Editorial Board

Prof. Dr. Jarosław Socha is Head of the Department of Forest Resource Management at the Faculty of Forestry, University of Agriculture in Kraków. Since September 1, 2024, he has served as Dean of the Faculty. He is Chair of the Committee on Forest Sciences and Wood Technology of the Polish Academy of Sciences for the 2024–2028 term and a member of the Science Evaluation Committee. He serves on the editorial boards of numerous scientific journals, including the highly regarded Forest Ecology and Management. He has completed research stays at the Integrated Remote Sensing Studio at the University of British Columbia, Canada (2014), and at the University of Lisbon, Portugal (2015). He has also participated in numerous research visits across most European countries, as well as in Brazil, Chile, and the United States.

In his research, he focuses on three main research areas: 1. Long-term consequences of changes in site conditions an forest productivity resulting from climate change and anthropogenic pressure.
2. Disturbances and forest adaptation to climate change, as well as the mitigation role of forests.
3. Modelling the growth of trees and forest stands, as well as site productivity, with particular emphasis on the use of remote sensing data.

Principal investigator or participant in over 20 national and international research projects (National Science Centre in Poland, 5th and 7th EU Framework Programmes, Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe and others).

Dawid Kupka specializes in forest ecology and close-to-nature silviculture. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Ecology and Silviculture at the Faculty of Forestry, University of Agriculture in Kraków. His research focuses on the effects of climate warming on soil biogeochemical properties and on the growth of young generations of key tree species. He is a recipient of scholarships from the Polish Minister of Science for outstanding young scientists and the Foundation for Polish Science. He has completed research stays at international institutions, including the University of Zurich, the University of Ljubljana, and the University of Vermont. He was the principal investigator of a National Science Centre project on the use of stable isotopes in forest ecology under climate change. He serves as Vice-Chair of the Young and Early Career Scientists Working Group of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS).

Biodiversity
Izabela Fedyń is an Assistant at the Department of Forest Biodiversity at the University of Agriculture in Kraków, Poland. She is a biologist whose research focuses on wildlife ecology and conservation, with particular emphasis on large mammals and human–wildlife interactions. Her work combines ecological research with practical conservation activities aimed at improving coexistence between people and wildlife in shared landscapes. She was awarded the Polish Minister’s Scholarship for Outstanding Young Scientists in recognition of her scientific achievements.

Biodiversity
Fabian Przepióra, specializes in animal ecology and nature conservation. He is a research assistant in the Department of Forest Biodiversity at the Faculty of Forestry, University of Agriculture in Kraków. His research spans temperate forests with varying levels of human impact — from natural and primeval woodlands to urban green spaces. He investigates the role of tree microhabitats, deadwood, natural disturbances, and ecosystem engineers in shaping biodiversity, particularly of birds. His interests also include ecological monitoring using modern methods and technologies, especially bioacoustics. He gained experience at Cornell University and the University of Cambridge, as well as through collaborations with Polish governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in nature conservation and biodiversity monitoring.

Ecology and silviculture
PhD in Forestry (2022). Research interests include silviculture, forest soil science and forest hydrology. His research to date has focused on understanding the accumulation of pollutants and the natural bioremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons under the influence of varied biological activity resulting from soil and habitat conditions, as well as the specific characteristics of forest management. He is a researcher on projects funded by the National Science Centre, the General Directorate of State Forests, and the Poznań University of Life Sciences. Member of the Wetlands Green Life expert team. He has participated in five scientific conferences, winning the award for best presentation on two occasions. He currently focuses on issues relating to the water retention properties of forest soils, the quality and quantity of surface and groundwater, and the use of geoinformatics methods in the context of modelling and simulation. He teaches courses on silviculture.

Ecology and silviculture
Her research focuses on the role of root systems developing under diverse climatic conditions, their interactions with soil organic matter, and the biodiversity of soil proper nutrition of forest tree seedlings and the impact of nursery production practices and fertilization on root system development. She is an academic teacher in forest soil science, silviculture, and ecological foundations of forest management. She has authored and co-authored several scientific publications and leads a project funded by the National Science Centre, while also participating in projects funded by the National Centre for Research and Development and the State Forests. She has participated in numerous national and international trainings, conferences, and internships, co-organized the ICYR doctoral conference and outreach events, and is actively involved in university organizational activities.

Forest machinery
Mariusz Kormanek specialises in issues relating to the mechanisation of forestry. He holds a professorship at the University of Agriculture in Kraków, at the Faculty of Forestry, Department of Forestry Technology and Forest Utilisation. His research interests mainly concern on: the application of modern technical advances in forestry machinery; terramechanics; the impact of forestry machinery on the forest environment particularly the soil; the physical parameters of soils and substrates; renewable energy sources in forestry. He has undertaken research and teaching placements at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada; the Technical University in Zvolen, Slovakia; and the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, Czech Republic.

