Early-career scientist Pavlo Kovalenko has received the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation fellowship and has been named one of six scholars supported by the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) for 2025.
Pavlo is a scientist at the National Antarctic Scientific Centre and a PhD student at the Institute of Evolutionary Ecology of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. In his PhD work, he studies the impact of climate change on the only endemic Antarctic insect (found only along the Antarctic Peninsula and adjacent islands) — the mosquito Belgica antarctica.
This insect is unique because it can survive the long Antarctic winter, enduring temperatures as low as -15 °C. At the same time, it does not like heat. A few days at +10 °C can completely kill the population. Therefore, these mosquitoes can be considered a marker of climate change.
To collect material, Pavlo visited Vernadsky base twice during seasonal expeditions: in 2021–2022 and 2023–2024.
Last year, the scientist applied for a scholarship from the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Each year, it awards several (no more than five) scholarships to young scientists who are engaged in the most relevant and important research at the global level and need resources that are not available in their country but can be obtained through international collaboration.
Pavlo received the sixth scholarship with the support of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. This foundation funds projects aimed at establishing new relationships with nature.
Pavlo will continue studying the mosquito Belgica antarctica, focusing on analysing its DNA and genetic variability. He will compare the analysis data of samples collected at Vernadsky with the results of a previous population-genome study conducted more than 10 years ago near the American Palmer Station. This will help us understand the characteristics of these insects’ genetic processes in the context of climate change.
The scientist will conduct his research at the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Auckland, Rochester, Michigan, USA.
We congratulate Pavlo on this achievement and wish him every success in his work.
We would like to remind you that NASC scientists have already received SCAR scholarships three times. In 2019, the award went to Maria Pavlovska; in 2021, to Yevheniia Prekrasna; and in 2022, to Hanna Yevchun (all of them are researchers in biology).
