Students, lectures and workshops

Working with students

The Croatian Biospeleological Society (CBSS) offers professional internship to students of the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb. Previous topics have included sorting samples of subterranean invertebrates, subterranean invertebrate collection menagement, and drawing of morphological characters of new Isopoda species. We can also develop a new topic with students who are interested in some other aspect of subterranean fauna or the work of the CBSS. Professional internships can be registered on the Career Center portal of the Faculty of Science, and students from other faculties and universities interested in internships can contact us at hbsd@hbsd.hr

Seven students from the University of Zagreb have completed their professional internships since 2023, and we currently have Simon Barbieux–Baroche from L’Institut Agro Rennes-Angers from France and Catarina Teixeira from the University of Lisbon from Portugal.

As part of his studies, Simon has to complete an internship semester abroad. As a cave lover, he chose the CBSS. Over the course of five months, he will participate in samples sorting, subterranean Coleoptera collection menagement, fieldwork, content creation for social networks and some of the association’s administrative work.

Catarina came to Croatia to work on her master thesis on the connection between abiotic factors and the diversity of cave spiders. Using statistical modeling, she will try to determine whether and how the temperature in the cave, the average temperature of the area in which the cave is located, the amount and distribution of precipitation, and many other factors affect the Dinaric spider fauna. The most innovative part of her work is testing whether the complexity of the microhabitat affects the diversity of cave spiders. She measures the complexity of the habitat from LiDAR images of cave channels that she produces herself.

Members of the CBSS are mentors to the Biospeleology Section of the Biology Students’ Association – BIUS. Since its establishment in 1999, BIUS has been gathering ambitious and versatile students who want to improve their scientific and research activities. The association organizes student symposia, publishes the student magazine In vivo and participates in various popular science events. Members work within sections that hold meetings and organize educational field research trips. All students who want to learn more about biospeleology and caves in a less formal way are invited to contact the Biospeleology Section leaders!

Popular science lecture series

In mid-2019, we started popular science lectures series for the public. Our goal is to bring closer biospeleology and the subterranean habitats through interesting and current topics to everyone interested. In addition to topics about biodiversity, speleology, and new scientific findings, we are happy to host an interesting travelogue or presentation of research for a graduate or doctoral thesis.

If you want to be part of our story, either as a lecturer or listener, you can find us at Lomnička 3, Zagreb or by email at hbsd@hbsd.hr. We announce all lectures on our Facebook page.

You can find the topics so far listed below.

Workshops

Day and Night at the Faculty of Science is a popular scientific event that has been held at the Faculty of Science and Mathematics in Zagreb since 2009. The goal of this event is to introduce visitors to biology as a science of life in a simple, accessible and imaginative way and to show life in all its parts and forms.

The Croatian Biospeleological Society, in cooperation with interested biology students, brings subterranean life closer to visitors every year. At our workshops you can learn how caves are created and explored, what the subterranean organisms look like and what adaptations they have developed to survive in this harsh environment. Put on a caving helmet and take a peek with us into the world of darkness, because as the name of one workshop says, “Who’s afraid of the dark anymore?”.

International Bat Night is an event that has been held since 1997 under the auspices of the Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats (EUROBATS), and is organized in more than 30 cosignatory countries. The aim of this manifestation is to remove prejudice and fear of bats and to educate the public about the useful role and importance of protecting these endangered mammals. Traditionaly, it is held every year on the last full weekend in August; however, local organisers sometimes choose other dates if more convenient.

In Croatia, the Bat Night is held across the country, and CBSS members are regular participants and even organisers in some of the cities. Croatian Biospeleological Society participated in the Bat Night in Zagreb (at Medvedgrad in the Nature park Medvednica and in Zoological garden of Zagreb), Rijeka (Natural History Museum Rijeka), in Plitvice Lakes National Park, on the island of Lokrum near Dubrovnik… In the CBSS organization, visitors can attend some interesting lectures about bats, listen to bat echolocation, learn more about the bat diet, but also about speleology, and there are also different workshops and games prepared for children. This interesting event attracts more and more visitors each year, and is slowly becoming one of the most important nature protection events in Croatia.

NGOs’ Open Days

The NGOs’ Open Days manifestation is an annual event organized by the Office for Cooperation with NGOs of the Government of Croatia. It is held throughout Croatia with the aim to inform the public about the work of NGOs in the local and general community. It is a chance for citizens to get to know NGOs’ socially beneficial projects and programs, and learn about opportunities of volunteering in NGOs.

On this occasion, Croatian Biospeleological Society  opens its doors every year and invites everyone who is interested to visit its premises at Lomnička 3, where you can get information about our work, observe cave animals under a microscope and magnifier, watch a short movie about the subterranean fauna behavior, browse through various publications and promotional materials of CBSS, or just come to socialize with our members.