The paper traces in stages the key trends and events in the history of the complex of scientific and educational areas which originated and developed in the Saratov Volga region largely due to the activities of V.I. Vernadsky’s students and followers. On the example of the most outstanding personalities, the influence of such personalities on features of the evolutionary dynamics of specific organizations, the city and the region is shown. Such an analysis allows us to see interregional interactions from a new perspective, the role of the region for the country, as well as to propose original scientific and educational projects for further study and popularization of V.I. Vernadsky’s heritage.

Distribution features of cadmium, lead, partly Ag, Bi, In, Hg and Tl in suspended solids are considered. Studies were made on the Oka River in the area of the Prioksko-Terrasny Natural Biosphere Reserve on a river section remote from the zone of formation of the technogenic scattering stream, in the period 1983–2018. To assess the general trend of changes in the concentration of the elements over the period of the experiment, it was proposed to consider the results on their prevalence in the composition of suspended matter obtained in the intermediate hydrological phase of the river between the spring flood and the summer midden. This is the main feature and essence of our proposed approach in order to eliminate the influence of significant seasonal changes in the macro- and micro-component composition of suspensions. It is shown that the 35-year time interval can be divided into two periods, namely: the first one is characterized by a decrease in the concentration of heavy metals (Cd, Pb), while the second one is characterized by the absence of any trend, relatively weak fluctuations in values. The direction of changes in the concentration of elements in the first period correlates with the literature data on the dynamics of a decrease in the intake of anthropogenic wastewater into surface waters in recent decades and with the results of our assessment of the decrease in river water pollution upstream from the experimental area.

The article considers the origins, nature and results of influence exerted by the famous Russian female mathematician Sofia Kovalevskaya (1850–1891) on her contemporary – Professor Nikolai Zhukovsky (1847–1921), who was an outstanding scientist in the field of mechanics and went down in history as the «father of Russian aviation». The circumstances of Professor Zhukovsky’s acquaintance with Sofia Kovalevskaya are analyzed. Based on the results of the content analysis of the epistolary heritage of S. Kovalevskaya and N. Zhukovsky, a conclusion was made about the absence of regular communication between these scientists through correspondence, despite N. Zhukovsky’s interest in the issues previously studied by S. Kovalevskaya. N. Zhukovsky’s contribution to the solution of the problem of motion of a heavy rigid body around a fixed point is analyzed, his original method used in his works on this subject is revealed. Few examples are given of N. Zhukovsky’s interest in solving other issues related to S. Kovalevskaya’s scientific interests. This article was prepared for the 175th anniversary of Sofia Kovalevskaya’s birth. Sources stored in the archival funds of the Scientific Memorial Museum of Professor Zhukovsky were used.

The fulfillment of the tasks set by the 1949-1965 State Plan for Nature Transformation became the work of the whole country. Its goal was the development of sustainable agriculture in the steppe and forest–steppe regions of the European part of the USSR. It is an example of a responsible state attitude to the use and preservation of our lands and soil fertility. The State Plan for nature transformation was bases on the integrated reclamation of agricultural landscapes using a scientific systematic approach to the objects of research and management. State authorities, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, scientists from dozens of universities and research institutes, ministries, 80 thousand collective farms, 2 thousand state farms, and 3 thousand machine tractor stations took an active part in the organization and large-scale implementation of protective afforestation and the development of a grass-field farming system. The plan provided for the creation of 8 large state forest strips with a total length of 5,320 km, located along floodplains and watersheds of the Volga, Dnieper, Don, Ural, Seversky Donets rivers etc.; protective forest plantations in the fields of collective farms and state farms; consolidation and afforestation of sands on an area of 322 thousand ha; the introduction and development of a system of field and fodder grass-field crop rotations; and the creation of over 44 thousand ponds and reservoirs. Over the 5 years of the plan's implementation, more than 2.3 million ha of forest plantations have been planted in the country; an ecological framework of agricultural landscapes has been created on agricultural lands; over 13 thousand ponds and reservoirs have been created. The prototype of the scientific basis of the State Plan for Nature Transformation was the works by V. V. Dokuchaev, V. R. Williams and V. I. Vernadsky on the conservation of land and soil fertility. The implementation of the plan stopped in 1953 and the development of virgin and fallow lands began. Currently, the state, scientists, society, regions and agricultural producers need combining their efforts in the rational usage of natural resources, the preservation of agricultural land and soil fertility for the present and future generations.