Agnieszka Kruszewska from the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics of the Polish Academy of Sciences has been elected Chair of COMNAP—the international council that manages national Antarctic programs from around the world. She is the first Polish woman in history to hold this position. 

The election took place during the 37th Annual Meeting of the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP), held in Warsaw from August 5 to 8, 2025. Agnieszka Kruszewska, Deputy Director for Administrative Affairs at IBB PAN and Plenipotentiary of the Director for managing the Henryk Arctowski Station, was unanimously elected Chair of COMNAP for the upcoming three-year term. 

This honor crowns her many years of involvement with the organization— in fact, she previously served as vice-chair from 2017 to 2021. 

For over a decade, Agnieszka Kruszewska has been responsible for logistics at the Arctowski Polish Antarctic Station, overseeing, among other things, the largest infrastructure modernization in its history. She is also active in national and international polar organizations, including the Polish Polar Consortium, the Polar Research Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and she is a member of the Polish delegation to the Antarctic Treaty meetings. 

COMNAP (Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs) coordinates logistical efforts and creates conditions for scientific work in one of the most challenging environments on Earth. The council includes representatives from 34 countries, including the USA, South Korea, and Chile. Poland, as a party to the Antarctic Treaty, belongs to a group of 29 countries with full decision-making rights regarding human activities in Antarctica.