Fedor Shirshikov, a student of the Master's in Corporate Research, Development and Innovation Management at HSE University, has proposed an innovative technology for identifying oil and gas fields by detecting indicator microbes using PCR tests. The new method could help reduce the number of costly dry drilling operations. With this project, the student made it to the finals of the GreenTech Sustainable Development technology accelerator organised by the Skolkovo Foundation. In this interview, he explains why a biologist decided to study innovation management and how the oil industry inspired his startup idea.