ASU scientist conducts research in the museums of Great Britain

17 October 2018 Faculty of Biology
Roman V. Yakovlev, professor of the Faculty of Biology, works in the museums of Great Britain during the implementation of a research project.

The first institution visited by Roman Yakovlev was the African Natural History Research Trust. This is a research organization recently established with private donations in the city of Leominster. Its task is to study the biological diversity of insects in Africa.

“Considering my interest and considerable experience in the study of the entomofauna of Africa, where I visited six countries (South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe), the colleagues from the UK kindly invited me, and I became one of the first Russian specialists who received an opportunity to get acquainted with the materials of the Trust. Frankly speaking, I have never seen such an accurate and modern organization of museum business. The museum is located in an old mansion in a quiet corner of provincial England, 250 km from the capital. The storages are striking in their contrast, one room is ultramodern, and another one has classical Victorian style. The creation of a rich thematic library was very useful. The staff employs several laboratory technicians, scientific curators and relationship and expedition managers. Most studies are conducted in countries such as Tanzania, Togo, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, CAR, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique and Zambia. Collections are rich enough and include at least half a million samples. It is very good that the materials are fresh and suitable for molecular genetic studies. The management of the Trust warmly received me and allowed me to work independently within the framework of my research interests. Several joint papers with British colleagues were outlined. Finally, the Trust curators assured me that they were ready to receive me every year at Leominster, which, of course, was very pleasant, and they also invited me to work on the Trust’s expeditions in Zambia, Togo and Mozambique,” Roman Yakovlev said.

The next week will be devoted to work in the “mecca” of the world's systematic zoologists – the Natural History Museum in London.

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