Can you recall the moment when you first realized you wanted to study nature?

It all began very early in my childhood, even before school, thanks to my grandparents. My grandmother grew a wide variety of flowers in the yard, and they became my favorite “toys.” I loved examining how flowers were structured—their petals, sepals, and stamens. With my grandfather, we explored all the forests, meadows, and steppes around my hometown, Uman. I was amazed by how diverse plants could be, invented my own names for them, and at some point realized that I really wanted to know their real names. I consciously decided to pursue botany when I entered the biology program at Uman State Pedagogical Institute and met the person who made me fall in love with the world of plants. That was Halyna Anatoliivna Chorna, whom I consider my first teacher in science.

Is there something unique in our flora that most Ukrainians don’t even realize exists?

Absolutely. In Bukovyna, near Chernivtsi, there is a patch of meadow-steppe vegetation with astonishing species richness—more than 120 plant species within an area of just 16 square meters. Together with similar sites in Transylvania (Romania) and the White Carpathians on the Czech–Slovak border, this area is among the three most species-rich sites in Europe and possibly in the world. Few people know that, on such a small scale, temperate meadow-steppe ecosystems can surpass even tropical forests in species richness—despite tropical forests being considered the most diverse ecosystems on Earth. Unfortunately, this unique site is rapidly becoming overgrown with shrubs due to the abandonment of traditional haymaking, which poses a serious threat to its biodiversity.

Is there a plant that has surprised you recently?

Last year in Zakarpattia, I found a plant that had never been mentioned in any comprehensive checklist of Ukraine’s flora. It was Teucrium scorodonia (wood sage), which does resemble sage in appearance, though it has pale yellow flowers. At first, we thought it might be a species new to Ukraine. However, a more detailed study of herbarium specimens and literature revealed that researchers had actually recorded this species in Ukraine more than 70 years ago. What truly surprised me was how it could have remained forgotten or unnoticed for so long.

Was there a moment in your fieldwork that was so unexpected or amusing that you still remember it?

Moments like that happen on almost every field trip. For example, during an expedition to the “Buzkyi Gard” National Nature Park in Mykolaiv region—famous for its granite canyons—I arrived a bit later than my colleagues, who were already working on Gard Island. I was told to follow a path down to the water, where a boat would be waiting. Knowing how steep the local slopes are, I asked how safe the path was. I was assured it was completely safe and was even told the name of a senior colleague who had used it before. The path turned out to be very steep and ended with a rope that you had to climb down. The problem was that the rope was too short and ended two or three meters above the ground. Hanging there, I thought, “What am I doing here? Other professors sit in offices or labs, and here I am, dangling from a rope.” But I remembered that my senior colleague had somehow made it down. In the end, I managed to reach the ground, walk along the shore, and find the boat with a park employee—who was genuinely surprised to see me, since there was another much easier path nearby, with no ropes or extreme adventures at all.

If Ukrainian meadows or steppes could speak, what do you think they would say first?

Firstly, they would probably ask for help. Meadows and steppes produce a great deal of biomass and are evolutionarily closely connected to wild ungulates. At first, these were mammoths; later, aurochs and tarpans. But those animals became extinct, and the crucial link that sustained grassland ecosystems disappeared. Domestic animals—horses, cattle, sheep—eventually took their place.  Today, however, grazing by domestic animals has also declined significantly. As a result, steppes and meadows become overgrown with trees and shrubs. To prevent this, grasslands must either be mown or grazed. Only then can their unique biodiversity be preserved.