A STUDENT'S STORY: AN ENVIRONMENTALIST SEARCHES FOR ILLEGAL LANDFILLS
She is starting her third year of environmental studies at the Faculty of Natural Sciences. After almost two years of pandemic, her classes are finally face-to-face. She will have to write her bachelor's thesis, and is conducting research in cooperation with the Botanical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Next to her studies, she works for the Slovak Environmental Inspection. Terézia Zelmanová told us more about the focus of her bachelor's thesis and about working in the field she is studying.
Finally getting to know her classmates
After graduating from high school, she had no idea what to do with her future, and so she decided to travel the world. Two years later, she returned to Slovakia. At first, she considered applying to the University of Agriculture in Nitra, but at about that time she met a student of Environmental Studies from CU's Faculty of Natural Sciences, and decided to study here instead.
The faculty teaches a variety of subjects and students learn about living and non-living nature. For Tereza, the practical subjects are most attractive, because students go out into the field and apply their theoretical knowledge in practice. Organic and inorganic chemistry or invertebrates are subjects that most students find difficult. In the summer semester of the second year, environmental science students had easier subjects, but in the autumn semester of the third year, they will launch into ecotoxicology.
„Senior students report that ecotoxicology exams are very difficult, probably trying to scare us. There is a big cull by the end of the third year, and ecotoxicology is the subject flunked by a lot of people.“ Classes are now in-person, but when she enrolled into the first year, courses were held remotely. That is why she did not get to know her classmates very much, and only began to form those friendships now, nearly two years later. Terézia, of course, prefers in-person teaching. „I couldn't concentrate very well during online classes. During long lectures you could sometimes fall asleep in front of the computer screen. Many of her classmates missed the personal contact with their fellows,“ explains the student of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University.
During their studies, future environmentalists are also required to solve tasks in the actual world, with the support of their pedagogues. Biodiversity and pedology are two subjects which include many practical exercises. For example, vertebrate and invertebrate biodiversity classes were held in the Burda Mountains, in the district of Nové Zámky. „We observed different kinds of animals in real life about which we had learned in school. For example, we were catching and naming insects. We learned, among other things, in which environment these animals live and what they feed on,“ she describes the practical classes.
Research of invasive plants
This year, Terézia has to write and defend her bachelor's thesis. She will focus on invasive plants, i.e. those that are not native to our territory. In her thesis she will investigate the effects that the planting of the invasive black locust tree (Robinia pseudoacacia) has on selected functional properties of plants belonging to herbaceous synusia. Synusia involves a population of one or more species of the same plant life-form, living in one community. In the practical portion of her thesis, she will study ten sites in Slovakia, „twin plots“, where black locust grows. These sites are similar, and Terézia will compare an artificially planted black locust forest and a forest composed of native trees, with no black locust present. She will select one black locust plant at each site and take ten samples from it, creating herbariums. She will then study the samples in cooperation with the Botanical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences. The Botanical Institute is the only lab in Slovakia that has a portable laser leaf area meter which uses advanced laser technology and enables researchers to accurately and conveniently measure the surface area of leaves.
„Using this scanner, I will compare individual samples, in terms of the way they grow on the sample sites and how well they do on these sites. I study their vitality, length, weight and other parameters. Next, I will compare how individual plants prosper in the locust forest and in the native tree forest. There are studies showing that black locust attracts both native and invasive plant species into the forest,“ she describes the topic of her thesis.
A dangerous invasion
Invasive plants are dangerous. They displace our native plants. Animals and insects which depend on native species disappear with them. The result is a loss of diversity of plant species as some succumb to the competitive pressure of invasive species. Terézia wants to continue researching this issue in her final thesis. „I want to focus on how sites affected by invasive plants can be treated and how we can fight invasive plants. In my master's thesis, I would also like to investigate how we can replace invasive plants, and how we can strengthen the ecosystem so that native plants eventually crowd out invasive plants.“
She helps to protect nature
Next to her study, Terézia has already held several jobs related to her profession. Last year she worked for the State Nature Conservancy, and now she is applying the theoretical knowledge acquired during her study at the Slovak Environmental Inspection. She works in the ‘technical department’. „If the inspection wants to carry out its work, it needs to survey a location first, which is what I do. I work with a multifunctional GNS locator. It is a surveying tool which can pinpoint a specific location. The data it produces is entered into a special system where the locations are also identified on land registry maps. This surveying method is used when someone informs the Environmental Inspection of an illegal landfill or an illegal activity in a protected area. This method allows us to pinpoint the exact location,“ she explains her work.
In the free time she has left she likes to go for walks or hikes, read books or go rafting. Environmental science has both meaning and utility and Terézia thinks that the Faculty of Natural Sciences of Comenius University is the best school of its kind in Slovakia. „At our faculty there are many renowned experts who are also excellent teachers. If you like nature, environmental studies is a great opportunity for you. In addition, I can use what I have learned in everyday life, for example by being able to see the environment in a more holistic way. At the same time, Comenius University has very good international reputation, so one can find a job abroad too,“ she adds in conclusion.
Radka Rosenbergová