The opening ceremony of the 2026/27 academic year at the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice brought recognition to two researchers associated with the Laboratory of Archaeobotany and Palaeoecology (LAPE). Mgr. Tereza Majerovičová, Ph.D., and doc. Mgr. Petr Pokorný, Ph.D., received Rector’s Awards in the university’s new ceremonial hall.
Mgr. Tereza Majerovičová, Ph.D., received the Robert Sak Award in the humanities for her doctoral dissertation on abandoned and living villages in the Niokolo-Koba National Park area of south-eastern Senegal. Supervised by Jaromír Beneš, her research brings together archaeology, ethnoarchaeology and ethnobotany to explore relationships between local communities, plant use and landscape change. Collaboration with Senegalese researchers and village residents connects evidence from abandoned settlements with the knowledge and experiences of present-day communities.
Doc. Mgr. Petr Pokorný, Ph.D., received the Jana Anna Kateřina Zátková Award for Science Communication. Through his writing, he introduces wider audiences to environmental and landscape history and the long-term relationships between nature and human societies. His work reaches readers through the Czech science magazines Vesmír and Živa, as well as books exploring landscape history, Africa and the Anthropocene.
Both awards celebrate an interest in human–environment relationships and the ability to share knowledge across disciplinary boundaries. Everyone at LAPE warmly congratulates both recipients and wishes them continued success in their research and writing!
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