For an entire week to come Petrozavodsk will be Russia’s hydrobiological capital. The 12th Congress of the Russian Hydrobiological Society started in the city. This weighty scientific event takes place every five years in different cities of Russia. The previous congress was hosted by Krasnoyarsk in 2014, and the Karelian capital took up the baton from this Siberian city.

The congress was opened on September 16th in the major conference hall of the Frigate hotel, standing right on the shore of Lake Onego – the main water attraction of the city and the republic in general.

The participants were welcomed by the President of the Karelian Research Centre RAS Olga Bakhmet. She stressed that for an academic society its congress is not just a gathering to recapitulate on the results of its work and make plans for the future but also a great opportunity for networking between academics from different parts of the country. KarRC’s leader also expressed the hope for closer contacts with Karelian scientists and urged the guests to enjoy sights of interest in Petrozavodsk and the wondrous Karelian nature.

At the congress opening the honorary medal named after Georgy Winberg, a classic of hydrobiological science, was awarded. This award was for the first time bestowed in 2006 at the 9th Congress in Togliatti. The Winberg medal is awarded for great personal contribution to the development of the science to scholars from Russia, CIS countries or elsewhere. In 2019 the medal was given to Victor Bogatov, specialist in fluvial ecosystems from the Far Eastern Division of RAS, and to Professor Henrik Schubert from the University of Rostock, a key figure in German hydrobiology who actively cooperates with Russia.

Speakers at the plenary session on the first day of the congress were president of the society Sergey Golubkov and the awardees. Victor Bogatov told about changes in river ecosystems under climate change, and Henrik Schubert gave a talk on plankton development patterns in coastal lagoons. The first day ended with a presentation by a representative of the host, Chief Researcher at the Parasitology Laboratory of the Institute of Biology KarRC RAS Evgeny Ieshko about the species richness and diversity of parasites on young Atlantic salmon Salmo salar L. in North European rivers.

The congress will work until September 20th, with the academic agenda complemented with excursions and cultural programme. The poster competition will be organized among young scientists.