Abstract
Nadezhda Petrovna Slavchenko, a soil zoologist, spent forty years of her life and career as a teacher and scientist at the Karaganda Pedagogical Institute, Karaganda University, and the Department of Zoology. The process of educating scientific and pedagogical staff of the greatest educational institution in Central Kazakhstan is depicted retrospectively on the example of the creative fate of a professional biologist. It was difficult to go from being an assistant to the department chair and a prominent associate professor, but it was made possible by senior colleagues' encouragement and the direction of the newly established University of Karaganda. Soil zoology specialization led to contacts with renowned scientists and great individuals, as well as a fantastic unexplored world. The sole stationary soil-zoological research of invertebrate creatures conducted in Central Kazakhstan by N.P. Slavchenko soil organisms contributed to a better understanding of the relict nature of the Pleistocene island forests' faunistic complex inside the folded nation of Kazakhstan. Invertebrate representatives from over 200 species and 57 families were described; some were reported for the first time for the Sary-Arka or Kazakhstan region. The post-glacial fauna's migration paths were taken into consideration. N.P. Slavchenko's students went on to become naturalists and professors, defended scientific theses, and maintained a passion for zoological study.