative authorities devoted to the conservation and restoration of the Baltic water system. RAS Corresponding Academician presented an analysis of the ecological status of lakes Onego and Ladoga and stressed the need to work out a federal program for their conservation.

On April 21, KarRC RAS Learned Council had a meeting at the Centre. Scientific presentations were delivered by Nikolay Filatov, Chief Researcher at the Northern Water Problems Institute, and Mikhail Sukharev, Senior Researcher at the Institute of Economics KarRC RAS.

KarRC RAS Director General Olga Bakhmet took part in the 4th Arctic Science Ministerial meeting in St. Petersburg on April 14. The event was held as planned under Russia’s two-year chairmanship of the Arctic Council.

Scientists observe permafrost thawing in the Kola Peninsula. This can serve as an important indicator of climate change and a footing for developing climatic scenarios for the Arctic. To study this problem, specialists from the Karelian Research Center RAS have worked out a new method of permafrost monitoring based on remote sensing and machine learning techniques. It enables estimating the degree of degradation of palsa mires containing areas of frozen peat. Scientists applied an approach integrating aerial photography, ground-penetrating radar surveys, computer simulations, and vegetation descriptions.

Scientists produced a first detailed description of the structure of individual organs and tissues of an ecologically valuable fish, the daubed shanny, during its growth and development in the Svalbard Archipelago. Special attention was given to the study of the uniquely structured lipid sac in juvenile fish. The fat-filled lipid sac turns this small-sized shanny into a literal 'energy shot' or 'health capsule' for many other species of marine mammals, birds and fish. The new findings are important for understanding the adaptation and life history of this species at northern latitudes.

Olga Bakhmet, Director General of the Karelian Research Center RAS, took part in the events of the 17th "The Land of Kalevala" Ethno-festival. She told about the contribution of researchers to the study and conservation of the natural, historical and cultural heritage of Karelia. At the wrap-up of the festival KarRC RAS leader was awarded a "Karelian Commonwealth" medal.

More than 50 people took part in the All-Russian Scientific Conference "Earth Sciences: Challenges for the Young", which was held at the Institute of Geology KarRC RAS on April 12. Young scientists, doctoral students, university and school students from Petrozavodsk, St. Petersburg and Tomsk presented the results of their research in the field of geology.

Employees of the Karelian Research Center RAS took part in the first Congress of Young Scientists of Belarus and Russia. The specialists became acquainted with the work of scientific units within the system of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and established a new professional network in their areas of research.

So far only about 2% of lakes in Russia have been studied. Attracting the youth to this branch of science and organizing the exchange of expertise between specialists in different fields is the mission of the Polar Limnologists Hands-on School, which has started in the Murmansk Region. During one week leading scientists from the Karelian and Kola scientific centers RAS will give lectures and practical classes for young researchers on the ice of Lake Imandra.

Member of the Federation Council Committee for Agrarian and Food Policy and Environmental Management Igor Zubarev met with Olga Bakhmet, Director General of the Karelian Research Center RAS in her office. The main topic of the working meeting was the development of aquaculture in the region.