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Theme 1: Climate and Environmental Dynamics

Climate and environment are tightly coupled through the carbon and water cycles, and the bio-, litho- and atmospheres.

An in-depth understanding of this coupled system is the foundation for developing a sustainable future. In our research theme, we study these processes in the present, past and future. We use remote sensing, field measurements, laboratory experiments, sedimentary archives and Earth system models.

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Topics to which we pay special attention are:

  • Water cycle: we study how climate change reshapes the terrestrial water, with a focus on changes in droughts and floods.
  • Permafrost and peatlands: we investigate the changing interactions between carbon storage and hydrology of permafrost and peatland landscapes.
  • Vegetation and soils: we study trees and forests, and their interactions with soils to understand their roles in the water and carbon cycles.
  • Fire: we study the role of fire in the carbon cycle and Earth system and fire’s interactions with climate, vegetation and society.
  • Greenhouse gases and aerosols: we assess and model past, present and future concentrations of various atmospheric particles and gases.
  • Ice sheets and ocean circulation: we study the past and future evolution of ice sheets and global ocean circulation on centennial to multi-millennial time scales.
  • Paleoclimate & paleontology: geochemical and isotopic analyses of sedimentary archives, biogenic carbonates, and vertebrate remains inform us about past, present and future climate changes at seasonal-to-millennial time scales.
  • Deep carbon cycle: we study the geochemical cycling of carbon and other elements through the Earth’s mantle and core.


The following research groups participate in the research theme 1:

  • Arctic hydrology and biogeochemistry (Dr. Jorien Vonk)
  • Atmospheric composition (Prof. Sander Houweling)
  • Biogeochemistry (Dr. Liam Heffernan)
  • Climate & ecosystems change (Dr. Sander Veraverbeke)
  • Climate modeling and marine geology (Prof. Didier Roche)
  • Hydrology (Dr. Ype van der Velde)
  • Petrology (Prof. Gareth Davies)
  • Planetary science (Prof. Wim van Westrenen)
  • Sedimentology & stratigraphy (Prof. Klaudia Kuiper)