Forest management and economics
Piotr Janiec is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Forest Resource Management, Faculty of Forestry, University of Agriculture in Kraków. He holds a double Master's degree in Geomatics and Spatial Modelling from Aix-Marseille University and the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk, and a PhD in Forest Sciences from the University of Agriculture in Krakow. His research focuses on the application of remote sensing and geoinformation technologies in forest resource management. He has worked as a Remote Sensing Specialist at the Bureau of Forest Management and Geodesy, completed internships at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the Canadian Forest Service, and participated in numerous research projects related to forest management and forest adaptation to climate change in Poland.

Forest management and economics
Luiza Tymińska-Czabańska, PhD is an Assistant Professor at the University of Agriculture in Krakow, Poland. She received her PhD in forest sciences in 2022 and was awarded the Polish Minister of Education and Science scholarship for outstanding young scientists in 2023. Her research focuses on forest growth modelling under changing environmental and climatic conditions, climate-related forest mortality, and the use of ground-penetrating radar to study tree root systems. She is the author of nearly 30 publications in international peer-reviewed journals and has been involved in several national and international research projects.

Forest protection and phytopathology
Jakub Goczał is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Forest Ecosystem Protection at the Faculty of Forestry, University of Agriculture in Kraków. His research focuses on the functional morphology and evolution of insects, especially the adaptive significance of morphological innovations such as wings and their modifications, the effects of physical constraints on the evolution of the flight apparatus, and the links between flight morphology and dispersal ability. He has led several research projects funded by the Polish National Science Centre, including OPUS, PRELUDIUM, and ETIUDA, and has received the Minister of Education and Science Scholarship for Outstanding Young Scientists. He has also completed research stays in Canada and Spain. His current research project focuses on the evolution of dispersal potential in bark beetles.

Geomatics, modelling and AI
Paweł Hawryło holds a PhD in Forestry. His research focuses on the development of forest inventory methods and the modeling of tree and forest stand growth, with particular emphasis on the application of remote sensing technologies. He is the co-author of numerous peer-reviewed scientific articles, and has presented his work at both national and international conferences. He has completed research internships in the Czech Republic, Italy, and Finland. In 2023, he was awarded a scholarship from the Minister of Education and Science for outstanding young scientists. Dr. Hawryło is a member of the Remote Sensing Section of the Polish Geographical Society and the Polish Forestry Society. He serves as principal investigator of two projects funded by the National Science Centre and has contributed as a researcher to more than a dozen national and international research projects. He teaches courses on the application of geographic information systems and remote sensing in forestry. He also supervises the Forestry Students’ Scientific Club at the Faculty of Forestry, University of Agriculture in Kraków.

Geomatics, modelling and AI
Piotr Tompalski is a Research Scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, where he develops remote sensing–based approaches to support forest carbon monitoring and reporting. Born and raised in Poland, Piotr pursued his studies in forestry at the University of Agriculture in Krakow, where he earned his Ph.D. in 2013. He subsequently moved to Canada, where he worked at the University of British Columbia, focusing on remote sensing applications in forest inventory. In his research, Piotr integrates multiple remote sensing data sources, including laser scanning, photogrammetry, and satellite imagery, to improve estimates of forest structure, biomass, and carbon dynamics. His recent work has focused on leveraging multi-temporal datasets to better quantify forest growth processes and support national-scale carbon accounting and reporting systems.

Hydrology and engineering
Ewa Słowik-Opoka is a specialist in environmental engineering. She is the author of scientific papers, book chapters, and the inventor of patented solutions. Her research focuses on hydrology and forest engineering, particularly the hydromorphology of mountain rivers and streams, woody debris storage and retention in channels, erosion processes in small catchments, and the operation of land drainage systems. She has extensive experience in both field and laboratory research, as well as in managing projects as a principal investigator and team member. Her scientific activity includes research internships in the USA, the UK, the Czech Republic, and Austria, and participation in international team projects, for example in Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands. She serves as the supervisor of the Hydrology Section of the Forestry Students’ Scientific Association at the University of Agriculture in Kraków. She is a member of IAHS, IAS, and IAG.

Sustainable forest operation systems
Krzysztof Leszczyński is a researcher and forestry specialist working at the interface of forest science, operations management, and data analytics. His interests focus on sustainable forest management, productivity improvement, and the application of quantitative methods to complex environmental and economic systems. His publications address timber harvesting productivity, thinning operations, forwarding systems, mechanized technologies, and cost modelling in forestry. He has also contributed to studies on forest growth, yield prediction, and site index modelling for major tree species in Poland. In addition, his work explores innovation in forestry, including autonomous afforestation planters and automated planting systems. He combines practical forestry experience with advanced statistical modelling to support decision-making and operational optimization.