To build upon an established, personal record of excellence in innovative application of Geology to education, research and training in international development, and use of language skills in translation.

Development practitioner. University of Windsor. Research on soil and water conservation in India, Nigeria, and Ukraine funded by International Development Research Centre, Ottawa. Training in stratigraphic analysis of subsurface data for National Oil Corporation of Kenya, Nairobi, supported by Petro-Canada International Assistance Corporation, Calgary, and Canadian International Development Agency, Ottawa. Training initiatives in Russia and Ukraine funded by UNESCO/UNEP. Wide experience in presentation of research results in workshop format.

Educator-researcher. University of Windsor. Education thrust in Sedimentology, Stratigraphy, Environmental Management. Initiated distance education in Earth Sciences. Responsible for creation of subsurface geological laboratory and well data library. Research on sedimentary features of detrital deposits, solution-generated collapse structures, waste management. Service in cross-disciplinary, inter-university and community-outreach committees with international/environmental orientation and liaison with professional societies.

Government researcher. Saskatchewan Department of Mineral Resources. Diversified research on shallow, low-pressure, low-permeability gas reservoirs in shaly sandstones; deep-well disposal of fluid, industrial wastes; hydrocarbon potential of Saskatchewan; and Mesozoic strata on Canadian Shield.

Freelance translator. Slavonic languages (Polish, Russian) to English. Noteworthy project is novel Powrót z gwiazd (Return from the Stars) by Stanislaw Lem (1980), with more than one million copies in print, worldwide. Translation acclaimed by British and U.S. press.

Professor Emeritus, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada (2022-present).     

Professor of Geology, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada (1980-2021). 

Coordinator, International and Development Research, Education and Training (IDRET), Windsor International, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada (2001-2010).

Visiting Researcher, BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune, State of Maharashtra, India (2000-2001).

Visiting Professor of Geology, University of Nairobi, Kenya (1988-1989).

Chair, Department of Geology, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada (1982-1985, 1985-1988).

Visiting Professor of Geology, University of St. Andrews, Scotland (1980-1981).

Associate Professor of Geology, University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada (1974-1980).

Sedimentary Research Geologist, Saskatchewan Department of Mineral Resources, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada (1969-1974).

Translator, Polish to English, for geological agencies and publishers in Europe and North America (1966-present).

Life Member (P.Eng., P. Geo.), Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada (2022-present)  

Licensed Professional Geoscientist, Association of Professional Engineers and geoscientists of Saskatchewan, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada (1999-2021).

Licensed Professional Engineer, Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Saskatchewan, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada (1999-2021).

Licensed Professional Engineer, Association of Professional Engineers of Saskatchewan. Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada (1972-1999).

Dr.Nat.Sc. in Dynamic Geology (specialization Sedimentology), Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, (1968). This was the first doctorate in Geology, earned in Poland by a British citizen.

Hons. B.Sc. in Geology, University of Edinburgh, Scotland (1965).

Work with the Editorial Team of Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae, journal of the Polish Geological Society.

Recognition by the University of Windsor, Poland’s Minister of Climate and the Environment Decoration of Honour for Merit to Polish Geology, 2023

Decoration of Honour for “Merit to Polish Geology” (Odznaka Honorowa “Zasłużony dla Polskiej Geologii”) from the Minister of Climate and the Environment, Warszawa, Poland, 2021, presentation in 2022.

Work with the Polish Community in Windsor and with Windsor’s twin city, Lublin, Poland.

Knight’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (Krzyż Kawalerski Orderu Zasługi Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej), for outstanding service in the development of Polish-Canadian cooperation in research and higher education and for many years of activities on behalf of the Polish community in Canada, from the President of the Republic of Poland in 2022, presentation in 2023

Copernicus Medallion of the Polish-Canadian Business and Professional Association of Windsor, for work on the Nicolaus Copernicus Jubilee (550) Exhibition. 2023

The Gold Award of the Polish-Canadian Business and Professional Association of Windsor, in appreciation for support of the Polish-Canadian community in Windsor, 2022

received Ontario Volunteer Service Award (15 Years) in 2020 for work with the Polish-Canadian Business and Professional Association of Windsor, Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, virtual presentation ceremony on February 18, 2021.

received Ontario Volunteer Service Award (10 Years) in 2020 for work with the Polish-Canadian Students’ Association of Windsor, Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries, virtual presentation ceremony on February 18, 2021.

awarded Honorary Membership, Polish-Canadian Business and Professional Association of Windsor, for outstanding support to the Canadian-Polish business and professional community in Windsor, November 23, 2018

received Silver Award of Merit (Srebrna Odznaka Honorowa) of the Canadian Polish Congress, for outstanding contributions to the Polish-Canadian community, November 6, 2015

received Ontario Volunteer Service Award (10 Years) for work with the Polish-Canadian Business and Professional Association of Windsor, Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade, April 16, 2015.

