© 2024. All rights reserved.
© 2024. All rights reserved.
Here are some of the pieces I wrote and published. Proper scientific publications as well as science advocacy and more of ‘activism’ writing.
| Grzesiuk M, Gryglewicz E, Bentkowski P, Pijanowska J. Impact of fluoxetine on herbivorous zooplankton and planktivorous fish, Environ Toxicol Chem 2022; doi: 10.1002/etc.5525 |
| Moreno López JA, Arregui-Garcĺa B, Bentkowski P, Bioglio L, Pinotti F, Boëlle P-Y, Barrat A, Colizza V, Poletto C. Anatomy of digital contact tracing: role of age, transmission setting, adoption and case detection. Science Advances 2021 Adv. 10.1126/sciadv.abd8750 |
| Bentkowski P, Radwan J. Mating preferences can drive expansion or contraction of MHC gene family. Proc R Soc B 2020; 287:20192706 or get my personal copy |
| Bentkowski P, Radwan J. Evolution of major histocompatibility complex gene copy number. PLOS Comput Biol 2019; 15: e1007015. |
| Bentkowski P, van Oosterhout C, Ashby B, Mock T. The effect of extrinsic mortality on genome size evolution in prokaryotes. ISME J 2017; 11: 1011–1018. |
| Bentkowski P, Van Oosterhout C, Mock T. A model of genome size evolution for prokaryotes in stable and fluctuating environments. Genome Biol Evol 2015; 7: 2344–2351. |
| Bentkowski P. Modelling evolution of genome size in prokaryotes in response to changes in their abiotic environment. University of East Anglia 2014. PhD Thesis. |
| Bentkowski P, Markowska M, Pijanowska J. Role of melatonin in the control of depth distribution of Daphnia magna. Hydrobiologia 2010; 643: 43–50. |
| Markowska M, Bentkowski P, Kloc M, Pijanowska J. Presence of melatonin in Daphnia magna. J Pineal Res 2009; 46: 242–244. |
| Bentkowski P, Markowska M. Ewolucja fizjologicznych funkcji melatoniny u bezkręgowców. Kosmos 2007; 56 (3-4), 383-391 |
At the moment, all of my writing for the lay public is aimed at readers in Poland as it’s part of my Poland-based activism.
Reformujmy łowiectwo, zanim będzie za późno
Let’s reform hunting before it’ll be too late : With 11 mammal ecologist and conservation biologists, we address some of the misconceptions about the ecology of game animals in Poland widely shared by local hunters. We call for more science-driven and conservation-orientated game management and hunting practices in Poland. I drafted the initial manuscript. Published in “Rzeczpospolita”, one of Poland’s leading daily newspapers.
Dlaczego nie można strzelać do chronionych gatunków?
Why can’t you shoot endangered species? : At the time when Henryk Kowalczyk was Polish minister of the environment, he commented that lifting the ban on wolf hunting (wolfs are a protected species in Poland) would trigger an unwanted conflict with environmentalists and the European Commission. But he will encourage his administration to take it easy regarding requests for extraordinary culling permits. With Alicja Pawelec, we explain why such a move undermines the sole idea of conservation of endangered species.
Postdok po polsku, czyli o krajowej kulturze mobilności naukowej
Post-doc Polish-style: On Poland’s culture of academic mobility : There is a lot of talking about the need for inter-institutional mobility among Polish scientists but very few Polish research institutions have the right corporate culture to accommodate the new-comers. Up to 90% of staff with a PhD degree at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków earned it at the very same institution and the rest of universities in Poland share this pattern. Clear and merit-driven guidelines for hiring policies are vastly needed to facilitate the mobility of researchers in Poland.
Jak rozmawiać o Puszczy przy świątecznym stole?
How to talk about Białowieża Forest at the Christmas dinner? : How to talk about science-based conservation policies and ways to tackle the bark beetle outbreak in Białowieża Forest to your science-denying friends and family during Christmas without arguing. In Polish with Dr Zofia Prokop. Based on the work of Gleb Tsipursky.
Scientific exodus : Unsatisfactory working condition in academia and improving job opportunities in Polish growing corporate R&D drive increasing number of scientist from academia into commerce. But this outflow of experienced post-doctoral staff is not compensated by immigration. With Anna Muszewska, we are warning that in relatively few years Polish academia may face a shortage of scientist qualified to take senior positions at universities and research institutes.
Granty ERC a sprawa polska, czyli uczony głodny jest o wiele mniej płodny
ERC grants in Poland: Scientists going hungry won’t be very productive : Success rate of ERC grant proposals in 2015 in relations to applicants’ country of affiliation correlates with what percent of GDP this country spent on R&D in 2014. Poland’s low success rate reflects low government spending on R&D and policy limited to the verbal encouragement of scientists to ‘improve their effort’ won’t change it. Link to data.
Scientific consultation of the Polish edition of an educational book for children Charles Darwin’s On The Origin of Species by Sabina Radeva (Ewolucja. O powstawaniu gatunków według Karola Darwina)
Projek Pulsar Podkast #80 The computer metaphor does not work in biology - what is computational biology? (interview in Polish by Karol Jałochowski, 12 January 2024)