January 2, 2019
Cárdenes-Sandí, G.M., Shadik, C.R., Correa-Metrio, A., Gosling, W.D., Cheddadi, R. & Bush, M.B. (2019) Central American climate and microrefugia: A view from the last interglacial. Quaternary Science Reviews 205, 224-233. DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2018.12.021
For free access click here before 19 February 2019
December 20, 2018
The Faculty of Science of the University of Amsterdam has just announced the third round of MacGillavry Fellowships. These are tenure track positions (6 years) for talented female researchers. Applicants can apply in six different fields including “Biodiversity & Earth Sciences” this field encompasses all activity within the Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics.
Email me for informal discussions of applications related to Ecosystem & Landscape Dynamics.
To find out more and how to apply click here.
December 20, 2018
I am pleased to announce the opening up of a new DPhil position at the University of Oxford Department of Earth Sciences that I will be involved with. The main supervisor for the project is Prof. Tamsin Mather and the position is part of her recently funded European Research Council project. The project is entitled “Sniffing out global volcanic fingerprints using mercury in Quaternary sedimentary records”.
For full details of the project click here and how to apply click here.
December 7, 2018
The next Netherlands Annual Ecology Meeting (NAEM) will take place on 12 and 13 February 2019 at Conference Centre “De Werelt” (Netherlands). Patrick Jansen, Marielos Pena Carlos and I (William Gosling) are organizing a broad session on “Tropical Ecology” (talks and posters most welcome!). Please contact us directly as soon as possible if you would like to contribute to this session (EXTENDED deadline 18 December 2018).
Session abstract: This session deals with studies focused on tropical ecosystems, including terrestrial as well as marine systems. We particularly welcome talks focused on explaining the extraordinary high biodiversity, or on understanding anthropogenic impacts on this diversity.
To submit your paper please send us the following information:
November 29, 2018
The Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics (University of Amsterdam) is currently looking for an theoretical ecologist. The position will be based in the Department of Theoretical & Computational Ecology and will be at the Assistant or Associate Professor level.
Closing date: 3 January 2019
For further details on the position and how to apply click here.
November 21, 2018
Over the last two weeks I have been giving my lectures at the VU Amsterdam “Scientific Methods in Archaeology” bachelor program. In my lectures we think about how to detect past environmental change with particular reference to tracking past human activities. As part of our exploration of past human-environment-climate interactions each student is asked to choose a scientific article, summerise it, and we then discuss it in class. The three papers sected this year covered the Neolithic of the Netherlands (Weijdema et al., 2011), a overview of Mediterranean and north African cultural adaptations to drough events during the Holocene (Mercuri et al., 2011), and an exploration of the role of humans in mega-faunal extinctions in South America (Villavicencio et al., 2015). All papers provided interesting points of discussion and an opportunity to think about different aspects of how we investigate past environmental and societal change.
Read the full student summaries below.
November 9, 2018
Zhang, J., Xu, H., Gosling, W.D., Lan, J., Dodson, J., Lu, F., Yu, K., Sheng, E. & Liu, B. (2018) Vegetation and climate evolution during the Last Glaciation at Tengchong in Yunnan Province, Southwest China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. DOI: 10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.11.008
November 6, 2018
The 2018 edition of the University of Amsterdam masters course “Environments Through Time” is now up and running. The course sits at the interface between ecology, physical geography and archaeology and seeks to provide students with a better understanding of how long-term (>100’s years) datasets can provide insights in to past environmental change.
In the first week of the course the students had to present their ‘favourite’ paper in just three (3) minutes! Quite a challenge and lots of fun. This years selection of papers themed around:
For full list of papers presented see below.
In the second and third weeks (now ongoing) students get to deconstruct published chronologies and conduct time series analsis of multi-proxy datasets. Data for these excercises is frequently is extracted from databases such as Neotoma, Pangea, NOAA – paleoclimatology datasets database and the Global Charcoal Database – which shows the importance of these open access databases for developing effective research led eductation, as well as pushing forward to frontiers of research.
Environments Through Time is taught in English, delivered by myself (William Gosling), Crystal McMichael and Milan Tunissen van Manen and currently has 31 registered students from MSc Biological Sciences and MSc Earth Sciences degrees.
Full list of papers presented by students on the Environments Through Time course in 2018 Continue Reading
November 5, 2018
Where: Linnean Society of London
When: 22 November 2018
Organizer: Dr. Barry Lomax (University of Nottingham)
For full program click link: LinnSoc-Palynology2018
November 2, 2018
Treub Maatschappij – Society for the Advancement of Research in the Tropics &
The Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED), University of Amsterdam…
…invites you to join this symposium.
Date: 15 November 2018
Location: Amsterdam Science Park
13.30-13.45: Welcome
13.45-14.15: Dr Robert-Jan Wille
History Department, Utrecht University
Dutch colonial science in the age of Melchior Treub: evolution, development and symbiosis as political and scientific themes in the late nineteenth century
Ecology of the past 