research teams

The Beekeeping Team

The main focus of the Beekeeping Team’s scientific research is the honey bee (Apis mellifera), and the topics of the research are multifaceted. It includes, among others, bionomics, bee ecology, with particular emphasis on the search for natural biologically active substances that could be used to protect them against diseases such as varroasis. In addition, interdisciplinary research is conducted on the quality of bee products and their impact on animal organisms, mainly humans.

Given the wide range of research conducted (physiology and ecology of the bee family, honey plants, pollen analysis, chemical composition of bee products and their impact on organisms in in vivo and in vitro studies, bee diseases, and others) the Beekeeping Team includes scientists representing various scientific disciplines, including Dr. Agnieszka Greń, Prof. UKEN; Dr. Beata Barabasz-Krasny, Prof. UKEN; Dr. Ewa Żesławska, Prof. UKEN; Dr. Elzbieta Rudolphi-Szydło, Prof. UKEN; Dr. Barbara Dyba; Dr. Anna Chrobak-Žuffová; Dr. Zofia Goc; Dr. Joanna Korzeniowska, Dr. Barbara Kreczmer; Dr. Renata Muchacka, Dr. Grzegorz Rut; Edyta Kapusta, M.A., doctoral students, students, beekeepers.

Contact person: dr hab., prof. UKEN Agnieszka Greń agnieszka.gren@uken.krakow.pl

Keywords: beekeeping, honey bee , bee products

 

The Ecotoxicology Research Team

The Ecotoxicology Team is a group of scientists conducting research in the field of ecotoxicology and environmental biomonitoring. The team consists of faculty members Łukasz J. Binkowski, Marzena Albrycht, Martyna Błaszczyk-Altman, Katarzyna Kucharska, Izabela Wiśniowska along with PhD students and students from the Institute of Biology and Earth Sciences, as well as collaborators from other universities and institutes of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Our research focuses on the circulation of metals in nature and their impact on organisms. Currently, we are conducting projects on metal concentrations in waterbirds, predators, and humans. Metals enter animal organisms primarily through food, leading to their gradual exposure to the negative effects of these pollutants. These substances undergo bioaccumulation, reaching the highest concentrations in predators at the top of the food chain. Over the past two hundred years, the rate of increase in metal concentrations in the surrounding environment and their bioavailability has continuously risen, posing a direct threat to living organisms. From a long-term perspective, this period is too short for the development of effective detoxification mechanisms from an evolutionary standpoint. Consequently, we observe frequent cases of poisoning in both individual organisms and entire populations, which negatively affects ecosystem stability. Determining metal content in the tissues of animals that serve as the final links in trophic chains is a key aspect of our research, as it can indicate the maximum level of environmental contamination in their habitats.

In our research, we use advanced instrumental analysis techniques that allow us to precisely determine the concentrations of studied elements. We combine these methods with modern statistical approaches, enabling a comprehensive interpretation of the obtained data. While carrying out our projects, we collaborate directly with Polish research institutions (such as the Polish Academy of Sciences and the University of Gdańsk) as well as international partners, including institutions from France, Slovakia, and the United Kingdom.

Contact person: dr hab., prof. UKEN Łukasz J. Binkowski lukasz.binkowski@uken.krakow.pl

Keywords: biomonitoring, bioremediation, instrumental analysis, pollution, metals, ecotoxicology

Research equipment:
Spectrometer AAnalyst 200 (F-AAS method, PerkinElmer), AAnalyst 200 (GF-AAS, PerkinElmer), MA-3 Solo (CV-AAS, Nippon), microwave digester PreeKem.

 

The Sedimentological Research Team 

The Sedimentology Research Team consists of IBNZ employees (geographers) conducting research on the development and transformation of landforms in various climate zones, e.g. mobilization and stabilization of dune fields in the New Jersey Pine Barrens in the eastern US; origin and activity of the Albany Pine Bush dune field in New York, northeastern US; the development of mass movements in northern Vietnam; the granulometry of debris cones in the context of the diverse climate of periglacial mountain slopes (using the example of Spitsbergen and Central Asia). In addition, we use studies of sedimentological sites in the Western Carpathians to create new geosites and promote geotourism.

The team’s research focuses on the analysis of the textural characteristics of sediments from various sedimentary environments. As one of the few centers in Poland, based on the shape of sand and silt grains and automatic image analysis, we determine the source material of sediments, reconstruct transport conditions and geomorphological processes, as well as interactions between different environments, e.g., fluvial-aeolian.

We cooperate with other research centers both in Poland and abroad (including the University of Warsaw, the University of Silesia, the Geological Survey of Canada, the Institute of Geological Sciences, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, the School of Natural Science and Mathematics, Geology Department, Stockton University USA, the Institute of Geography SAV, and the Geographical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences).

Contact person: dr Dorota Chmielowska-Michalak dorota.chmielowska-michalak@uken.krakow.pl

Research equipment:
– Malvern Mastersizer 3000 particle size analyzer – The analyzer measures particle sizes ranging from 0.01 to 3500 µm. Attachments (Hydro EV, Aero S) enable testing of liquid and dry particle dispersions.

– Malvern Morphologi G3SE analyzer – an automated, highly sensitive instrument for simultaneously determining the shape, size, and number of particles in a sample. It can measure both dry particles and emulsions, as well as liquid suspensions, in the particle size range of 0.5–1300 µm.

– Sonics ultrasonic sonicator with soundproof chamber

– Set of laboratory sieves with Multiserw-Morek shaker