January 18, 2026
Kinyanjui, R. N., Mashaka, H. K., Chritz, K. L., Wemanya, S. N., Ndiema, E. K., Braun, D. R., & Bamford, M. (2026). Holocene vegetation dynamics of the Koobi Fora Basin, East Turkana, Kenya: Insights from phytolith analysis. Quaternary International, 759, 110131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2026.110131
To find the complete list of articles in the Mapping Ancient Africa special issue of Quaternary International click here.
December 16, 2025
The annual PhD thesis prize from the Koninklijk Nederlandse Botanische Vereniging (Royal Dutch Botanical Association) is now open. The prize of EURO 5000 will be awarded to the best PhD thesis defended between January and December 2025 at a Dutch university. The subject matter of the thesis is broadly defined within the field of botany, and includs topics such as taxonomy, (palaeo- / macro-) ecology, and cell biology.
For details of past winners, and how to nominate someone for this years prize visit:
https://www.knbv.eu/hugo-de-vries-prijs/
The winner of the prize last year was one of our blog contributors, Nina Witteveen, read about her thesis and award here.
November 19, 2025
Gosling, W. D., de Wolf, I. K., Witteveen, N. H., de Zwaan, S. B., Van Teulingen, C., Föllmi, D., Thissen, W., Vink, V. B., Woutersen, A., Philip, A. L., van Herk, M. J., Nascimento, M. N., Prins, M. A., & McMichael, C. N. H. (2025). Herbivory and vegetation openness in a pre-farming European landscape. Plant Ecology & Diversity, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/17550874.2025.2576566
This manuscript has been developed over many years through the contributions of many MSc and BSc students based at the University of Amsterdam.
July 25, 2025
Open access:
Gosling, W.D., Chevalier, M., Fischer, M.L., Holewijn, M., Finch, J., Gil-Romera, G., Hill, T., Houngnon, A., Leonardi, M., Manica, A., & Kaboth-Bahr, S. (2025). A multi-model approach to the spatial and temporal characterization of the African Humid Period. Quaternary International 744, 109933. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109933
Gosling, W.D., Chevalier, M., Lothar Fischer, M., Holewijn, M., Finch, J. M., Gil-Romera, G., Hill, T. R., Houngnon, A., Leonardi, M., Manica, A., & Kaboth-Bahr, S. (2025). Code from: A multi-model approach to the spatial and temporal characterization of the African Humid Period. Figshare. https://doi.org/10.6084/M9.FIGSHARE.29608400.V1
To find the complete list of articles in the Mapping Ancient Africa special issue of Quaternary International click here.
July 2, 2025
The call for sessions for the next edition of the Society for Tropical Ecology’s, European Conference of Tropical Ecology is open until 8 July 2025. The meeting will be held in Passau (Germany) and will cover all aspects of tropical ecological research. To make sure that your interests are well represented submit a session idea now by visiting the conference web site: https://gtoe2026-passau.de/
June 18, 2025
Ecology of the Past blog contributor Nina Witteveen was awarded the Hugo de Vries prize on 13 June 2025 at the Botanic Gardens in Nijmegen. The Hugo de Vries prize is awarded by the KNbv (Royal Dutch Botanical Society) and the Stichting Hugo de Vries fonds (Hugo de Vries foundation) for the best PhD thesis in Botany defended at a Dutch University. This years prize was awarded to Nina for her thesis “Long-term Forest Recovery in Amazonia: Insights from Phytolith Analysis” (University of Amsterdam) which was completed under the supervision of Crystal McMichael.
After much debate the jury decided to award two first prizes this year, with the other prize also going to a tropical PhD thesis. That of Tomonari Matsuo for his thesis “Drivers and mechanisms of tropical secondary forest succession” (Wageningen University & Research).
To find out more about the prize and how to submit a thesis for the award visit: https://www.knbv.eu/hugo-de-vries-prijs/
Follow Nina’s journey into tropical palaeoecology through her blog posts here: https://ecologyofthepast.info/?s=nina+witteveen
June 12, 2025
Open access:
Paine AR, Frieling J, Shanahan TM, Mather TA, McKay N, Robinson SA, Pyle DM, Fendley IM, Kiely R, Gosling WD. 2025. Evidence for millennial-scale interactions between Hg cycling and hydroclimate from Lake Bosumtwi, Ghana. Climate of the Past 21(4): 817–839. DOI: 10.5194/cp-21-817-2025
June 10, 2025
Hlophe B. & Bamford M.K. (2025) Charcoal insights on the vegetation, climate and subsistence patterns at Wonderwerk Cave. Quaternary International 728,109755. DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109755
To find the complete list of articles in the Mapping Ancient Africa special issue of Quaternary International click here.
May 14, 2025
13.15: arrival / inloop
13.30-14.30: Annual meeting / Jaarvergadering
14.30-14.55: Tobias Vervaart MSc (Universiteit Utrecht): Introducing PhD project ‘Looking back to plan ahead: unfolding the natural heritage of Dutch landscapes’.
14.55-15.15: coffee break
15.15-15.40: Yannick Bats MSc (Universiteit Utrecht): Impact of chemical treatments on the molecular and stable carbon isotopic composition of sporomorphs.
15.40-16.10: Prof Dr. Corrie Bakels (Faculteit der Archeologie, Universiteit Leiden): Results from stable isotope analysis applied to charred grain preserved in two storage rooms found in Tell Damiyah, Jordan.
16.10-16.35: Dr. Otto Brinkkemper (Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed): The optimal sample size of cereal grains for stable isotope research.
16.35: Drinks/ borrel
For further information: https://www.palynologischekring.nl/
April 9, 2025
I was delighted to be invited to give a seminar as part of the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology “Human Palaeo-systems Research Group” series. In case you missed it the seminar is will soon be available to watch online (click here).
To see the full list of seminars in the series click here.
Ecology of the past 