The life and scientific career of Professor Vasyl Mykolayovych Hutsulyak – an outstanding Ukrainian geographer and teacher

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive analysis of the life path, scientific legacy, and pedagogical activity of Professor Vasyl Mykolaiovych Hutsulyak, an outstanding Ukrainian geographer who made a significant contribution to the formation and development of modern geoecology, landscape science, and landscape geochemistry in Ukraine.

Special attention is given to revealing the scholar’s role in establishing the landscape–geochemical school, creating a geoecological laboratory, developing a network of interdisciplinary research, and promoting the achievements of the Chernivtsi geographical school within the international scientific community.

Professor Hutsulyak developed an ecological and geochemical concept for assessing the state of landscape complexes, substantiated a methodology for the comprehensive analysis of geosystems, and initiated a new scientific direction—landscape–geochemical ecology. Under his leadership, dozens of geochemical, ecological–geographical, and medical–geographical maps were created, forming the basis for regional environmental planning and remaining relevant today.

A crucial stage of Hutsulyak’s activity was the establishment, in the 1980s, of the landscape–geochemical laboratory, which gradually evolved into a powerful educational and research center. The laboratory conducted complex studies of soils, water, biota, and atmospheric air, analyzed environmental pollution in urbanized territories, and implemented international scientific projects in cooperation with research institutions in Romania and Moldova. Under the professor’s leadership, a scientific school was formed, within which eight PhD theses were successfully defended, addressing various aspects of landscape geochemistry, medical geography, ecological–economic assessments, and the analysis of rural and urban geosystems.

Particular attention is devoted to his pedagogical work, as Professor Hutsulyak successfully combined high scientific culture with the talent of a lecturer and mentor. He authored numerous textbooks and teaching manuals that have become fundamental for delivering university courses such as Landscape Ecology, Landscape Science, and Landscape Geochemistry in higher education institutions across Ukraine. His international recognition is evidenced by participation in prestigious scientific organizations, membership in international associations, and numerous awards.

The scientific and pedagogical heritage of Vasyl Mykolaiovych Hutsulyak constitutes a significant component of the development of Ukrainian geography, while his contribution to the formation of geoecological and landscape–geochemical research remains relevant and influential. The scholar created a comprehensive scientific direction, established a strong school of followers, and left a substantial intellectual legacy that continues to shape the contemporary development of geographical science