Service

The Sainsbury Laboratory PostDoc Committee

In 2023-2024, I am a member of the PostDoc Commiittee. The committee organizes institute-wide events, runs a seminar series, and advocates on behalf of the postdoc community

Canadian Fungal Network

In 2021-2022, I was involved in several CanFunNet initiatives:

• A member of the Organizing Committee of the 2022 CanFunNet Fungal Biology Conference
• A co-organizer of the CanFunNet Seminar Series

Biology Graduate Students’ Association (UAlberta)

In 2020-2021, I was the president of the UAlberta BGSA. I stepped into this role in April 2020, in the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic. We had to pivot to exclusively online presence and adapt to the new reality. During my term, the BGSA worked hard on maintaining the sense of community and providing the students with networking and training opportunities in place of those taken away by covid. The BGSA:

• Organized online workshops and social events for the grad students,
• Participated in the Quality Assurance visit (an external review of the department that all university departments across Canada undergo every 4 years),
• Helped in organizing the annual Dr. R.E. Peter Biology Conference. The conference is run by grad students of the department and features student presentations, workshops, and public talks.

EDI (Equity Diversity Inclusion) Efforts

I was a member of the EDI Committee at the BGSA. In 2019-2021, the committee:

• Designed and administered a survey on the EDI issues for the graduate students and postdocs. Communicated the results of the survey to the departmental and faculty,
• Prepared a list of resources on the EDI for the graduate students.

I also was a grad student member of the READ (Respect, Equity, Accountability, and Departmental Culture) working group (2020-2021).

Outreach

Paying forward

Being grateful to all the great mentors I met during my career, I am trying to welcome more junior members of the community, from preschoolers to undergrad students.

1. The Science Mentors
TSM was an online program providing support and career advice to undergrad students by connecting them to more experienced scholars. I was a mentor during four cycles of the program, and also was interviewed on a live stream (Watch on YouTube (in Russian))

2. Research Zone Science Communication Program
Research Zone is a program organized by the Telus World of Science (Edmonton AB, Canada). The program helps scientists communicate their research to the audience of kids. I participated in the program in 2019. I developed a hands-on activity based on my research (“learning how to make a lichen”) and presented it at the science center.

3. Conferences and competitions for high school students
During my time at the St. Petersburg University, I was involved in multiple initiatives aimed at high school students interested in biology.

• Co-organizer and judge at the “Future Scientists” conference (2011, 2017),
• Judge at the School Biology Olympiad: a competition testing students’ theoretical knowledge and practical skills in biology (2011-2017),
• Judge at the “Youth Biology Tournament”: a team competition for students competing in solving open-ended biology problems (2011-2013).

Nature Conservation and public engagement

Since my undergrad times, I have been involved in nature conservation efforts. As a member of a team of scientists, I:

• Collected and processed data on rare and endangered lichen species,
• Participated in surveys leading to the establishment of several Nature Reserves in Russia.

I also do outreach and participate in events for nature enthusiasts:

• I gave a public talk at The Great Alberta Mushroom Foray (2019),
• I participated in the Tombstone Park BioBlitz in Yukon, Canada (2018). BioBlitz is an event bringing together biologists and nature enthusiasts from public, and focused on describing biodiversity of a certain area,
• I co-taught the field seminar for students and NGO volunteers “Nature Conservation and biologically valuable forests” (2017).

Learning how to make a lichen (don’t ask)