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The Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences is a new organizational unit of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin, operating since 1 October 2019, responsible for conducting scientific research in the discipline of "Earth and environmental sciences". Its research traditions date back to the beginnings of the University, i.e. the Department of General Geography established on April 11, 1945. From a formal point of view, its functioning refers to the Institute of Earth Sciences established on October 1, 1970, an organizational unit of the former Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University. Currently, the Institute consists of three departments: the Department of Geology, Soil Science and Geoinformation, the Department of Geomorphology and Palaeogeography, and the Department of Hydrology and Climatology. These are units with high human research potential, equipped with modern research equipment. They employ specialists with high scientific and practical competences in the field of geology, soil science, geomorphology, hydrology, climatology, geographic information systems (GIS) and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS). The main research areas of the Institute's employees focus on issues in the field of: stratigraphy and palaeogeography of the Quaternary, historical and contemporary evolution of geosystems (loess, wetland, glacial-periglacial), changes in the natural environment (waters, soils) under the influence of contemporary climate changes and the increasing anthropopressure, as well as the protection of geo-heritage. Scientific research is carried out in cooperation with national and international partners. Apart from the Lublin region (with a permanent measurement network of meteorological and hydrological elements, including the "Roztocze Research Station" in Guciów), they include Spitsbergen (based on the Calypsobyen UMCS station) and the areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. The main source of funding for them are research projects obtained from the National Science Center (NCN), as well as from the National Center for Research and Development (NCBiR) and other institutions financing science in Poland. The Institute collaborates extensively with the external environment. The group of our main external stakeholders include: the City and Commune of Lublin, local governments of cities and communes of the Lublin Province, Water and Sewerage Enterprise in Lublin, Regional Directorate for Environmental Protection in Lublin, Polish Geological Institute - National Research Institute in Warsaw, Provincial Fund for Environmental Protection and Of Water Management in Lublin, the National Foundation for Environmental Protection, National Parks - Poleski and Roztoczański, Lublin Landscape Parks Complex, Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation in Puławy, construction companies and other Lublin enterprises using abiotic resources of the natural environment. The Institute actively participates in popularizing knowledge about the natural environment. Apart from the annual, interdisciplinary educational and promotional events (Earth Day, Lublin Science Festival), the events that have become a permanent fixture in the Institute's calendar include the annual World Wetlands Day. |
