Irkutsk State University
Chernikin grew up in Pyatigorsk, where he studied at school with known in the future as writer Genrikh Borovik. He graduated from Moscow Fur Institute in 1953. Scientific zoologist in Krasnodar, Mary, Dashoguz, Commander Islands in 1953–1955, Kronotsky Nature Reserve in 1955–1964, Barguzin Nature Reserve in 1964–2009. He was awarded a PhD in agriculture by Irkutsk State University in 1974.