Vladimir Silkin graduated from Krasnoyarsk State University with a degree in biophysics and received a Ph.D. from the Institute of Biophysics of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences. He has been Doctor of Sciences in Hydrobiology at Moscow State University since 1988. He is the author of more than 200 publications. His research interests include marine ecosystems, phytoplankton ecology, the mathematical modeling of marine ecosystems, and the biotechnology of photoautotrophs.