Hello everyone,
Today we are looking at another IRSchool 2026 project. This one is in Hydrobiology and Ecology and is called: "Study of the lakes in the village ofChapayevo using the bioindication method."
Is it possible to determine how clean a pond or stream near your home is in just a few hours without expensive chemical reagents? Yes, and all you need is a net, a magnifying glass, and careful observation. Instead of analyzing water in test tubes, we turn to aquatic organisms: insect larvae, crustaceans, mollusks, and worms living at the bottom of a water body. Scientists call this approach bioindication.
Over the course of the project, you will embark on a real hydrobiological expedition, collect bottom-dwelling organisms from different habitats, create scientific collections, identify each organism to the family or genus level using specialized keys, and calculate biotic indices to classify water bodies as "clean," "moderately polluted," or "dirty."
This journey will be guided by two wonderful tutors. Evgeny Popov is a biologist, head of the Biotechnology Laboratory of the Yakutia Technopark, two-time winner of Science Slam, and a regular tutor at International Research Schools. Serafima Markova is a graduate of the Faculty of Soil Science at Lomonosov Moscow State University, now continuing her studies in Chemistry, with extensive field research experience and a background as a tutor-assistant at the 14th IRS.
Interested? Find out more on the project page!
https://irschool.org/project_hydrobiology2026