Fourth-year students of the “Ecology,” “Soil Science and Agrochemistry,” and “Land Management and Real Estate Cadastre” programs at Baku State University’s (BSU) Faculty of Ecology and Soil Science (from Azerbaijani, Russian, and English divisions) participated in a field training trip to the Shamakhi and Gobustan districts.

Students were provided with information about the Shamakhi district, which is part of the Mountainous Shirvan economic-geographical region. It was noted that Shamakhi benefits from a favorable economic-geographical position due to its proximity to the Absheron economic region—particularly the cities of Baku and Sumgayit, which are key socio-political centers of the country. Students became acquainted with the diversity of soil-landscape complexes in the region, as well as local agricultural practices, industrial zones, and recreational resources.

In the Pirgulu area of the Shamakhi district, soil pits were dug in the mountain forest-brown soils, and in the Gobustan district, at the Gobustan Regional Experimental Station (GRES) of the Agricultural Research Institute under the Ministry of Agriculture. The station’s director, Doctor of Biological Sciences Atabay Jahangirli, introduced students to the ongoing work at the station and explained the soil-climatic conditions of the area where cereal crops are cultivated. A detailed morphogenetic description of the soil layers was provided, explaining concepts such as genetic horizons, parent material, and soil formation processes with practical, hands-on demonstrations. Samples taken from the soil pits will be subjected to physical and chemical analysis at BSU.

Throughout the training, students observed the distribution patterns of soil and vegetation, evaluated river feeding regimes, and examined how soil types, landscape structures, and forest cover change along elevation zones within cadastral regions. They measured ozone and ammonia levels in the air in different landscapes of Shamakhi and Gobustan, as well as noise pollution near roads, water and soil pH levels, and radiation levels in various locations using portable dosimeters.

SDG 4: Quality Education, SDG 13: Climate Action and SDG 15: Life on Land