Varvara Machakhtyrova was born in the Mountainous Region of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia. In 1997 she graduated from the Yakutsk State Agricultural Academy with a degree in Livestock. She lectured on animal husbandry (2000–2020), studied animal physiology, animal husbandry in the North and the Arctic, including the impact of warming on animals. In 2010 she defended her thesis for the degree of candidate of biological sciences (physiology).