Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Laboratory of Protozoology, Russia.

Doctor in biological sciences V. I. Mikhalevich, the leading scientific officer of the Zoological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences had offered principally a new classificatory and evolutionary theory for one of the biggest protistan groups: the phylum Foraminifera. Her new conception changes fundamentally our understanding of the development of this group of organisms. The new data of the molecular, electron-microscopic and other methods support the results of her revolutionary works.
At present she is one of the most prominent researchers in this field. Her studies are published in leading international editions. She has a great influence in the international community, and we had the opportunity to benefit from her extensive knowledge during her stay in our university. Her part in the manual “Protista” (S. Petersburg, 2000, p. 533- 628) is the biggest and one of the best done in the book, with emphasis on the evolutionary approach.
The researches she is carrying out in the composition of the International Working Group on Foraminiferal Classification (WGFC), together with her colleagues, have a great theoretical importance (the group is preparing the new edition of Foraminiferal classification on the base of her new conception). They will provide a fundamental base in ecological investigations, but also in stratigraphic works for the definition of the strata bearing gas and oil.