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Profile
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Alicja Pawelec-Olesińska

Alicja Pawelec-Olesińska

Head, Water Protection Division, WWF, Poland

Polish hydrobiologist, aquatic conservation scientist, and environmental policy advocate specializing in invasive species ecology, freshwater restoration, fish behavior, and water resource governance.

Her career spans academic research, policy advocacy, and non-governmental environmental leadership. She serves as Head of the Water Conservation Team at WWF Poland, directing native species reintroduction programs—including the Atlantic sturgeon—and advocating for river restoration, drought mitigation, and sustainable water management. She co-founded the "Nauka dla Przyrody" (Science for Nature) academic collective, uniting researchers to draft national expert positions on major environmental issues, including river damming, forest conservation, and the post-2022 Oder River ecological crisis. Her expert engagements include advising the Supreme Audit Office (NIK) on water disasters, contributing to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Sturgeon Specialist Group, and lecturing at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW).

She holds a Ph.D. in Biological Sciences with a focus on invasive fish ecology, was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship, and has led multi-year research projects funded by the National Science Centre (NCN).