Monika Pawlik is the winner of the Wrocław Magnolia competition
Monika Wiktoria Pawlik, a graduate student at the University of Wrocław, was awarded second place in the Wrocławska Magnolia competition for her thesis entitled „Śmiertelność chrząszczy biegaczowatych (Coleoptera Carabidea) w śmieciach wrocławskich lasów” (“Mortality of ground beetles (Coleoptera Carabidea) in the litter of Wrocław’s forests”). The awards were presented by the Mayor of Wrocław, Jacek Sutryk.
The Wrocław Magnolia competition rewards master’s theses by graduates of Wrocław universities. The theses must relate to improving the quality of life of Wrocław residents in the broadest sense. In the academic year 2022/2023, 11 graduates from five universities were awarded prizes. The total amount of the awards was PLN 40,000.
According to Monika Pawlik, the choice of topic for her thesis was primarily determined by the fact that the disappearance of animals in discarded rubbish in the environment is a fairly common, but still inaccurately researched phenomenon.
Although my work is only concerned with runner beetles, this does not mean that they are the only group predisposed to dying inside abandoned rubbish. With almost all types of habitats being affected by litter at the moment, most groups of animals – from small invertebrates to large vertebrates – are vulnerable to dying inside waste – says our graduate student. – I believe that continually raising public awareness of the negative effects of littering, combined with active education on responsible waste management, is key to combating and counteracting the problem of environmental litter pollution.
As Monika Pawlik says: What surprised our young researcher the most? – The most shocking thing for me was the amount of waste in the forests we surveyed. Some of the bottles were very old and these were the ones that contained the most animals. It’s a bit of a vicious circle, because the longer a container is in the environment, the more animals can potentially be trapped inside it. Later on, as dead individuals accumulate and as a result of putrefaction processes, an increasingly intense smell is emitted, which attracts more animals. Therefore, regular forest cleaning plays a really key role in combating this phenomenon.
During her studies, our graduate became known as an active researcher. She was a scholarship holder of the minister, the rector of our university, and with the topic of the disappearance of animals in rubbish she participated in several conferences. At one of them she won the main prize, at another she won a distinction. She has co-authored a scientific publication in the journal Scientific Reports (https://www.nature.com/srep/), which is published by the Nature consortium.
Congratulations to Monika Pawlik and all the other laureates!
