Organisers of the collection – dr hab. Karolina Bącela-Spychalska (UL Professor) and Dr Halyna Morhun – during the exhibition of photos from Ukraine, which they organised in 2022, a month after the Russian aggression.
Scientific cooperation between the hydrobiologists from Lodz and their colleagues from the Institute of Marine Biology in Odessa dates back to 2009. Back then, joint research projects and scientific expeditions to Ukraine were launched, which have resulted in numerous scientific publications. Dr Jurij Kwacz (Jurij Kwach) is one of the Ukrainian collaborators of the university. Together with scientists from the University of Lodz he has studied, among other things, fish and aquatic invertebrates.
Ukrainian scientist supports territorial defence
Since the first day of Russian invasion in Ukraine last February, Dr. Kwacz has been very active as a volunteer and helped the Ukrainian army defend the country against the invasion: he has delivered water to checkpoints, washed clothes, weaved masking nets, delivered food and equipment for the brigades of Territorial Defence Forces in Odessa. Currently, he gets lists of necessary things: from ordinary gel pens or rulers in the NATO standard, through helmet covers, to binoculars and night vision goggles, etc. directly from the commanders of these brigades. He, himself also raises money to buy these items, which are sometimes very expensive, appealing for help among his colleagues and friends. Hydrobiologists from the University of Lodz have immediately decided to help the colleague and soldiers he supports by launching a public fundraiser in Poland and making the necessary purchases.
Since the first day of Russian invasion in Ukraine last February, Dr. Kwacz has been very active as a volunteer and helped the Ukrainian army defend the country against the invasion: he has delivered water to checkpoints, washed clothes, weaved masking nets, delivered food and equipment for the brigades of Territorial Defence Forces in Odessa. Currently, he gets lists of necessary things: from ordinary gel pens or rulers in the NATO standard, through helmet covers, to binoculars and night vision goggles, etc. directly from the commanders of these brigades. He, himself also raises money to buy these items, which are sometimes very expensive, appealing for help among his colleagues and friends. Hydrobiologists from the University of Lodz have immediately decided to help the colleague and soldiers he supports by launching a public fundraiser in Poland and making the necessary purchases
– appeals Dr Karolina Bącela-Spychalska (UL Professor) from the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, initiator of aid for the fighting Ukraine.
Help is also needed for people of science in Ukraine
Recently, the organisers of the collection in Lodz (including, in addition to Prof. Bącel-Spychalska, a Ukrainian researcher doing a postdoctoral internship at the University of Lodz, Dr. Halyna Morhun and Professor Michał Grabowski from the Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection) extended their assistance so as to purchase two power packs with large capacity and high starting power in all weather conditions, and hydrobiological research equipment from the collected funds.
Prof. Karolina Bącela-Spychalska, the initiator of the collection for Ukraine
We are also supporting the scientists themselves, because a few years ago their headquarters burned down, and now, in a war-torn country, it's hard to buy research equipment. Hydrobiological nets for plankton sampling and entrapping other aquatic organisms, as well as standardised containers to store the samples are needed. We will try to deliver them to our colleagues
– assures Dr Bącela-Spychalska.
So far, of PLN 25,000 planned on zrzutka.pl we have managed to collect PLN 13,717. Additionally, thanks to the initiative of dr hab. Anna Drozd (UL Professor), the Department of Invertebrate Zoology and Hydrobiology organised a Christmas charity auction, during which PLN 9,106 was collected for the purchase of electric current generators. All these funds have been collected thanks to, among others, numerous donations from the community of the Faculty of Biology and Environmental protection of the University of Lodz.
The needs are still enormous. Anyone who would like to financially support Ukrainian scientists and soldiers can do so through the zrzutka.pl service. For material assistance, please contact the collection organisers via e-mail: karolina.bacela@biol.uni.lodz.pl.
Source: dr hab. Karolina Bącela-Spychalska (Associate Professor), Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz
Text and edit: Marcin Kowalczyk, Communications and PR Centre, University of Lodz
Photos: archive of the collection organisers
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