Contemporary environmental challenges related to soil contamination with heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and the consequences of military actions require the search for sustainable and safe solutions. One such approach is phytoremediation – the use of plants to clean up and restore degraded areas.

The biological laboratory of the Department of Ecology and Technologies of Environmental Protection at Dnipro University of Technology  is actively conducting research into the mechanisms and effectiveness of soil phytoremediation. 

Second-year student Yulia Ishchenko is researching promising plant biocenoses, which form the basis for the development of environmentally safe technologies for cleaning the environment, combining scientific innovation, economic affordability and the possibility of scaling up to large areas.

Under the guidance of Professor Alexander Kovrov, student researchers are studying plants that accumulate heavy metals (zinc, lead, cadmium), testing salt and drought-resistant plant species for the recultivation of degraded and salinated lands, and developing innovative solutions, including phytobricks for the recultivation and restoration of contaminated and war-affected areas.

The biomining laboratory of the Department of Ecology and Technologies of Environmental Protection is equipped with modern facilities for growing plants under controlled conditions, which allows monitoring the dynamics of growth, accumulation of toxicants and changes in biochemical indicators in soils. An important scientific direction pursued in the laboratory is the use of microbial consortia and bioactive additives to increase plant resistance to pollution.

In the future, the research team (Prof. Oleksandr Kovrov and student Yulia Ishchenko, group 091-24-1) plans to expand cooperation with international universities, in particular with the Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, integrating the best international practices in the field of land restoration and post-war ecological rehabilitation. An international internship in Germany, which will take place in early September, will allow them to master a new method of cultivating green algae, an important component of natural ecosystems. We wish the scientists success in advancing the scientific achievements of Dnipro University of Technology.

Restoring the land – shaping the future!