12 Feb ART 723-Łukasz Łuczaj

Łukasz Łuczaj – Polish botanist, Ph.D. in biological sciences, academic lecturer, head of the Department of Botany at the University of Rzeszów, popularizer of science, video blogger and nature conservation activist, author of publications on wild edible plants.
His research interests include primarily plant ecology and ethnobotany, which is also related to folk taxonomy and wild edible plants. He is a member of the editorial board of the scientific journals “Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine” and “Acta Societatis Botanicorum Poloniae” and the creator of the new Polish journal “Etnobiologia Polska”. Scientifically, he organizes archival ethnobotanical data from Poland, Slovakia, Ukraine, and Belarus, and conducts field research on the use of plants, e.g. in China, Laos, the Caucasus, and the Balkans.

He is involved in nature conservation activities in Podkarpacie. Works, among others to protect rivers from regulation. He created mixtures of meadow seeds that allow you to independently create flowerbeds from endangered species found in Poland. These were the first domestic blends of this type in Poland (since 1999). He appealed to the authorities of Rzeszów to mow the urban meadows less frequently so that they could grow more freely. He is interested in survival techniques in wild nature. He organizes workshops devoted to this topic and recreating the lifestyle of hunter-gatherers.
It was included in the ranking developed by researchers from Stanford University, published in October 2020 in “PLOS Biology”, taking into account almost 160,000. the best scientists in the world. The ranking assessed scientific achievements on the basis of a bibliometric index, taking into account such criteria as the Hirsch index, number of citations, Impact Factor, place, and role on the list of authors.

My interdisciplinary project aimed at promoting the consumption of wild edible plants is also inspired by the work of Łukasz Łuczaj. I intend to use Łuczaj’s work for my project, i.e. creating an artistic and pedagogical tool – a game card project. These cards can be used to educate and change eating habits, both among young and older recipients.