We are pleased to announce that in the second half of 2021, four employees of the Polish Geological Institute - NRI have been awarded doctoral degrees. They are: Anna Gabryś-Godlewska from the Department of Environmental Geology, Sylwester Kamieniarz and Krzysztof Karwacki from the Center for Geoscience, and Paweł Urbański from the Department of Compositional and Economic Geology.

Dr. Anna Gabryś-Godlewska

Anna Gabryś-Godlewska received the degree of a Doctor of Science in the discipline of Earth and Environmental Sciences by decision of the PGI-NRI Scientific Council dated November 10, 2021.

The main objective of the dissertation entitled "The analysis of the impact of industrial activities on the contamination of soil and water environment in the Kamienna catchment area" was to assess the geochemical state of soils, water sediments and water in the Kamienna catchment area and the changes that have occurred in the soil environment of this area over the past 20 years, taking into account the impact of industrial activities. The thesis was supervised by Dr. Stanisław Wołkowicz, Professor of the Institute.

Anna Gabryś-Godlewska graduated in 2002 from the Department of Geology of the University of Warsaw, with a degree in hydrogeology. Since 2004 she has been an employee of Polish Geological Institute - National Research Institute where she deals with issues related to the protection of the environment and natural resources, waste disposal and the impact of anthropopressure on the soil and water environment.

Dr. Anna Gabryś-Godlewska

Since the beginning of her work she has been closely connected with the implementation of a large cartographic project developed in PGI-NRI, that being the Geoenvironmental Map of Poland (from pol. Mapa geośrodowiskowa Polski, abbr. MGśP) in the 1:50,000 scale. She is the author and co-author of several dozen sheets of this map. Since 2008 she has been a member of MGśP coordination team as a regional editor. She is a co-author of the "Manual for the preparation of the Map of degraded areas and increased natural hazard in the 1:10,000 scale" published by PGI in 2007 and the "Annex to the Manual for preparation of the Geoenvironmental Map of Poland (II) in the 1:50,000 scale " released in 2013. She is also a co-author of the "Methodology for performing monitoring of open-pit mineral exploitation" published in 2019 and a member of the team coordinating a long-term project implemented in accordance with this methodology.

She was a long-time member of the Cartographic Development Committee, for which she prepared numerous reviews. As of March 2020, she was appointed as a member of the Geological Studies Committee.

She has co-authored articles on environmental and resource geology and has participated extensively in scientific conferences related to these topics.

Dr. Sylwester Kamieniarz

Sylwester Kamieniarz received a PhD degree in Earth and Environmental Sciences by decision of the PGI-NRI Scientific Council on November 10, 2021. In his dissertation entitled "The landslide hazard prediction for the city of Cracow with the use of artificial neural networks and geostatistical methods", he used the multilayer perceptron technique to estimate the landslide susceptibility of the study area and the binomial area kriging model to predict the time probability of landslide activation in the future. The conducted studies made it possible to test methods, which have not yet been used for such tasks in Poland, in an area of complicated geological structure and relief of the terrain. The thesis was supervised by Prof. Antoni Wójcik, PhD. In accordance with Resolution 68/XI/2021 of the PGI-NRI Scientific Council, dated 10 November 2021, the dissertation of Sylwester Kamieniarz, M.Sc. was recognized as outstanding.

Dr. Sylwester Kamieniarz

Dr. Sylwester Kamieniarz graduated from the Faculty of Earth Sciences at the University of Silesia with a master's degree in geology. Since April 2015, he has been a PGI-NRI employee in the Carpathian Branch, located in Krakow. Working for the Geohazards Centre he deals with issues of geological hazards, mainly landslides. He participates in the SOPO project, in which he creates maps of landslides and terrains threatened by mass movements in the 1:10,000 scale.

He also participated in intervention works and provided opinions for geological work projects and geoengineering documentation of landslide areas. He participated in revision projects of the Łącko SMGP sheet in the 1:50,000 scale and the Bielsko-Biała MGP sheet in the 1:200,000 scale. He was a co-author of the final compilation of "Report on geological works carried out in the Hasagt area (Mongolia) in the years 2009 - 2013".

