About

Research Foci

Alpine ibexes horn growth: Disentangling biotoc and abiotic drivers of annual Caprinae horn growth rates
Arctic driftwood: Wood anatomy, Ocean Circulation Patterns, Provenancing, DNA sequencing
Climate variability: MWP, LIA, Recent Warming, Color-preservation, Forcing agents
Dendrochronology: De-trending, Composite chronologies, Maximum Latewood Density
Early instrumental measurements: Homogenization, Urban-Heat-Island, High-elevation observations
Mountain systems: EuropeanAlps, Carpathian arc, Pyrenees, Caucasus, Scandinavia and Tien Shan
Mushroom phenology: Intra- and inter-annual extremes and trends in fungi fruiting, Switzerland and Europe
Landscape dynamics: Change and persistence in Alpine environment, settlement and building history
Palaeoclimatology: Long-term reconstructions, regional- to large-scale networks, frequency domains
Plague dynamics: Climatic and environmental triggers of plague outbreaks in Central Asia and Europe
Population ecology: Long-term insect outbreak dispersal and dynamics, fungi fruiting and phenology
Settlement activity: Construction timber, felling dates, dendroarchaeology, human history, population migration
Truffle ecology: Fruit body formation, daily growth rings, climatic drivers, ectomycorrhizal ecology, host plant
Vegetation dynamics: Intra- to inter-annual growth responses to climate, tree-line dynamics

Research Locations

Alps: TRW and MXD network, living and relict wood material, composite chronologies, millennial-long summer temperature reconstructions, spatiotemporal reconstructions of LBM outbreaks, settlement and building history, intra-annual growth dynamics, treeline studies, Lötschental, Southern French Alps, Valais, Engadine, Tyrol, treeline soil-temperature logger, Larix decidua, Picea abies, Pinus cembra, Pinus sylvestris, Abies alba
Aragon: Truffle assessment in the Teruel region, tree-ring sampling of Juniperus thurifera
Atlas: TRW network, living trees, millennial-long PDSI reconstruction, NAO studies, Cedrus atlantica
Carpathians: TRW network, living trees, summer temperature, treeline soil-temp. logger, Larix decidua, Picea abies, Pinus cembra, Pinus sylvestris
Caucasus: TRW network, living trees, growth-climate response analysis, treeline soil-temp. logger, Pinus sylvestris
Germany: TRW composite chronology of the last millennium, drought reconstruction, Quercus spec.
Greenland: sampling of driftwood, chronology development, reconstructing ocean circulation and post-glacial uplift
Guadarrama: TRW network, living trees, Pinus sylvestris, Pinus nigra, Pinus pinaster, Pinus pinea
Moravia: TRW network, living and relict wood material, 700-year long composite chronology, Abies alba
Pyrenees: TRW and MXD network, living and relict wood, treeline soil-temp. logger, Pinus uncinata
Scandinavia: TRW and MXD network, living trees, offshore sampling, Pinus sylvestris
Siberia: TRW and MXD living and relict wood, shore and off-shore
Tatra: TRW network, MXD site chronologies, living trees, summer temperature and drought reconstructions of the past ~300 years, treeline soil-temp. logger, Larix decidua, Picea abies, Pinus cembra, Pinus sylvestris, Abies alba
Vosges: TRW network, living trees, mixed signal, species-specific upper treeline, Fagus sylvatica

Supervision

Pascalle Affolter (2007) Aufbau und Klimatische Analyse eines tieflagen Netzwerk, Wallis. Master thesis, Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Switzerland
Lea Regina Moser (2008) Interannuelle Wachstumsanalye entlang eines Höhentransekts im Lötschental, Wallis. Master thesis, Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Switzerland
Thomas Neuenschwander (2008) Eine 1000-jährige Temperaturrekonstruktion für die Französischen Seealpen. Master thesis, Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Switzerland
George Sakhuari (2008) Trends in Georgian forest growth productivity and climate sensitivity during the 20th century. PhD thesis, Institute of Biology, University of Tbilisi, Georgia
Benjamin Herzog (2009) Tempowechsel innerhalb der Klima-Debatte – Unterschiedliche Geschwindigkeiten wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisgewinnung, medialer Inszenierung und politischem Aktionismus, IAM Winterthur
Oliver Lutz (2009) Tempowechsel innerhalb der Klima-Debatte – Unterschiedliche Geschwindigkeiten wissenschaftlicher Erkenntnisgewinnung, medialer Inszenierung und politischem Aktionismus, IAM Winterthur
Laura Fernández Donado (2009) Tree-rings and climate of the Iberian Peninsula, University of Madrid
Lara Läubli (2010) Linking Alpine glacier dynamics to tree growth, University of Zürich
Steffen Walz (2011) Extra-tropical biomass response to the unknown 1258 AD eruption, University of Würzburg
Wilhelm Tegel (2011/12) Neolithic construction timber and environmental change, University of Freiburg (in-official)
Ulrich Stobbe (2011/12) Truffle ecology in southwest Germany, University of Freiburg (in-official)
Janine Grossjean (2011/12) Dendroklimatologisches Potential von Juniperus thurifera in Zentral Spanien, University of Mainz
Lena Hellmann (2011/12) Wood anatomical analysis of Arctic driftwood, University of Würzburg
Felix Fischer (2012) Potential and limitation of “branch dendrochronology” to date eagle nests in the Swiss Alps, University of Würzburg
Joachim Ortsiefen (2012) Combining living and historical Juniper trees towards a precipitation sensitive composite chronology for Central Spain, University of Mainz
Lena Hellmann (2013/15) Potential and limitation of Arctic driftwood as an environmental archive, OCCR at the University of Bern
Simon Dippel (2013) Using historical wood to develop a composite chronology in the Bavarian Alps, TU Munich
Frederick Reining (2014) Potential and limitation to develop a tree ring-based summer temperature reconstruction for northeastern Siberia and the past millennium
Frederick Reinig (15-17) Potential and limitation to develop a tree ring-based summer temperature reconstruction for northeastern Siberia and the past millennium (PhD)
Marc Buchs (14-15) Swiss BrainPower: Nationaler Wettbewerb Schweizer Judend Forscht in Davos: Das Alter und Wachstum von Sequoiadendron Giganteum
Valentina Vitali (15-17) White fir and Douglas fir as substitute trees for Norway spruce: comparative study on resilience and resistance along the altitudinal gradient from the Rhine Valley to the mountain zones of the Black Forest (PhD)
Jan Geyer (15) Dendroprovenancing Arctic Driftwood, University of Freiburg, Germany (Bachelor co-supervisor)
Oliver Konter (13-16) Trends and Signals in tree-ring Parameters, University of Mainz, Germany (PhD second supervisor)
Flurina Rigling (16) Swiss BrainPower: Nationaler Wettbewerb Schweizer Jugend Forscht: Trüffel (Tuber aestivum) mit Wachstumsringen?
Nancy Bolze (16) Re-visiting temperature-induced recruitment pulses of Greenlandic dwarf shrub communities. University of Freiburg, Germany (Master supervisor)
Bernhard Muigg (16-19) Wald und Holz im frühen Mittelalter – Dendroarchäologische Untersuchungen zu Wald- und Holznutzung in Mitteleuropa. University of Freiburg, Germany (PhD co-supervisor)
Annemarie Eckes (17-20) High-resolution tree growth modelling and its application for the global carbon budget. University of Cambridge, UK (PhD co-supervisor together with Andrew Friend and David Coomes)
Tamara Brian (17) Updating the Lötschental tree-ring width chronology. University of Cambridge