Reyan Christ graduating with an MSc in Earth Sciences
On the 18 March 2026 I had the fun challenge of speaking at two MSc graduation ceremonies that were running at the same time. Two ‘long-term’ members of the palaeoecology team at the University of Amsterdam had reached the culmination of their degree program.
Reyan Christ graduating Cum laude in MSc Earth Sciences (track Earth System Science) and Jelle Kraak graduating in MSc Biological Sciences (track Ecology & Evolution).
Reyan was up 2nd in the Earth Sciences program, and Jelle was up 5th in Biological Sciences, giving me approximately 10 mins to get between rooms! Thankfully everything ran to time and I was able to deliver my speeches for them both. It was great to meet their friends and families and celebrate this important moment for their education.
Jelle Kraak graduating with an MSc in Biological Sciences
It was also great to celebrate the submission of a manuscript (the day before) on which they are first and second author. This manuscript is based on a combination of their, and other students, theses work on past environmental change in the Drakensberg Mountains (South Africa), and conducted in collaboration with Jemma Finch and Trevor Hill at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. We now cross our fingers that the journal editors and reviewers are as excited as we are about their findings. Fingers crossed we can be announcing the published version on here later in the year…
The third Mapping Ancient Africa (MAA) workshop took place in South Africa during March 2026. This workshop was supported by the International Union for Quaternary Research as part of the MAA multi-year project. The aim of this work shop was to provide specialist training in developing research projects and writing of scientific articles. During the workshop each participant developed, and progressed, their own personal work plan. These personal programs allowed the training to be tailored to the participants needs. They included a wide range of challenged ranging from the development of project ideas through to dealing with reviewer comments on manuscripts, and inclusivity, equality and diversity issues.
In addition to the academic program, social activities and excursions were designed to help build academic networks and promote informal discussion of past environmental change issues. These included hikes to the Holley Shelter archaeological site (Bader & Conrad, 2023) and Game Pass shelter rock art site (Hoerle, 2005).
The European Conference of Tropical Ecology is organised on behalf of the Society for Tropical Ecology. To find out more about the society click here.
The 9th European Conferenc of Tropical Ecology took place in Passau (Germay) between the 23 and 27 February 2026. The theme of the meeting was “Species-Ecosystems-People” and it brought together around 250 tropical ecology researchers from around the globe to discuss the latest research in the field. The meeting ran very smoothly – credit to Christine Schmitt and her team at the University of Passau – and I enjoyed the conference very much. I followed sessions focused on topics ranging from climate change impacts and change through time, through human-environment interactions, to traits, and recovery and restoration.
It was great to see a good contingent of tropical palaeoecologists present. With Rob Marchant (York University) providing a key note spanning past environmental change through to socio-ecological systems, entitled: “Embedding the past for balanced future tropical mountain social ecological systems”. Palaeoecological talks and posters came from around the world, including Bolivia, Cuba, Brazil, Seychelles, and Democratic Republic of Congo. All provided new insights and suggested high potential for revealing novel information about past ecosystems and the drivers of change.
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.
Mapping Ancient Africa Quaternary International special issue article #8
Open access:
Neumann, F. H., Finch, J., Hahn, A., Miller, C. S., Scott, L., Schefuß, E., Dupont, L., Cawthra, H. C., & Engelbrecht, F. (2025). Vegetation and climate dynamics in a 16,600-year marine sequence offshore Mozambique in Delagoa Bight, south-eastern Africa. Quaternary International, 747, 109956. DOI: 10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109956
To find the complete list of articles in the Mapping Ancient Africa special issue of Quaternary International click here.
Mapping Ancient Africa Quaternary International special issue article #7
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 International744, 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.
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.
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 Past21(4): 817–839. DOI: 10.5194/cp-21-817-2025
Mapping Ancient Africa Quaternary International special issue article #6
Hlophe B. & Bamford M.K. (2025) Charcoal insights on the vegetation, climate and subsistence patterns at Wonderwerk Cave. Quaternary International728,109755. 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.
Ecology of the past 