Women’s Week at the University of Wrocław – Wioleta Porębna, doctoral student

Maria Kozan: Is the field work in your profession hard for a woman? Is it rather a men’s world, or are there more women in the geomorphology and other similar fields?

Wioleta Porębna: It is hard for me to speak on behalf of all women that work as geographers, but the experience of working at UWr allows me to deny that field work is a men-only domain. In the department (Department of Geomorphology) and institute (Institute of Geography and Regional Development), there are plenty of women, who have the field work included in their duties. Of course, it is worth noticing that this type of academic activity usually requires some kind of physical and mental predisposition, as we have to carry heavy equipment and explore terrains that are hard to reach, no matter the weather conditions. Attributes that allow this to happen have nothing to do with gender. I have to admit, I never had to carry a 30-kilogram power generator, as the gentlemen usually took this challenge, but 15 kilograms of wires and electrodes are my usual load during the soil electrofusion research with dr hab. Marek Kasprzak.

MK: Why did you decide on the Sudetes, Lower Silesia and Kłodzko region?

WP: I have an academic and personal relation with Lower Silesia. I am strongly convinced that I have a warm, emotional attitude to this area. This is where I studied, where I do my doctoral degree; my family comes from the Kłodzko region and I spent winters and summers in the Stołowe Mountains, for example working in ‘Na Szczelińcu’ shelter, located in a breathtaking place. This passion towards sandstone areas resulted in the realization of research under the supervision of prof. dr hab. Piotr Migoń. This work allows me to fully use my skills in spatial analysis with the help of GIS (geographic information system) tools, field cartography and lets me conduct independent academic research. The complicated structure of sandstone areas is the perfect basis for this kind of work.

MK: How was your experience on the internships you finished abroad? What have you learned at international universities?

WP: Internships are periods of intensive academic work. I have a certain sympathy for them, especially because, for me, trips abroad every time meant field work. There are many advantages of these kinds of trips. Most importantly, we become members of a brand-new team for a while, meet new mentors and co-workers and, thanks to meeting them in real life, these relationships become stronger and are permanently a part of our academic career. As a result of changing the working environment, we gain a new perspective on the research problem, which we are handling every day, we get to know new tools, programs, techniques, and equipment. I am convinced that taking part in internships abroad is a strong stimulant of academic work development.

MK: What advice do you have for women, who want to enter the scientific world?

WP: Don’t be shy! The door is open, wider than ever.

MK: How do you balance working at the university with being a young mom?

WP: I don’t. [laugh] Maternity, in my case, is far from the myth of “matka Polka”, who skilfully balances between the work and private life. Every mother will tell you that during the peak of the infection season, it is more like a ‘tug-of-war’ contest. With a much stronger opponent. In mud. [laugh] My child is a frequent visitor of Collegium Maximum, accompanies me during the meetings, appears on the photos. Balancing between these worlds is hard, but not impossible. “Expect the unexpected” is our motto and it makes me optimistic.

Wioleta Porębna – doctoral student at the Department of Geomorphology of the Institute of Geography and Regional Development of the University of Wrocław, a laureate of the Alfred Jahn Scholarship for outstanding scientific achievements in the field of Earth and environmental sciences, manager and staff member of research teams, scholarship recipient of grants given by National Science Centre, co-author of ‘A MEiN’ list publications, member of the Association of Polish Geomorphologists and the Pseudokarst Commission of the International Union of Speleology, co-organizer of the Workshop for Young Geomorphologists. Finished an internship at the Institute of Rock Structure and Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Attended international workshops, for instance in Padua (Italy) and Windsor (Great Britain).

In her research work, she explains the genesis and conditions of valley networks on the sandstone areas all over the European Central Uplands, based specifically on areas within Poland, Czech Republic, and Germany.The demanding field work, which is a complement to her studies on complicated structure of sandstone areas, makes a significant part of her research.

She is currently the leader of her own project, which analyses the valley network in the sandstone areas and is financed from the funds of ‘PRELUDIUM’ contest, organized by the National Science Centre.

In private, she is a mom, a photographer, and a historical performer.

Links:

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2838-2237
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7qg9StIAAAAJ&hl=pl
Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wioleta-Porebna-2
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WioletaPorebna

Links to the published articles in prestigious journals:

2022 – Geomorphology: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169555X22002094?via%3Dihub
2021 – Springer – World Geomorphological Landscapes: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-89293-7_18
2020 – Geomorphology: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169555X20302804?via%3Dihub
2019 – Engineering Geology: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0013795218319161?via%3Dihub
2019 – Przegląd Geologiczny: https://www.pgi.gov.pl/oferta-inst/wydawnictwa/czasopisma/przeglad-geologiczny/11792-przeglad-geologiczny-2019-10-tom-67.html

Scientific projects realized at the UWr:

• as a manager:

2022–currently
PRELUDIUM-20 National Science Centre, Registration no.: 2021/41/N/ST10/00598, project leader: mgr Wioleta Anna Porębna
Title: Evolution and controls of valley network in sandstone areas of the Sudetes and adjacent regions – combined field-based and geomorphometric approach (Rozwój i uwarunkowania sieci dolinnej w obszarach piaskowcowych Sudetów i regionów przyległych w świetle badań terenowych i analizy geomorfometrycznej)

• as a performer:

2022 – currently
SONATA-16 National Science Centre, Registration no.: 2020/39/D/ST10/00861, project leader: dr Filip Duszyński
Title: Q-MESA Mechanisms of Evolution of Sandstone Areas, Central and Western Europe (Q-MESA | Mechanizmy Ewolucji Obszarów Piaskowcowych, Centralna i Zachodnia Europa)

• as a scholarship holder:

2023 – currently
OPUS-20 National Science Centre, Registration no.: 2020/39/B/HS3/02262, project leader: dr Daniel Wojtucki
Title: Legal archeology of Silesia and the Kłodzko region (13.th-18.th centuries) (Archeologia prawna Śląska i ziemi kłodzkiej (XIII-XVIII wiek))

Translated by Gabriela Rutkowska (student of English Studies at the University of Wrocław) as part of the translation practice.