Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences

Head of the Department

prof. dr hab. Radosław Dobrowolski

Staff

• dr Piotr Demczuk
• dr Łukasz Franczak
• dr Beata Hołub
• dr hab. Grzegorz Janicki, prof. UMCS
• dr hab. Piotr Kulesza
• dr inż. Sara Lehmann-Konera
• prof. dr hab. Maria Łanczont
• dr hab. Przemysław Mroczek
• dr Anna Orłowska
• prof. dr hab. Irena Pidek
• dr Jarosław Pietruczuk
• dr Jan Reder
• dr Magdalena Suchora
• dr hab. Sławomir Terpiłowski, prof. UMCS
• dr hab. Piotr Zagórski, prof. UMCS
• dr hab. Paweł Zieliński, prof. UMCS

Current research topics:

• Pleistocene of Poland E and Ukraine W
• Environmental background and settlement location factors in selected prehistoric and historical periods (Poland SE and Ukraine NW)
• Conditions of periglacial morphogenetic processes in the Bellsund region (Western Spitsbergen)
• Dynamics of selected soil and sediment properties of the Bellsund region (Western Spitsbergen)
• Cenozoic morphogenesis of the Lublin-Volyn Uplands
• Evolution of water-muddy geosystems in Poland E
• Environmental evolution recorded in the micro-morphology of exhumed and relict soils
• Conditions for development of various forms of tourism in selected areas
• Use of remote measurements to model and reconstruct historical objects

Research projects - currently in progress:

• OPUS 14 (NCN): Intra-Eemian climate oscillations. Reconstruction based on multiproxy studies of fossil lacustrine deposits of Garwolin Plain (Central Poland)
• OPUS 16 (NCN): Global, regional and local factors determining the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental record in the Ukrainian loess-soil sequences along the Dnieper valley - from the proximal areas to the distal periglacial zone
• SONATA 11 (NCN): The use of hyperspectral imaging for parametrization of the growing season in the context of the characteristics of soil cover

Research projects - finished in the last year:

• MINIATURA 1 (NCN): Sedimentary environments of Pleistocene glacigenic deposits of crevasse accumulation in eastern Poland
• MINIATURA 2 (NCN): Application of sedaDNA to increase the interpretational potential of rotifer resting eggs (Rotifera) in paleolimnological research

History 

The history of the Department dates back to 1945, when the Department of General Geography was established at the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, whose first head was Professor Adam Malicki. In 1949, with the establishment of the Department of Economic Geography, the former Department of General Geography was transformed into the Department of Physical Geography, which included the Department of Physical Geography and the Scientific Station in Równi near Ustrzyki Dolne. In 1970, after the reorganization of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, the Department of Physical Geography became part of the Institute of Earth Sciences. After the Department of Geomorphology was separated in 1992, the Department changed its name to the Department of Physical Geography and Paleogeography. In 2011, in connection with the establishment of the Faculty of Earth Sciences and Spatial Management, the Department adopted its name - Department of Geoecology and Palaeogeography. After 16 years, in October 2018, the Department was merged with the Department of Geomorphology, under the name of the Department of Geomorphology and Palaeogeography. Since 1 October 2019 the current name is the Department of Geomorphology and Palaeogeography. The Department Heads (in chronological order):

• prof. dr hab. Adam Malicki (1945-1977)
• prof. dr Henryk Maruszczak (1977-1993)
• prof. dr hab. Józef Wojtanowicz (1993-2006)
• prof. dr hab. Maria Łanczont (2006-2020)
• prof. dr hab. Radosław Dobrowolski (since 1 October 2020)