He obtained his Category VIII geological qualification in July 2018.

Dr. Sylwester Kamieniarz is the author and co-author of two monographs on mass movements in the Cracow area, two articles published in Geoturystyka and Przegląd Geologiczny magazines and 11 landslide maps. His main scientific interests include practical applications of modern computational and remote sensing methods in mass movement studies utilizing GIS. He actively participated in several scientific conferences on general geology, engineering geology, geohazards and remote methods, where he presented 3 papers and 2 posters.

Dr.-Ing. Krzysztof Karwacki

Krzysztof Karwacki received his PhD degree in Earth and Environmental Sciences by decision of the PGI-NRI Scientific Council, on November 10, 2021. In his dissertation entitled "The temporal and spatial models of landslide development using photogrammetric methods (based on the example of selected landslides)", he described the dynamics and multistage nature of landslide development based on archival aerial photographs. Positive results of experiments in acquiring current data on landslides made it possible to implement the method of low-altitude photogrammetry with a drone for systematic measurements of displacements on landslides in the SOPO Project. The thesis was supervised by Prof. Antoni Wójcik.

Dr.-Ing. Krzysztof Karwacki

Krzysztof Karwacki graduated in 2008 from the Deprtment of Geographical and Geological Sciences at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, majoring in geography. In 2016 he obtained an engineering degree in the field of geodesy and cartography at the Warsaw University of Technology.

In 2011 he started work at Polish Geological Institute - NRI in Warsaw, where he implemented tasks related to geological hazards at the Geohazards Centre. From the very beginning his work was related predominantly to landslide studies. He also took part in projects concerning geological mapping, and hazards related to surface mining activities and sinkholes. He is the author and co-author of numerous studies, including dozens of landslide maps, geological and geoengineering documentation, expert opinions and reports. Since 2016, he has been a member of the Voivodship Team for Landslide Removal in the Wielkopolskie voivodship.

He has authored and co-authored five articles and more than a dozen conference presentations and web reports.

Dr. Paweł Urbański

Paweł Urbanski received his doctoral degree in science in the discipline of Earth and environmental sciences by decision of the PGI-NRI Scientific Council on November 10, 2021.

The aim of the dissertation titled "The selection of geological-economic parameters of lignite deposits in the Wielkopolska and Bełchatów regions in terms of decisions concerning their development" was to demonstrate the relationship between the sedimentary environment and potential possibilities for the sedimentation of phytogenic sediments with reservoir concentrations, and at indicating the significance of the raw material potential of abundant lignite deposits in the area of the Poznań trenches and the Bełchatów region in the aspect of possibilities of their future development (conventional and unconventional mining technologies), on the basis of comprehensive characteristics. The dissertation was supervised by Dr.-Ing. Barbara Radwanek-Bąk.

Dr. Paweł Urbanski during fieldwork

In 2006 Dr. Paweł Urbański graduated from the Department of Geology at the University of Warsaw, with a master's degree in stratigraphic and exploration geology.

Since 2006 he has been an employee of Polish Geological Institute - NRI, where he conducts research on carbon-bearing capacity and coal-richness of Palaeogene and Neogene sediments in the Polish Lowlands, Sudetic Block and Western Sudetes. He took part in the implementation of many complex research programs concerning the analysis of the resource potential of lignite, also in terms of its use for unconventional technologies (including underground coal gasification). Among other activities, he was the co-implementer of the Operational Program "Scenarios for technological development of the lignite mining and processing industries", financed by the European Commission, and the complex program "Development of coal gasification technology for highly effective production of fuels and electric energy", financed by the National Centre for Research and Development.

He is currently leading a research project titled "The updating the knowledge base on lignite deposits for the purposes of their utilization together with the development of a geological atlas of selected deposits in Poland" from which the first of the three planned volumes of the Atlas has been prepared.

He has authored and co-authored over twenty publications and numerous archival studies of the Polish Geological Survey, including several geological survey projects and documentation.

We would like to congratulate all new PhD’s and wish them further scientific success!

Translated by Tomasz Trzpil (PGI-NRI)