Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology

History
The Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology has a long history dating back to 1804, when the Department of Natural History and Botany was established. At that time, the first lectures in zoology, along with mineralogy and botany, were delivered by Professor F. A. Delavigne. In 1807, the Natural Cabinet (later known as the Zoological Museum) was founded, and at various times it was headed by Professors I. A. Krynytsky and I. O. Kalenychenko.

The Department of Natural History and the Natural Cabinet became the foundation for the establishment of the Department of Zoology in 1835 at the Physical and Mathematical Division of the School of Philosophy, headed by I. A. Krynytsky — a member of the Jena Mineralogical Society and Corresponding Member of the Heidelberg Society of Naturalists.

In 1845, the department was led by Professor A. V. Chernay, who was also the Dean of the School of Physics and Mathematics. Prior to that, he completed scientific internships in Berlin, Paris, Leiden, Vienna, and London. Professor Chernay began teaching General and Special Zoology, Comparative Anatomy, Embryology, Histology, and Physiology. Between 1862 and 1864, he taught the future Nobel Prize laureate I. I. Mechnikov, who, during his studies at Kharkiv University, published several works on the biology of infusoria and worms.

Throughout its existence, the department has been headed by outstanding scientists who made significant contributions to faunistic research in Ukraine and worldwide, including O. F. Brandt, P. T. Stepanov, O. M. Nikolsky, P. P. Sushkin, M. M. Fadeyev, M. M. Somov, V. V. Stanchynsky, I. B. Volchanetsky, Ye. A. Shulz, M. I. Kalabukhov, E. Yu. Umansky, Ye. I. Lukin, V. P. Kudokotsev, H. L. Shkorbatov, and O. P. Krapyvnyi.
Associate Professor A. Yu. Utevsky has been awarded the honorary medal “10 Years of Ukraine in Antarctica” and certificates of recognition from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

For Applicants
Currently, the department is actively engaged in research in the following areas: animal systematics and biodiversity, parasitology, hydrobiology, entomology, theriology, ornithology, herpetology, ecology, and marine biology of the Arctic and Antarctic.

The department includes several research laboratories:

Laboratory of Aquatic Organism Ecology
Laboratory of Invertebrate Morphology
Laboratory of Invertebrate Systematics
Laboratory of Entomology and Arachnology
Laboratory of Ichthyology, Herpetology, Ornithology, and Theriology

Special courses such as Conservation Biology, Phylogenetics: Evolutionary History, and Hydrobiology and Oceanology have been developed and are taught.

Department staff have participated in research expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic, as well as to Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan.

The department houses several scientific collections — Parasitological, Entomological, Ichthyological, and Arachnological collections, as well as a bird sound library (phonotheque) of Northeastern Ukraine.

The Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology is one of the founders of the Center for Underwater Research. It also hosted the international conference “International Polar Year in Ukraine: Results and Horizons — IAC 2009.”

The department trains Bachelor’s and Master’s students in Biology with a specialization in Zoology and Animal Ecology (full-time and part-time).

Graduates work as biology teachers in secondary and higher education institutions, as engineers and researchers in institutions of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Academy of Medical Sciences, and the National Academy of Agrarian Sciences; in nature reserves, national parks, environmental protection agencies, and non-governmental environmental organizations.

Research
The main scientific directions of the department include:

Theriological research: population and reproductive biology, marmot ecology;
Ornithological studies: species composition dynamics, structure of bird communities, and improvement of protected area networks;
Herpetological research: population and reproductive biology of toads and frogs in the Kharkiv region;
Ichthyological studies and investigations of biodiversity in the Arctic and Antarctic;
Systematics, phylogeny, and biology of leeches using molecular-genetic analysis methods;
Parasitology of crustaceans and biology of medicinal leeches;
Entomological studies: fauna of click beetles (Elateridae) in Ukraine;
Taxonomy and ecology of invertebrates in continental water bodies of Europe;
Unconventional speciation in amphibians;
Phylogeny, ecology, and medical use of medicinal leeches.

Every year, department staff publish more than 40 papers and abstracts, including international publications, many co-authored with students.

The department has also taken part in organizing the International Antarctic Conferences (IAC) — “Ukraine in Antarctica: National Priorities and Global Integration”, “International Polar Year in Ukraine: Results and Horizons”, the Fifth International Conference of the Ukrainian Herpetological Society, and open lectures by Professor P. Trontelj (Slovenia), and Laban & Mercier (France).

Staff
The department employs 11 lecturers, including 2 Doctors of Science and 6 Candidates of Science (PhD holders).

Educational Process
The school teaches core courses for first- to third-year biology students, including:
Invertebrate Zoology, Vertebrate Zoology, and Bioecology.
They also provide the required courses Animal Biology and Bioecology and Human Ecology for students majoring in Secondary Education (Biology and Human Health).

Specialized courses for Bachelor’s students in Zoology and Animal Ecology:

Field and GIS Methods in Zoology and Animal Ecology
Ecology and Systematics of Birds
Ichthyology and Herpetology
General and Applied Entomology
Ecology and Systematics of Mammals
Molecular Ecology Methods
Zooculture
Parasitology and Phylogenetic Systematics of Invertebrates

Special Practicums:

Anatomical, Microscopic, and Histological Techniques in Zoology
Biostatistical Data Analysis in Zoology and Ecology
General and Applied Entomology
Parasitology and Phylogenetic Systematics of Invertebrates

Specialized courses for Master’s students:

Nature Conservation
Modern Problems of Biology
Zoogeography
Molecular Evolution
Population Biology
Conservation Biology
Polar Biology
Applied Biology

Special Practicums:

Arthropod Ecology
Modeling of Complex Systems in Biology