Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

Nowadays there is a problem of the lack of connection between the research which are carried out in ecological and environmental science and the final consumer of the results. It causes the existence of a great amount of good quality research and recommendations that have been developed rationally and specifically to improve environmental management for many areas and facilities of big cities. However, the final consumers of this kind of information (such as local government, owners of the local companies, local residents) do not have access to this information.
To bridge the gap between theory and practice we developed the methodology of gratuitous interaction between the researcher and the consumer of the results. In this methodology the researchers are the staff and students of Institute of Earth Science of Saint Petersburg State University as well as initiative groups; the consumers are the community organizations, local authorities, owners of enterprises and organizations, local residents and others. This project is realized in the form of a series of works that are named "EcoGeology of Saint Petersburg and Leningrad region."
Many inhabitants of Saint Petersburg and Leningrad region have been noticing different changes in their urban and relatively natural environment, manifested in a reduction of biodiversity, emergence of new odors, etc. Initiative citizens, who live near the object of their interest, submit their request, and based on these requests we create in real-time a "database applications" (through social networks (https://vk.com/ecogeo) and / or mobile application) and develop schedule for their implementation. An interactive schematic map of "hot spots" of the territory of St. Petersburg and Leningrad region will be created as a visual support of this phase of work. Our work on individual objects in the cycle is divided into several stages:
1.Receiving of applications for research of certain areas;
2.Gathering of theoretical information about the work area, defining borders of object of the study, the development of the research plan, the identification of environmental performances that allow to give an objective assessment in the future, detection of the possible sources of pollutants, creation of an exemplary grid of sampling, assigning the responsible people, etc. ;
3.Primary observation of the territory with the refinement of theoretical data and the area of the object; fieldworks (geobotanical prospecting, primary soil studies, identification of the potential sources of environmental risk, etc.);
4.Fieldworks that include sampling (soils, surface water and groundwater, organs and tissues of plants and / or animals, etc.),arrying out of relevant measurements (radioecological studies, measurements of air quality, etc.) and assessments (bioindication studies), etc .;
5.Laboratory and instrumental investigations of the samples and processing of the results (mathematical, ecological and geological, cartographic, etc.);
6.Formation of the findings and the development of specific recommendations for the rational environmental and subsoil management.
One of the biggest advantages of this project is a fact that all people, who are interested in it, can take part in project by working together with the main executors - the staff and students of the direction of Ecology and Nature Management and Ecology and subsoil management (part of the analyzes are carried out by accredited laboratories).