received Ontario Volunteer Service Award (5 Years) for work with the Polish-Canadian Students’ Association of Windsor, Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade, April 16, 2015.

invited as VIP Guest by the student Organizing Committee to participate in the Polish-Canadian and Polish-American youth conference, Quo Vadis III: Tools for Success, held at the University of Toronto, May 13-15, 2011.

elected a member of the official delegation to Lublin, Poland, from the City of Windsor International Relations Committee, to mark the tenth anniversary of the twinning agreement between the two cities, June 4-8, 2010.

honoured by the President of the Republic of Poland with the Gold Cross of Merit (Złoty Krzyż Zasługi), effective May 8, 2009, for service to Poland and for “merit in activities on behalf of the Polish community in Canada”, (Monitor Polski, no. 43, item 664, entry no. 20, 2009); the Speaker of the Senate RP made the presentation in Windsor, on May 7, 2010.

appointed Honorary Advisor to the student Organizing Committee of the Polish-Canadian and Polish-American youth conference, Quo Vadis II: Building Bridges, Building Leaders, May 7-9, 2010, University of Windsor (2009-10).

invited to be a member of the Scientific Committee and a reviewer of abstracts for the Fifth International Symposium on Gully Erosion, Human Impact on Gully Erosion, April 20-25, 2010, Institute of Earth Sciences, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, Lublin (2009-10).

[my translation of the centennial book of the Polish community in Windsor] was accepted by UNESCO-Culture as a project for 2008- International Year of Languages and included on its Web site in six languages, under the Thematic Framework, Intercultural Dialogue and Translation (2008).

[centennial book of the Polish community in Windsor] was inducted into a special collection in the Library of Parliament, Parliament Hill, Ottawa (2008).

awarded the Centennial Gold Medal of the Polish Community in Windsor, on its one-hundredth anniversary, “for outstanding service to people of Polish heritage” (2008).

Research project River Bank Erosion, Ukraine

received positive evaluation from Programme Review Branch of Canadian International Development Agency (1999).

Research project Gully Erosion/ Nigeria

included in the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada report, titled Internationalizing Canadian Campuses, which benchmarks the internationalization of teaching, research and community service (2008).

showcased in the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada publication, Profiling the Impacts of North-South Research Collaboration for Development (2006).

featured in an invited presentation at the Eighth Federal Interagency Sedimentation Conference, Reno, Nevada, organized primarily for agencies of the United States Government (2006).

included in the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada report, Momentum, as an example of “research and knowledge transfer for a sustainable environment” (2005).

placed in the Canada-wide “top ten” case studies of “collaborative research for development” by the International Relations Division of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (2005).

Research project Conjunctive Use of Water Resources in Deccan Trap, India

featured in an invited presentation at the Ninth Federal Interagency Sedimentation Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, organized primarily for agencies of the United States Government (2010).  

showcased (“India’s Deccan Plateau Case in Irrigation”) in the highlights of a study by the Asian Development Bank, Manila, the Philippines, and Institute for Global Environmental Strategies Kanagawa, Japan, titled Toward Resource-Efficient Economies in Asia and the Pacific (2007).

adopted as a resource for Traditional Knowledge - Water Management by the National Knowledge Commission, Government of India, New Delhi, “a high-level advisory body to the Prime Minister of India, with the objective of transforming India into a knowledge society” (2007).

featured in the results of the research project of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, Ottawa, Canada, funded by the International Development Research Centre, on government funding, research impact and knowledge transfer (2004-06).

highlighted by the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada, in its Webcast from the World Water Council’s Third World Water Forum (WWF3) in Kyoto, Osaka and Shiga, Japan (2003).

recognized as a Best Practice Using Indigenous Knowledge by the Netherlands Organization for the International Application of Higher Education (Nuffic), The Hague, Netherlands, and the UNESCO Management of Social Transformations (UNESCO/MOST) Programme, Paris, France, and included in the separate databases of Nuffic and UNESCO/MOST (2002-03).

highlighted (“Old Knowledge, New Strategies”) in policy-oriented synthesis, Water: Local-Level Management, by the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada, for “decision makers and researchers in government and beyond” (2002).

showcased as example of “sustainable development in action” in submission to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), Johannesburg, South Africa, by the Stockholm Environment Institute, Sweden and the USA, the United Nations Environment Programme, Kenya, and the RING Alliance of policy research organizations, UK (2002).

chosen to demonstrate conjunctive water use in submission on the “decade of progress since Rio” to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), Johannesburg, South Africa, by the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada (2002).

