Justyna Kopecka-Pilarczyk

CIIMAR - Centre for Marine Environmental Research
Laboratory of Ecophysiology (LECOF)
Rua dos Bragas, 289
4050-123 Porto, Portugal

justyna. kopecka at yahoo. com
jkopecka at ciimar. up. pt

Curriculum Vitae

Born in Gdańsk, Poland, in 1977; citizen of Poland

Spoken languages: Polish, English, German

Research interests

biomarkers in fish and invertebrates

changes in biomarkers induced by pollution and/or environmental factors

effects of high hydrostatic pressure on biomarkers in fish

Experience in biological and chemical techniques

Measurements of humic acids in sediments and age of sediment using the Pb²¹⁰ method

Sampling and dissection of mussels, worms and fish; experience includes flounder, perch (also from Stockholm Archipelago), eelpout, cod from Baltic Sea, and Nereis diversicolor and Scrobicularia plana from Cadiz Bay, mussels from Gulf of Finland

Measurement of enzyme levels (biochemical markers): AChE, BChE, EROD, GST, GPx, SOD, CAT, Lipid Peroxidation, DT - diaphorase, POx, FOx, Na⁺,K⁺-ATPase, using spectrophotometric and fluorimetric (for EROD) methods

Measurement of the concentration of metals in organs of fish and mussels using the atomic absorption spectrometer method

Laboratory experiments

Education

10/1996-06/2000: Master degree 5 year-long course at Gdańsk University - Marine Chemistry (at the Biology, Geography and Oceanography Department) completed in 4 years

08/1998: DAAD - International language summer course at the Freiburg University (Germany)

20/06/2000: M.Sc. in Physical Oceanography (Marine Chemistry), Gdańsk University (Oceanography Department), Poland, Thesis: Factors controlling spatial distribution and characteristic of humic acids in selected deeps of the Baltic Sea

10/2000-06/2005: Ph.D student at Gdańsk University; laboratory work was performed in the Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences (IO PAS)

30/06/2005: PhD in Marine Toxicology, Gdańsk University (Oceanography Department), Poland, Thesis: Application of biomarkers in flounder (Platichthys flesus) and blue mussel (Mytilus trossulus) from the Baltic Sea to the assessment of pollution of marine environment

Scholarships

1997-2000: Each year (4 times): a scholarship for good achievements during the Master degree course in oceanography science

2000-2004: Ph.D. scholarship

Employment

10/2000-06/2005: Doctoral studies at Gdańsk University

09/2002-12/2004: Research-technical associate at Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences

09/2005-08/2006: teacher of "nature" at a primary school in Gdańsk (part-time)

12/2006-present: postdoctoral fellow at CIIMAR, Porto, Portugal, a unit of the University of Porto; (FCT grant no. SFRH/BPD/32125/2006); Biochemical markers as a complementary tool in online marine biomonitoring oil spills (until August 2007) and The effect of high hydrostatic pressure on selected biomarkers in fish; includes 3 months at Kyoto University (April-July 2007)

Involvement in international projects and trainings

2011-2012: research grant for bilateral cooperation between Portugal (CIIMAR in Porto - Justyna Kopecka-Pilarczyk as the Responsible Investigator) and Poland (National Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Gdynia - Henryka Dąbrowska as the Responsible Investigator) [Cooperação Transnacional: Acordo de Cooperação Científica entre Portugal e a Polónia]: "Comparison of organic contaminant levels and selected biomarkers in flounder from the Douro and Vistula".

12/2006-11/2007: member of the team in the BIOTEST project funded by the FCT (POCI/MAR/56964/2004). I did most biomarker measurements in the experiments conducted in the framework of this project, and I wrote myself several papers.

02/2001-01/2004: main contractor in the project BEEP (Biological Effects of Environmental Pollution, EU FP5 Program; Contract no. EVK3-CT-2000-00025) in Work Package 2 - Baltic Sea, site 4 - the Gulf of Gdansk: participation in workshops and meetings; sampling and lab measurements; preparation of reports. I did the whole laboratory work conducted at Site 4 and also AChE measurements from 3 stations in Lithuania from 4 seasons and CAT analyses from 3 German stations from 3 seasons; I actively participated in the praparation of many publications emerging from this project.

