July 03, 2020

Dr. Mikhail Zhelezniak Elected Sakha (Yakutia) Academy of Sciences Fellow

On July 2, 2020, the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) had its General Meeting to elect Academy President, Vice Presidents, Council Members and Fellows. Dr. Vasily Filippov was elected new President of the Academy, succeeding Prof. Igor Kolodeznikov who led the Academy from 2008 to 2019. Nine new Fellows were elected bringing the total number of full Fellows to 44. Those elected yesterday include MPI Director Dr. Mikhail Zhelezniak and Dr. Anatoly Nikolaev who was with MPI from 2001 to 2011 and now is Rector of the North-Eastern Federal University. MPI is also represented at the Academy by Professor Viktor Shepelev who was appointed to the Academy Council through this year’s election.

The Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is a public institution founded in 1993 under Executive Order of RS(Y) President Mikhail Nikolaev. The Academy seeks to contribute to society’s economic, social and cultural progress by advancing fundamental and applied research, promoting regional collaboration, connecting academia with industry and community, and providing scientific and policy advice. Research activities are conducted by the Academy’s permanent research groups (e.g., paleoenvironmental research of the mammoth fauna; ethnosocial and ethnoeconomic studies; and human history of the Arctic), as well as through establishing task forces (e.g., compilation of the Encyclopedia of Yakutia, synthesis of anthropogenic impacts on the Lena River, and seismotectonic analysis and seismic zonation of the Arctic shelves). Today’s immediate tasks for the Academy are to guide the elaboration of the 2020-2024 Research and Technological Development Plan of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and to complete the organizational phase of The North: A Territory of Sustainable Development, a collaborative network that is intended to bring together research centers, universities, schools and companies in Yakutia and North-East Russia.