showcased (“Pilot bottom-up projects: Implementing sustainable water supply”) in policy recommendations by Wissenschaftlicher Beirat der Bundesregierung Globale Umweltveränderungen (German Advisory Council on Global Change), Berlin, in the publication New Structures for Global Environmental Policy (2001).

recognized as a successful research project by the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada, in a retrospective, thirty-year review of its funded projects in the field of water supply (2001).

chosen to demonstrate ground-water recharge in the World Bank Water Supply and Sanitation Division, Nairobi, Kenya, Web document on the management of water resources (2000).

short-listed by the United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya, in the competition, Saving the Drylands, for success stories in desertification control (1999).

recognized as a Success Story in Sustainable Development by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs in its submission to the Sixth Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, New York, USA (1998).

promoted as a successful research project by the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada, in Web and print documents, targeting journalists, researchers and development practitioners in both official languages and in Spanish (1998-99).

was part of “outstanding tribal development work” in Ahmednagar and Thane Districts, Maharashtra, that gained the Tribal Service Organization Award for the partner agency BAIF Development Research Foundation, Pune, from the State of Maharashtra, India (1996-97).  

Appointment to Editors of Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae, scientific journal of Polish Geological Society (2012).

Academic Integrity Award, Academic Integrity Office, University of Windsor (2007, presentation in 2008).

Award for Outstanding Faculty Contribution to Co-operative Education, Co-op Education & Career Services, University of Windsor (2000-2001).

Volunteer Award of Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Calgary, Alberta, Canada (1999).

Honorary Professor of Geology, University of St. Andrews, Scotland, (1983-1989).

Ludwik Zejszner Science Award for paper, published in 1970 Rocznik Polskiego Towarzystwa Geologicznego, Polish Geological Society (1971).

Polish Government/British Council Scholarship for doctoral studies at Jagiellonian University of Kraków, Poland (1965-1968).

Three projects, with funding from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa:

In India, the goal was to improve management of scarce water resources by destitute villagers. We solved the water supply problem. But we also showed the villagers how to add a whole new dimension to the funding agency’s dictum, empowerment through knowledge!

In Nigeria, we found solutions to the rapid erosion of catastrophic gullies, which cause death and destruction in rural areas. As well, we made major contributions to environmental education and to pluralism of environmental awareness in the southeastern part of the country.

In Ukraine, we advised on protection of the left bank of the Dnipro River between two villages against the effects of a hydroelectric scheme, located upstream. But, in addition, we introduced concepts of participatory management, which later spread to other projects in the region.

From opinions of village partners:

“Even in the driest season, I can collect water and grow enough food for my family and still have leftover mangoes and chilies to sell.” “Although this is an untraditional role for women, men support our work in nurseries and co-ops, because it means more revenue for them and our children.” Village women in Akole Taluka, Ahmednagar District, Maharashtra State, India, speaking to Jennifer Goldstone, Editor of UniWorld/UniMonde in April, 1998.

From project evaluation by UNEP Mission:

“The Mission observed that the Project had created impact in four main areas, namely, improvement in water supply, soil conservation, employment creation and empowerment of the people. Other areas of project indirect impact and mentioned by the people include increased crop production and income.” “Building on an early strategy of focusing on families, the approach employed by the project gave villagers an opportunity to participate collectively and actively in identifying problems, collecting data and using it to identify and plan for appropriate treatments for soil and water management. An attitude of community cooperation was reported.” “The project assisted women to form groups and their contribution to development in the villages was already felt.” Anura Widanapathirana and Martha Momanyi, Report to United Nations Environment Programme, August, 1999.

From Nigerian national press:

“The erosion control workshop …. has afforded members of the general public ample opportunity to deliberate on how to combat [the] erosion menace ….” Weekend Post, September 11, 1999. “ ….there is a crucial need for the management of the IDRC Gully Erosion Project (Nigeria) to attract national and international assistance for the effective control of [the] erosion menace in various parts of Imo State.” Sunday Statesman, September 19-21, 1999.

From opinions of Ukrainian partners:

“Many of the projects …. were very practical with outcomes that will last beyond the end of EMDU and funding from IDRC. Real tangible results …. going beyond the usual reports and publications …. Among them …. the river bank protection strip ….” Jean-H. Guilmette (Director, Office of Central and Eastern European Initiatives) and Ihor Iskra (IDRC Project Liaison Officer in Kyiv), 2000.

From programme evaluation by Canadian International Development Agency:

“A river bank stabilization project not only controlled erosion, but helped establish a responsive approach to public works by involving local residents in [the] decision making process.” “They [the Dnipro Basin Water Management Association] began at [the] local council in the next stabilization zone project….” CIDA Performance Review Branch, 1999.

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