Participation in professional training

06/2004: 4 weeks training with ICMAN CSIC (Cadiz, Spain) - Biomarkers of pollution in two invertebrate species and fish from a litoral ecosystem in the Cadiz Bay (SW Spain). Recovery of an ecosystem after the construction of a sewage treatment plant (2003PL0002), supervisor: Dr. Montserrat Solé Rovira

03/2004: Participant of the Workshop on PhagoBIM: "Phagocytosis assays as immunotoxicological tools for assessing environmental stress in mollusks" in LEMAR (Institut Universitaire Européenne de la Mer, Plouzane - FRANCE).

06/2003: 3 weeks training with ICMAN CSIC (Cadiz, Spain) - Seasonal variation of selected biomarkers in the sand goby Pomatoschistus minutus from the Guadalquivir estuary (SW Spain) (2003PL0002), supervisor: Dr. Montserrat Solé Rovira

11/2002-03/2003: 5 months, Marie Curie Training site - Application of in vitro cellular approaches in aquatic ecotoxicology at UFZ in Leipzig (Germany) - RT-PCR in flounder liver collected in Gdansk Bay in autumn 2002 with specific primers: CYP1A and Metallothionein, supervisor: Dr. Kristin Schirmer

10/2002: 1 week-long training at the Institute of Ecology in Vilnius (Lithuania): Micronuclei in mussels gills measurements, in the framework of a bilatera cooperation project between Poland and Lithuania; supervisor: Prof. Dr. hab. Janina Baršiene

12/05/2002: Participant of the SETAC Short Course at the 12th Annual SETAC Meeting - "Predicting the Toxicity of Metals to Aquatic Organisms. An Introduction to the Biotic Ligand Model", Vienna.

27-28/02/2001: Participant of the Workshop on AChE & EROD activities measurement (in the framework of the BEEP project) in IFREMER in Nantes (France)

11/2000: 4 week-long training at CID/CSIC in Barcelona (Spain) - Biomarkers in fish, in the framework of the project: Uso integrado de marcadores químicos y bioquímicos para la vigilancia de la contaminación en la franja costera de Polonia (99PL0015), supervisor: Dr. Cinta Porte Visa

1999-2000: a course "Content-related and methodological basis for teaching nature at the 20th century school", organized by the Centre of Education for Teachers (CEN) in Poland

Other professional activities

Participant in 8 sampling cruises aboard r/v "Oceania" (cruise leader at 2 of these cruises), and participant in 3 cruises aboard r/v "Walther Herwig III" (at the Baltic sea), 2001-2004.

Participation in the organization of "IV Conference - Chemistry, Geochemistry and Protection of Marine Environment" (Sopot, February 16, 2000), and in the work of the organizing committee of "III Conference on Trace Metals - Effects on Organisms and Environment" (Sopot, June 6-8, 2000).

Experience as a scientific adviser

1. Emilia Kmieciak, Gdansk University. Master dissertation: Changes in the AChE activity in flounder (Platichthys flesus) in the Gulf of Gdansk [in Polish]. Completed in 2004.

2. Monika Pucko, Gdansk University. Master dissertation: Measurements of contamination of benthic organisms in the Gulf of Gdansk with selected organic pollutants [in Polish]. Completed in 2004. Co-supervised with K. Pazdro (IO PAS).

3. Ewelina Kopanska, Gdansk University. Master dissertation: Distribution of organic contaminants in the soft tissue of mussels (Mytilus trossulus) and fish (Mytilus trossulus) of the Gulf of Gdansk [in Polish]. Completed in 2004. Co-supervised with K. Pazdro (IO PAS).

Other courses and activities

12/2005: First Aid Medical Course funded by EU

1998/1999: Pedagogic course (at Gdansk University) for teaching biology and chemistry at primary and secondary school

10/1997 - 02/1998: German language course at the College of German Language at Gdansk University (Zentralle Mittelstufenprüfung)

10/1996 - 06/1997: German language course at "English Unlimited" in Gdansk (ZDaF)

1994-2000: Volunteer on Summer and Winter holidays with disabled people