In February 2021, a collaboration of Chilean and russian scientists represented by Elvira Dovletyarova, the Head of Agrarian Technological Institute (RUDN University) and Alexandr Neaman, professor of Institute of Agrarian Engineering at Southern University of Chili got their joint scientific article published in the highly rated Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition (SJR Q1). The research was supported by the RUDN University Strategic Academic Leadership Program and the FONDECYT international project.
Raising a new generation of international professionals: how SUN Lab supports young scientists in urban ecosystem study
Today the SUN Lab team is glad to recall its participation in an international project in support of young scientists in urban studies – TAURUS (Training Capacities in Agriculture and Urban Rural Interactions and Sustainable development of megacities). Starting in 2017, the project was launched in pursuit of providing international support for students who can gain new professional skills necessary for the sustainable development of large urban areas.
SUN Lab invites to the international conference “InterCarto. InterGIS 27. Geoinformation support of sustainable development of territories”
SUN Lab is among the organizers of the international conference “InterCarto. InterGIS 27. Geoinformation support of sustainable development of territories”. The conference will be held at Apatity (Murmansk region, Russia) and Nur-Sultan (Kazakhstan), August 21-27, 2021.
Download Information Letter (in English)
Download Information Letter (in Russian)
The biological component of microparticles in big cities: SUN Lab is developing research on improving air quality in urban conditions
Airborne fine dust particles (FD) are recognized as one of the most harmful pollutants to human health. The size of fine dust determines their ability to penetrate the human body, and particles less than 10 microns in size are recognized as the most dangerous. At the same time, the causes of FD toxicity are still insufficiently studied. For example, the relationship between mortality from COVID-19 and the concentration of FD in the air was shown. However, it is still not clear whether fine dust is a direct vector carrier of the virus or only exacerbates the susceptibility of the human body to the virus.
Riccardo Valentini gave a lecture to managers from 100 Russian cities
Prof. Riccardo Valentini, the head of Smart Urban Nature Lab opened the Module 6: Urban ecology of an educational program Master of Public Administration by giving a lecture “Urban Health and Green Infrastructures”.
Participants of this program, organized by SKOLKOVO Moscow School of Management, are 500 managers from 100 largest cities in Russia: mayors, deputy mayors, deputy heads of the region, chief architects. The main objective of the program is to to form leaders who will act as drivers of the development of Russian cities.
SUN Lab congratulates everyone with the coming New Year
Smart Urban Nature laboratory congratulates its employees, foreign colleagues and the entire scientific and expert community with the coming New Year. 2020 has become a serious challenge for everyone without exception – the pandemic, the global lockdown, the cessation of flights between countries, and much more have hit not only the economy and many other areas, but also limited the capabilities of the scientific world. The usual format of conferences, seminars, field research was forced to change and go online. Nevertheless, we managed to adapt to the needs of the time and maintain the quality level of work, the atmosphere of cooperation and ambitious plans.
LAWN project partners update webinar 2020
By Dr. Diana Dushkova and Prof. Maria Ignatieva
On December 17, an online webinar of the LAWN 2020 project partners was organized by Dr. Diana Dushkova, Helmholtz Center for environmental research – UFZ Leipzig, Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology; Geography Department of Humboldt University Berlin, Germany and Prof. Dr. Maria Ignatieva, School of Design, University of Western Australia.
Professor Yakov Kuzyakov was named Highly Cited Researcher
Yakov Kuzyakov, a well-known soil scientist, a leading scientist at the Agricultural and Technological Institute in RUDN University (Russia) and a professor at King Saud University (Saudi Arabia), was awarded the title of highly cited researcher in the field of agricultural sciences (by Clarivate™).
The Highly Cited Researchers list includes scientists with the highest number of articles in the top 1% cited Web of Science citation in a particular field in the past year. In the field of Agricultural Sciences, 111 researchers have been awarded this title. And Yakov Kuzyakov turned out to be the only one scientist from a Russian university.
SUN Lab Scientists took part in Urban Soils Symposium
Experts of the Smart Urban Nature laboratory Vyacheslav Vasenev and Maria Korneikova made presentations in two different sessions of the 5th Annual Urban Soil Symposium “Soils: The Living Fabric of Health, 2020”. The event was organized by the Institute of Urban Soils of New York, RUDN University and TreePeople. Traditionally, the symposium is held in New York (USA) on the basis of the Institute of Urban Soils, but this year, amid the pandemic, the event took the format of a virtual meeting using a number of interactive video conferencing platforms.
Tree Talkers network expanded with a new location in Moscow
The SUN Lab’s team in collaboration with experts from Wood expertise center “Zdorovy Les” set up new devices in Gorky Park, one of the biggest and most attended parks in Moscow city center.
Before installation, experts from Zdorovy Les conducted a local research in the park. They found out 16 poplars of the same age and size but quite different in trunk condition – most of them were strongly decayed. Visually the state of the trees was rather different from their potential sustainability and trunk health. So these trees came up as the spots for 16 Tree Talkers set up.