Geoworks Ukraine: Rocks, Rivers, and Culture

Greetings all,

Our Ukrainian colleagues have been quite busy over the past three months, despite the increasingly harrowing attacks they are facing.  Ihor arrived in the US in early September to begin his 9-month Fulbright at Arizona State University.  There, he will be working with Dr. Steve Semken and the School of Earth and Space Exploration to explore cutting edge technology and pedagogy for developing field trips, virtual or otherwise.

Meanwhile, in Lviv, the Geoworks team has been busy criss-crossing the region.  In August, the team rediscovered Lysenia Cave near the villages of Kolyndiany and Shmankivtsi in western Ukraine.  The cave had been documented by speleologists in the 1960s, but its exact location was subsequently lost.  Ihor, Andrij, and Anatoli, all from Lviv Polytechnic, made the key breakthrough via Yaroslav, an 80-year-old local resident, who knew the location of various fox dens in the area and pointed this one out.  Increasing contact and communication with local communities was a desired outcome of our visit and extension demonstration last summer, so it's great to see new approaches to integrating science and community are yielding benefits!

Coming up in the next few months, Andrij and Anatoli will be working with Kolyndiany School and the local community to develop an educational trail that will take visitors through the local geology.  They will be developing materials with local teachers, organize guided field activities, and train students and residents in modern surveying, laser scanning, and 3D modeling technologies.  Students especially will be developing projects related to the trail that will blend their geoscience knowledge with local knowledge from the community about the changing landscape.

Keep in mind December 1st, Giving Tuesday.  Your donations will help the Ukrainian team continue to grow their work and build their networks!

With gratitude,

Lev