“Main Hydrochemical Approaches to Assessing the Quality of Surface Waters (Using the Example of the Ile Alatau Surface Waters)” was the topic of a scientific seminar held on February 14 at the Institute of Zoology of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Researchers from the Theriology Laboratory—Grachev A.A., Saparbayev S.Q., Tashibaev E.S., Bespalov M.V., and Bespalov S.V.—together with colleagues from Zhetysu OTI, the RSE “Okhotzooprom,” and ACBK, spent two days conducting a census of hoofed animals in the Altyn-Emel State National Nature Park. The count was carried out both visually and by tracking animal footprints.

Nicole Ibrahim, a doctoral student from the United States (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Appalachian Laboratory), completed a six-month internship at the Institute of Zoology under the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan. She worked in the Laboratory of Ornithology and Herpetology under the supervision of Andrey Eduardovich Gavrilov, a leading researcher and head of the Bird Banding Research Center.

Every year on February 11, we extend our congratulations to all women who have dedicated their lives to scientific research and discoveries, as well as those who are just beginning their journey in science.

On February 7, during an expanded board meeting of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan titled “Human Capital Development as the Foundation for a Competitive Economy and Sustainable Growth: Innovation, Technology, and Collaboration with Industry,” Minister of Science and Higher Education Sayasat Nurbek, acting on behalf of the Head of State, presented apartment certificates to 17 young Kazakhstani researchers.

During the scientific seminar, our colleague from China shared modern methods for studying this group of insects, including morphological and molecular analyses, as well as the latest approaches to systematics, classification, and bioecological research. Special attention was paid to the results of more than a decade of work, which led to the description of several new insect species and revealed their ecological significance.

It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing on January 26, 2025, of our colleague, the Chief Researcher of the Theriology Laboratory at the Institute of Zoology, an academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Doctor of Agricultural Sciences, and Professor, Alikhan Meldebekov.

A pilot launch of the “Foundations of Programming in R” program took place at the Institute of Zoology. This program is part of the course “Modern Computer Tools in Ecological Research.”

March 5–6, in Almaty (Kazakhstan), the “Human-wildlife conflicts in Central Asia” conference will take place.

Applications for participation and abstracts are accepted until January 20, 2025.

The General Director, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Roman Jashenko, delivered a report on the institute’s activities. Heads of the scientific laboratories of hydrobiology and ecotoxicology; entomology; theriology; paleozoology; ornithology and herpetology; arachnology and other invertebrates; animal cryobank and germplasm; biocenology and game management, as well as the GIS and RS department, informed their colleagues about the main scientific achievements of their units over the past year.