From palaeoecological knowledge to sustainable environmental management

August 4, 2026
WDG

By Sam Beudeker

BSc Future Planet Studies, Future Earth track, University of Amsterdam

Check out the ArcGIS Storymap of this blog at: https://arcg.is/0HSn480

Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. It reflects a growing imbalance between people and the natural systems that support life on Earth. Building a more sustainable future requires more than understanding present-day environmental problems. It requires a deeper perspective on how ecosystems function, how they have changed over time, and how humans have interacted with them over long periods.

As a third-year bachelor student in biological and Earth sciences, I have become increasingly interested in these long-term interactions between climate, ecosystems, and human land use. I have learned that ecosystems are not stable systems, but dynamic ones that continuously respond to changes in climate, fire, and land use. Palaeoecology provides a way to reconstruct these long-term dynamics and place modern environmental change in a much deeper temporal context.

Although environmental change has always been part of Earth’s history, the current situation is characterised by a particularly rapid combination of climate change and human pressure on land systems. This makes long-term knowledge especially important, as it helps us distinguish natural variability from human-driven change and understand whether current ecosystems are within historical ranges of behaviour or entering new states.

Honours Program Thesis Extension

For the Honours Program alongside my bachelor’s degree, I extended my palaeoecology thesis with an interdisciplinary perspective focused on how long-term environmental knowledge can inform future land management. Rather than treating palaeoecology only as a reconstructive science, I explored its role as a bridge between past ecosystem dynamics and present-day sustainability challenges.

As a case study, I focused on the Dahomey Gap in West Africa, a forest–savanna transition zone that interrupts the continuous Guineo-Congolese rainforest belt. This region is not a fixed ecological boundary, but a shifting mosaic shaped over time by climate variability, fire, and human land use.

ArcGIS Storymap

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MSc Earth Sciences: Peru field course 2026

July 6, 2026
WDG

As part of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) MSc Earth Sciences we run the course “Field Course Geoecological Systems”. In 2026 we returned to the village of Miraflores in the Lima province of Peru. Partnering with the Institiuto de Montanya (Mountain Institute) in Lima students spent four weeks engaged in participatory research with the Miraflores community. The integration of students within the community was made possible by the work of Mirella Gallardo and Rafa Schmitt.

In this year’s iteration of the course, we had groups of students working on four different topics: (i) water quality, (ii) soil carbon stocks, (iii) microbes and carbon in agricultural soils, and (iv) cultural heritage. The topics of the project were established in advance in consultation of the Mountain Institute and refined during a Town Hall meeting with the Miraflores residents during the first days of the visit.

Through the four weeks of the field work students learnt how to classify soil types, monitor water quality, and read the landscapes geology and geomorphology. Traversing the rugged Andean landscape from our base at c. 3600 meters above sea level up to peaks above 4000 meters. The students also worked with the Miraflores residents to discover their perception and knowledge of the landscape. Following the visits students conducted further analysis of water and soils back in the laboratories at the UvA. Once this work is complete all results will be compiled into a report, in English and Spanish, that will be distributed to participants.

This is the third time this field course has visited Miraflores and this year we were proud to present fliers detailing the key finds of previous years investigation to the community. We would like to thank the community of Miraflores for their continued kind welcome and partnership, and the Yauyos-Cochas National Park for their permission and support to work within this area.

Want to join us for a future expedition? Click here to check out our degree program here to enrol.

Read about past field courses in Peru:

Decolonizing Biosciences

May 22, 2026
WDG

Octavio Cruces Guaderrama, currently a University of Amsterdam MSc Biological Sciences researcher, runs the “Decolonizing Biosciences” podcast. In his podcasts Octavio brings together colonialism and biology, and aims to understand how colonialism has shaped – and still shapes – biological sciences, by discussing issues such as the misuse of medicine in the colonies, parachute science, and the nature/culture dichotomy.  

In his current mini-series he is covering the “History of Amazonia”, with support from the Volkert van der Willigen Fund of the University of Amsterdam. You can listen to the fist Amazonian episode by clicking the link below, and check out his podcast feed here for earlier, and future, episodes.

Octavio Cruces Guaderrama in Amazonia

Fieldwork in South Africa

April 27, 2026
WDG

By Bouwe Groeneveld (MSc Biological Sciences, track Ecology & Evolution, University of Amsterdam)

From data to reality

Last year, between April and June, I worked on my bachelor project on the fire history of a site in South Africa called Giant’s Castle. From the Netherlands, I analysed sediment cores by counting charcoal fragments and looking at their shape to determine whether they likely came from grass or wood. The results were largely what you would expect in a mountain grassland. Most of the charcoal came from grasses. At the same time, there were clear changes in the composition of the fuel reflected in the charcoal record. I linked the increase in fire activity to the presence of people, and also observed shifts in the types of fuel being burned over time. It felt like slowly unravelling a story from the past. But it also remained abstract. I was working with numbers, figures, and photos of a place I had never actually been to. I had a sense of it, but it did not fully feel real. A year later, I was standing there myself.

