Personal Statement
I am a micropalaeontologist by training, with research interest in the field of Quaternary palaeoceanography and palaeoecology. I study marine sediments from around the world to interpret past environmental changes, based on vegetation tracers (pollen grains) and sea-surface conditions (dinoflagellate cysts). I am particularly interested in the causes of abrupt climate changes in the past, from the tropics to the poles. I am currently investigating the history of the reconnection of the Black Sea with the global ocean about 9300 years ago, as it was debated that a catastrophic flooding occurred at that time and would have triggered the dispersal of early farmers. I am also interested in the climate variability of monsoonal regions (Africa, Thailand), for the last 10,000 years and more.