RUSSIA'S ONLY PEAR MUSEUM CELEBRATES ITS ANNIVERSARY

The unique peat museum of the Tomsk State Pedagogical University was opened 10 years ago. The museum approached its anniversary with all seriousness: today the museum's fund contains unique exhibits and materials about the origin of peat, the possibilities of its use in agriculture, the energy industry and medicine.

In the the Peat Museum of the TSPU visitors can get acquainted with the history of studies of swamps in Western Siberia, descriptions of expeditions undertaken by scientists and students of the Tomsk Pedagogical University, learn about the peat resources of Siberia and the Vasyugan Swamp and the flora and fauna of swamps. The specialists of the museum study swamp ecosystems of Western Siberia and Gorny Altai, their properties and functioning.

A large section of the museum's expositions is dedicated to the Scientific School "Swamps and Biosphere" of еру TSPU, which was awarded a grant from the President of the Russian Federation. The work of young scientists at the Scientific School is aimed at reviving the peat industry.

The guests of the museum can watch films: "Animal world of the swamp", "Swamp Pharmacy", "Artists about swamps", "Swamp plants", "Expeditions to swamps", "Drainage and extraction of peat for fuel". Interesting excursions will surprise visitors of all ages: "Swamps and the Great Patriotic War", "Myths about swamps in a modern image", "Frog Princess", "Peat and oil and what unites them" and many others.

The museum celebrated its anniversary in the company of collegues, having received congratulations from specialists from Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Moscow and St. Petersburg. Scientists from the Institute of Agriculture and Forestry Research of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Poznan, Poland) also took part in the holiday and congratulate Tomsk collegues.