From analysis to experience

For my MSc research, I returned to the same system, but this time physically. In the meantime, I had already expanded my earlier work by looking at dung fungal spores, as an indicator for grazing animals, and pollen to reconstruct vegetation dynamics. But to describe vegetation properly, you really have to see it. After a five-day workshop, which I described in a previous blogpost, I spent a weekend at the home of Prof. Trevor Hill and Prof. Jemma Finch. That weekend turned into something like a crash course in South African life. It even included watching their son play a cricket match. What stood out most to me was how much more outdoor-oriented life felt compared to what I am used to in the Netherlands. After that, I was introduced to the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Pietermaritzburg, where I spent three weeks working in the lab. Interesting work, but I had really come for something else. The field.

First fieldwork: Cathedral Peak

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On ceremony… twice!

March 19, 2026
WDG

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…

Time for topical ecology

March 14, 2025
WDG

8th European Conference of Tropical Ecology

36th Annual Meeting of the Society for Tropical Ecology

24-28 February 2025, Amsterdam

The 8th European Conference of Tropical Ecology took place in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) from 24 to 28 February 2025. This meeting was organized for the Society for Tropical Ecology. The event was hosted by the Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics (University of Amsterdam), held at Hotel Casa, and the main sponsor was the NWO (Dutch Science Foundation).

During the conference around 250 scientists delivered 150 oral and 69 poster presentations. The science spanned the full breadth of tropical ecology, ranging from interactions of coral dwelling crabs, through carbon cycling dynamics in forests, to the governance of hunting activity. The six keynote speakers were paired under three topics “Human legacies in the tropics”, “Tropical ecosystem dynamics”, and “Protecting tropical ecosystems”. Within each topic we invited a senior scientist and a ‘rising star’ to provide their perspective on a particularly hot-button issue. If you want to find out more about what was presented all the abstracts are now published, open access, in the Society for Tropical Ecology’s journal Ecotropica.

Abstract booklet

Open access:
Gosling, W.D. & McMichael, C.N.H., eds. (2025) Time for tropical ecology: Abstracts of the 8th European Conference of Tropical Ecology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; 24.-28.2.2025. The Society for Tropical Ecology, Ecotropica, 26 (1-2): 1-222. https://doi.org/10.30427/ECOTROP202501

Big History

December 18, 2024
WDG

This week I will give a lecture on the University of Amsterdam, Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, BSc Big History course. This course sets out with the large ambition of covering “How the histories of the cosmos, life, Earth and human societies influence each other and shape important aspects of the world together?” The small component of this that I am involved in relates to the understanding of past environmental change and how humans have shaped the landscapes we see around us today.

Related to the topic of past environmental change Prof. Henry Hooghiemstra (University of Amsterdam), and the Big History team, have produced a short video “How are civilizations influenced by climate change?”. In this video a introduction to how we can obtain information on past environmental change from the sedimentary record is given, and examples of changing landscapes and cultures in the Netherlands and Mexico are discussed.

You can find more Big History content in the University of Amsterdam Big History MOOC (Massive Online Open Content) by clicking here.

European Conference of Tropical Ecology: Registration Open

November 14, 2024
WDG

We are excited that more than 250 abstracts have been submitted for the 8th European Conference of Tropical Ecology “Time for Tropical Ecology” in Amsterdam. Furthermore, we are delighted to announce the NWO (the Dutch Science Foundation) as the main sponsors of the event. The conference is being organised by the Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics (University of Amsterdam) on behalf of the European Society of Tropical Ecology. The conference will take place in February 2025 at a central location in the city (Hotel Casa).

We have an exciting program emerging including keynotes from three ‘rising star’ and three ‘senior’ scientists, a conference dinner (House of Watt), and a photo competition with prizes! Throughout the program we hope to create a vibrant atmosphere for the discussion of cutting edge research into the tropical regions of planet Earth.

You can be a part of this event by registering now. Early bird rate is valid until: 18 December 2024

INQUA Fellowship journey: Alfred Hougnon (field work)

October 19, 2024
WDG

INQUA fellow Alfred Hougnon continues his research into past environmental change in the Dahomey Gap (Benin). In the fourth video documenting his progress a short background to the project, and insights into field work, are given. Field work took place near the Ewe-Adakplame forest in the south east of Benin and involved the recovery of sediments using a Russian corer. The video also shows how interactions and engagement with the local community was developed during the research expedition.

To find out more above Alfreds project read posts on:

To watch more videos about past environmental change visit the Ecology of the Past YouTube channel.

Palaeoecology Reference Collection

August 19, 2024
WDG

I am delighted to be able to report that the “Palaeoecology Reference Collection” housed at the Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics (University of Amsterdam) is now listed as part of the national ecological research infrastructure of the Netherlands. It is great to get recognition for this important collection. Elements of the collection are available digitally and we continue to work to find resources to improve our physical and digital collections. To find out more about the ecological resources in the Netherlands visit the “Ecological research infrastructures in the Netherlands” or the specific “Palaeoecology Reference Collection” web pages.

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