In Memory of Dr Rafał Skoczylas

14 07 2024

Dr Rafał Skoczylas passed away on July 11, 2024. He was a retired member of the Department of Animal Physiology of the former Institute of Zoology at the Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw.

Born in 1937 in Lviv, he spent his childhood and youth in his hometown, then in Poznań, and finally in Warsaw. From an early age, he was passionate about observing nature, a passion he decided to pursue by beginning his studies in 1954 at the Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences at the University of Warsaw. Even during his studies, he began working at the Institute of Ecology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Dziekanów Leśny, where he completed his master’s thesis, reflecting his then-fascination with ornithology. However, it was animal physiology that became the main focus of his scientific and teaching career.

In his fifth year of study, he was employed at the Department of Comparative Animal Physiology as an assistant to Professor Marian Rybicki. He remained with that department—later known as the Department of Animal Physiology—until his retirement in 2003.

His scientific work focused on the physiology of digestion and the function of the digestive system, as well as on thermoregulatory strategies in reptiles. These topics were also the subject of his doctoral dissertation, carried out under the supervision of Professor Marian Rybicki. After Professor Rybicki’s sudden passing, Professor Zygmunt Kraczkiewicz became the dissertation supervisor. The doctorate was defended in 1968. In 1973–1974, Dr Skoczylas completed a research fellowship at the University of Arizona in Tucson, USA, where he further explored issues related to reptilian thermoregulation.

From the very beginning of his professional path, Dr Rafał Skoczylas demonstrated exceptional teaching and organizational skills. These were reflected in the many administrative roles entrusted to him: Deputy Director of the Institute of Zoology, Head of the Evening Biology Studies Program, member of the Faculty Council’s Teaching Committee, member of the entrance examination board for the Faculty of Biology, and member of the University Senate Committee for the UW Statute. In 1968 and 1969, he co-organized the famous summer expeditions to collect marine animal specimens from the Adriatic—collections that are still used today by students of the Faculty of Biology.

He was the organizer, modernizer, and long-standing head of the animal physiology lab, physiology classes, and the master’s lab. He taught animal physiology to students and mentored young assistants in how to teach it effectively. Over the course of several decades of scientific and educational work, he educated many generations of biologists who fondly remember his invaluable guidance—often extending beyond the direct subject of instruction.

He co-authored school textbooks and popular science books (such as ‘Co w lesie piszczy’), and as a passionate advocate of science communication, he appeared successfully on radio and television programs, thanks to his eloquence and vivid storytelling. He was also a hunter by passion.

To us, his colleagues from the Department of Animal Physiology who had the opportunity to work with him, Dr Rafał Skoczylas will always remain an unmatched master of teaching and mentorship—a perfectionist in conducting experiments, a demanding yet fair teacher. A man of vast knowledge, excellent humor, a gifted writer with a mind full of stories and anecdotes. A good and righteous person, impossible to replace.  We bid him farewell with sorrow and sadness.