Author Archives: SnowKitty

Viktor Lyagushkin’s ‘Martians and a Spaceship’: Official Cover Photo for the 2025 UN World Oceans Day Photo Competition

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The United Nations has chosen Viktor Lyagushkin’s photograph “Martians and a Spaceship” as the cover photo for its 2025 Photo Competition for UN World Oceans Day.

The Photo Competition for UN World Oceans Day is an annual event that is free and open to the public. It offers photographers a unique opportunity to showcase the vast beauty of the ocean and highlight the promising potential that lies beneath its waves.

This year’s competition harnesses the power of the arts to broaden our perspectives and deepen our appreciation for our blue planet, inspiring action toward essential change.

The following four categories are now open for submissions:

1. Wonder: Sustaining What Sustains Us

2. Big and Small Underwater Faces

3. Underwater Seascapes

4. Above Water Seascapes

Winners will be announced on June 8th, UN World Oceans Day, which this year is celebrated in Nice. The event is hosted by the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea in partnership with Oceanic Global, and the results will be published on DPG (https://www.divephotoguide.com/) shortly afterward.

For more details about submissions, including category descriptions, contest rules, judges, and more, please click here.

The competition is coordinated by the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, DPG, Oceanic Global, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO, and Nausicaá.

Science Storytelling Newsletter by Bogdana Vashchenko

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If you’re as passionate about making science engaging and accessible as I am, I’d love for you to check out my ( Bogdana Vashchenko’s) Science Storytelling newsletter, a resource dedicated to enhancing the storytelling skills of researchers, photographers, and educators. I am a National Geographic Explorer and a science writer with almost 20 years of experience. Your support means the world to me—please read and subscribe!

White Sea Bestiary Lecture in Tbilisi

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Celebrating a birthday can take on an extraordinary twist, especially when one chooses to share their passions and experiences with others. On February 1, 2025, Bogdana Vashchenko and Viktor Lyagushkin captivated a group of foreign photographers with an engaging lecture about their enchanting White Sea Bestiary Project. This presentation was not just a showcase; it was a heartfelt journey through their most cherished and unforgettable moments spent amidst the breathtaking beauty of the White Sea. Their talk left the audience inspired and eager to explore the wonders of nature through the lens of art.

Happy birthday, Bogdana!

photo by Vladimir Pesnya

Bogdana Vashchenko’s New Assignment

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Bogdana Vashchenko is excited to announce that she has just signed a contract as a PR campaign coordinator for the United Nations Environment Programme. Over the next six months, her team will develop educational resources about bats for Georgian schools in collaboration with the Tbilisi Zoo Educational Center. This initiative will include lesson plans, informational materials, learning activities, educational videos, and creative tasks that align with the methodologies and requirements set by the Ministry of Education of Georgia. Additionally, they will create printed informational materials on bat conservation for Georgian teachers and other stakeholders, and organize masterclasses for educators.

The Greater Noctule Bat on Pages of National Geographic Magazine – Georgia

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I am thrilled to share our work in the final issue of National Geographic Magazine—Georgia for 2024. In this article, I showcase the inspiring journey of the Ilias State University of Georgia researchers team as they successfully located and captured the greater noctule bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus), a species that has eluded Georgian scientists since 1971!

Text by: Bogdana Vashchenko Photography by: Viktor Lyagushkin

Chukchi Baidarka Secrets In The German KANU Magazine

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And more of our published Chukotka stories. The indigenous peoples of Chukotka still survive today by hunting and fishing. They go to sea in kayaks, as they did 500 years ago. What and how is a modern Chukchi-Yupik kayak made of, and what is it for?

Text by Bogdana Vashchenko, Viktor Lyagushkin’s photo in the German magazine Kanu (March-April) 2/2024.

Chukotka On The Pages Of Asian Geographic Magazine

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In the cover feature story Life On The Edge for Asian Geographic Magazine, I explored the modern way of life of the Indigenous people of Chukotka.  
I highlighted the connection of the Yupik and Chukchi people with nature and their humble and brave characters. The article can be found in issue #162, Green Edition of Asian Geographic. The amazing photographs are by Viktor Lyagushkin, and the text is by Bogdana Vashchenko.

Georgian Bats At The Tbilisi Zoo

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While bats are still sleeping here in Georgia, On March 16th, I lectured at the Tbilisi Zoo Educational Center on Bats in the World and Georgia. Ioseb Natradze, an Assistant researcher at the Laboratory of Vertebrate Animals of the Institute of Zoology of the llia State University of Georgia, and I talked about how incredible these creatures are, their Super Skills, and their importance to ecosystems. 

The students were super interested in all sorts of things, like what bats eat, their social structure, how they give birth, and how they fly. We only left the Educational Center because the room was needed for the following class.

In our next discussion, we will focus on studying bats’ contribution to Tbilisi’s sound environment with the help of researchers from the Ilia State University. I want to thank Irma Bochorishvili for providing us with this fantastic opportunity.

Editor’s Column For National Geographic Magazine – Georgia

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The Editor-In-Cheif traditional foreword in the January 2024 issue of National Geographic Magazine – Georgia is almost all about bats and our cover feature story, published in. Text: Bohdana Vashchenko, photography: Viktor Lyagushkin.

Thank you, Ketevan Chumburidze, for your help and work! It was a great pleasure to collaborate with you and all the team on the story.

The project was funded by the National Geographic Society.

ფანტასტიკური არსებები

Picture Of The Year – National Geographic Magazine – Georgia

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One more of our bats flies between rows of vines on the pages of the December 2023 issue of National Geographic Magazine – Georgia, hunting insect pests. The issue collected the best pictures of the year, and I am proud to say the photograph from our project, Bats of Georgia, is included. Congratulations to the photographer, Viktor Lyagushkin.