Department of Geoecology and Methods of Teaching Environmental Sciences
The Department provides training of the specialties
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101. Ecology and
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103. Earth sciences (Hydrology).
It was founded in 2000 on the initiative of its current Head Tsaryk L. P., DSc in Geographical Sciences.
The mission of the Department is to train qualified specialists in the field of Ecology, Hydrology, Nature protection and Sustainable management of natural resources, specialists who possess theoretical knowledge and practical ability to use it effectively in order to accomplish the tasks and functions carried out by state authorities and local self-government bodies.
High professionalism of the department teaching staff (all full-time teachers are specialists of higher qualification) is a guarantee of profound knowledge in the field of ecological and hydrological sciences, environmental management, nature protection and ecological management in the course of realization of bachelor’s, master’s and postgraduate educational programs.
The scientific activity is carried out within the Scientific Research Laboratory “Modeling of Ecological-Geographic Systems” and the Scientific Center for Ecological Innovations, within which 6 state budget and 4 economic contract works were executed in the following areas:
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Development of projects of territory organization of the nature reserves, national natural, regional landscape and dendrological parks;
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Substantiation of eco-network schemes of Podillia and Ternopil region, Ternopil, Podillia part of Galicia and Slobozhanshchyna connecting territory;
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Development of ecological passport of Ternopil;
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Optimization of environmental management and nature protection in the basins of the Dzhuryn, Nichlava and Hnizna small rivers;
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Assessment of natural recreational resources; land resources, ecological and geographical situation; extraordinary processes and phenomena of natural and technogenic origin on the materials of Ternopil and Khmelnytskyi regions.
According to the scientific studies results, 1 doctoral and 11 PhD theses were defended, 13 collective and individual monographs were published, including:
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Natural recreational resources: assessment and analysis methods (2001);
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Ecological and geographical analysis and evaluation of territory: theory and practice (2005);
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Geographical bases of formation and development of regional nature protection systems: concepts, practical implementation (2009);
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Natural conditions and resources of Ternopil region (2011)
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“Zahrebellia” Regional Landscape Park in the system of recreational and environmental management (2013);
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Ternopil Region: Sustainable goals and potential of environmental management (2016),
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Environmental management and nature protection in small river basins (2020).
The department teachers’ scientific work on individual topics covers a wide range of bioecological, geoecological, technoecological and socioecological research, which is facilitated by creative cooperation with the following academic institutions: Institute of Geography of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Institute of Ecology of the Carpathians, Institute of Hydrobiology, Institute of Cell Biology and Genetic Engineering of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; national universities, institutes of postgraduate pedagogical education, scientific environmental protection institutions: “Medobory” Nature Reserve, “Kremenetsk Mountains”, “Dnister Canyon”and “Carpathian” National Nature Parks, offices of Ternopil Region State Administration, Ternopil City Council, united territorial communities.
The staff of the department organized five international scientific conferences on ecological and geographical issues (2000, 2004, 2010, 2013, 2019). Special attention in the educational process is given to the organization of students’ research work, their participation in the university and all-Ukrainian subject Olympiads, scientific works competitions. Students majoring in ecology have won the prize places in these forums 10 times (among them are R. Bronetskyi, O. Sheremeta, M. Hinzula (4 times), B. Myts, A. Bodnar, I. Kuzyk (twice).
International cooperation is carried out with the Ojcow National Park (Poland) in the form of scientific conferences and educational practices for ecology students; with Częstochowa University College of Social Sciences (Poland) in the form of internships for students and teachers. In 2017, students of the specialty “Ecology” along with the teachers took part in the international project “Public Initiative for a Healthy Environment in Western Ukraine”. The project was implemented by Ternopil Volodymyr Hnatiuk National Pedagogical University, Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University and Technical University of Braunschweig (Germany).
Considerable attention is paid to the establishment of certain traditions at the department, which include student initiation ceremony, Department Weeks, Environment Days and more. In 2000, the department initiated the launch of the regional ecological local project “Your native land” for students of secondary schools, “School Arboretum” (since 2012) in order to intensify applied ecological and geographical studies, ecological and environmental education.
