History of the department

The Department of General Geography and Hydrometeorology was established in September 1973. The initiator of the department’s creation (and the first head) was the Ph.D., professor, founder of the Belarusian Limnologic School, the Honored Scientist of Belarus, laureate of the BSSR State Award O.F. Yakushko.

From 1984 to 1995, the department is led by Ph.D., Professor V.M. Shirokov, the leading scientist in the field of research of artificial water bodies and the problems of their interaction with the surrounding environment.

From 1995 to 2002, the department is led by the director of IPPRE, Ph.D., professor, Academician of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, laureate of the State Award of the Republic of Belarus V.F. Loginov.

Since September 2002, Professor P.S. Lopuch leads the department; nowadays the staff of the department consists of 15 employers.

Since 1973, the Museum of Geography has been functioning within the department.

Since 2006, the direction "Hydrometeorology" within the specialty "Geography" is open. In 2013, the specialty “Hydrometeorology” was open. From 2018, the overall duration of study is 4 years. The final qualification of the student is “Geographer. Hydrometeorologist”.

Specialists are trained in the following areas: meteorology and climatology, synoptic meteorology, agrometeorology, hydrology and water resources.

At the first and second years (courses), students study general geographic disciplines, at further years – mostly special courses, taking into account the profile training.

Preparation for the Master of Science’s Degree (one year after 5 years, 2 years after 4 years of training) is conducted according to a separate plan with the writing and defense of a master's thesis.

The academic courses taught at the department include: general geography, meteorology and climatology, hydrology, geomorphology, geophysics, hydrometeorological data management, wetland hydrology, reservoir hydrology, hydrogeology, general atmospheric circulation theory, aviation meteorology, general limnology, hydrometry and water balance, river flow and channel processes, hydrological calculations, hydrological forecast, methods for processing and analyzing hydrometeorological information, modeling hydrological and atmospheric processes, ensuring hydrometeorological information users, hydroecology, management and restoration of aquatic ecosystems, agrometeorology, monitoring of atmospheric air and hydrosphere, synoptic meteorology, weather forecasting methods, agrometeorological and phenological observations, applied climatology, etc.

Specialties

At the 1st stage of higher education:

- specialty 1-31 02 02 Hydrometeorology with the qualification “Geographer. Hydrometeorologist"

At the second stage of higher education:

- specialty 1-31 80 21 Hydrometeorology, profiling Synoptic meteorology with the degree of "Master of Science" Department at the faculty has established traditions and an innovative approach to educational and scientific activities. It provides fundamental training in various areas of meteorology, climatology and agrometeorology: physical, dynamic, synoptic meteorology, aerology, climatology, numerical methods of weather forecasting, the theory of general circulation of the atmosphere and climate, space research methods in meteorology, methods of hydrometeorological measurements and statistical processing of hydrometeorological information.

 The department is unique in the BSU and in Belarus

The only department in the republic that trains specialists in the field of hydrometeorology. It offers the widest possible thematic range of possible educational and scientific development of students: from fundamental disciplines, such as: "General Geography", "Geophysics", "Meteorology and Climatology", "Hydrology", "Geomorphology", to highly specialized areas of applied nature: synoptic meteorology, weather forecasting methods, satellite meteorology, hydrometry, modeling of meteorological and hydrological processes, numerical analysis of atmospheric processes.

The main scientific directions of the department's research are related to research in the field of climate and adaptation of economic sectors to climate change, problems of the ozonosphere, the hydrological regime of watercourses and reservoirs, and the rational use of water resources.

The department has been participating in the implementation of State Research Programs of the Ministry of Education for many years; it is actively involved in the Olympiad movement in geography. Professor Lopuh P.S, being the chairman of the section of geography and cartography of the NTS of the Ministry of Education, participates in the development of school geographical education, in the work on the creation of a modern teaching materials in geography, heads the expert council at the Higher Attestation Commission.

Interesting educational, production and pre-diploma practices using the “Vaysala” (automated complex for collecting meteorological information), an automated hydrological complex, as well as modern software. Hydrometeorological students, under the guidance of teachers of the department, undergo meteorological, hydrological, geomorphological, limnological, agrometeorological and microclimatic practices, as well as industrial practice on the basis of the "Republican Center for Hydrometeorology, Radioactive Contamination Control and Environmental Monitoring" (Belgidromet) and its branches, National Research Center for Monitoring of the ozonosphere of BSU, the Central Research Institute for the Integrated Use of Water Resources, the Institute of Nature Management of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the Scientific and Practical Center for Geology and other specialized organizations.

Famous graduates of the department

Director of the National Research Center for Ozone Monitoring - Tabalchuk T.G.

Head of the Department for the Study of Climate Change "Republican Center for Hydrometeorology, Control of Radioactive Contamination and Environmental Monitoring" - Klevets N.N.

Head of the Department of Meteorological Monitoring "Republican Center for Hydrometeorology, Radioactive Contamination Control and Environmental Monitoring" - Luksha M.V.

Leading researcher of the Institute of Nature Management of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus - Danilovich I.S.

Contacts:

16 Leningradskaya Street, office 210, Minsk 220030, Belarus

telephone:+375 17 2095321

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