Prof. Pempkowiak studied chemistry (specializing in chemical technology) at the Faculty of Chemistry, Gdańsk University of Technology, where in 1971 he was awarded his MSc. In 1972, he joined the Department of Oceanology (now the Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences (IO PAN)) in Sopot, where he started to explore the problems of marine chemistry. The first stage of his research resulted in his Ph.D. thesis entitled “Humic substances in the bottom sediments of the Baltic Sea”, which he wrote under the supervision of Prof. Gotfryd Kupryszewski and subsequently defended at the Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, University of Gdańsk, in 1978. Having received his Ph.D., he spent two years on a postdoc stay at the Marine Research Institute in Halifax (Canada), after which he returned to IO PAN, where he worked on issues relating to the part played by humic substances in marine ecosystems. He was subsequently awarded his habilitation degree in the Natural Sciences in 1989 from the Faculty of Biology and Earth Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń. Over time, he expanded his fields of interest to other problems such as the presence of metals and organic substances of natural and anthropogenic origin in seawater and sea-bottom sediments, the influence of organic substances on the properties of seawater, the changes of organic substances in the early diagenesis of bottom sediments, biomarkers as indicators of biological effects of environmental pollution and, finally, the importance of organic substances in water technology and water renewal. In recent years his scientific work focused on the carbon cycle in aquatic ecosystems and on the carbon budget in the Baltic Sea in particular.
His activities were not limited merely to successful project applications, laboratory work or the supervision of Ph.D. students. He also took part in numerous scientific cruises on board r/v Oceania and other research vessels. In 1997, following a successful procedure at the Faculty of Biology, Geography and Oceanology, University of Gdańsk, he was awarded the title of Professor of Earth Sciences by the President of the Republic of Poland in recognition of his comprehensive and outstanding work. Prof. Pempkowiak never allowed the results he obtained to be locked away in a drawer, as it were; he was always willing to share his results and achievements with the scientific community. He was the author or co-author of over one hundred scientific articles in high impact journals, as well as several books and monographs which to this day constitute an important source of knowledge on problems of marine geochemistry.
For Professor Pempkowiak, work and science were without any doubt almost the most important things, but he was also a loving and beloved husband, father, and a typical grandfather proud of his grandchildren, not to mention an active gardener. And let's not forget about his sporting hobbies – tennis and cross-country (initiator of the IO PAN championship) and downhill skiing. For us, staff members of the Marine Chemistry Department at IO PAN, he will forever remain in our memories as an unforgettable character, whom we called boss, professor or some of us simply Janusz.

Ksenia Pazdro,
"Professor Janusz Pempkowiak (1949—2021), previous Editor-in-Chief of OCEANOLOGIA",
Oceanologia, Volume 63, Issue 4, 2021, Pages v-vii, ISSN 0078-3234