Lucyna Mirosława Falkowska (1951 – 7 April 2021) was a Polish scientist and

oceanographer Oceanography (), also known as oceanology and ocean science, is the scientific study of the oceans. It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of topics, including ecosystem dynamics; ocean currents, waves, and geophysical fluid dynamics ...

. She specialized in

atmospheric chemistry Atmospheric chemistry is a branch of atmospheric science in which the chemistry of the Earth's atmosphere and that of other planets is studied. It is a multidisciplinary approach of research and draws on environmental chemistry, physics, meteoro ...

, chemical oceanography and protection of the marine environment. Falkowska worked on the Faculty of Oceanography and Geography of

University of Gdańsk The University of Gdańsk ( pl, Uniwersytet Gdański) is a public research university located in Gdańsk, Poland. It is one of the top 10 universities in Poland and is also an important centre for the studies of the Kashubian language. History ...

Education

Falkowska obtained her doctorate in 1986 with a thesis on the inflow of

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

and

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

compounds from the atmosphere to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...

(based on studies of the Southern Baltic Sea 1981–1985). On 29 September 1997 Falkowska was awarded a postdoctoral degree in oceanology at the Department of Biology, Geography and Oceanology, University of Gdańsk, on the basis of her thesis "Sea surface microvegetation: properties and processes". The habilitation process began on 1 January 1996.

Career

Falkowska directed several research projects in 2001. On 8 June 2006, Falkowska was awarded the title of Professor of Earth Sciences by President

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he prev ...

. Falkowska was full professor and head of the Laboratory of Sea and Atmospheric Chemistry at the Institute of Oceanography, Faculty of Oceanography and Geography, University of Gdańsk. She was a specialist member of the Committee for Marine Research, Division III of the Natural Sciences and Earth Sciences of the

Polish Academy of Sciences The Polish Academy of Sciences ( pl, Polska Akademia Nauk, PAN) is a Polish state-sponsored institution of higher learning. Headquartered in Warsaw, it is responsible for spearheading the development of science across the country by a society of ...

. From 1999 to 2011 Falkowska was a supervisor of eleven PhD theses, a reviewer of two habilitation theses and three PhD theses.

Honours and awards

In 1999, she was awarded the

Golden Cross of Merit The Cross of Merit () is a Polish civil state decoration established on 23 June 1923, to recognize services to the state. History At the time of its establishment in 1923, the Cross of Merit was the highest civilian award in Poland. It was aw ...

. She also received the Medal of the National Education Commission and many awards from the Rector of the University of Gdańsk. She was a member of the

Gdańsk Scientific Society Gdańsk Scientific Society (Polish: ''Gdańskie Towarzystwo Naukowe'', GTN) is a general scientific society in Gdańsk (), Poland. It was established in 1922 as the ''Society of the Sciences and Arts Friends in Gdańsk'' (''Towarzystwo Przyjaciół ...

Death

Falkowska died on 7 April 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falkowska, Lucyna Mirosława Polish oceanographers 21st-century Polish women scientists Polish chemists 1951 births 2021 deaths Place of birth missing Place of death missing Academic staff of the University of Gdańsk Members of the Polish Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland)