About me

Hello, I am Laurin, a geoscientist fascinated by ancient climates and their impact on early human habitats. My passion for paleoclimatology began during my Bachelor's, where I explored glacial landscapes and the Last Glacial Maximum in South America. This interest continued to grow during my Master's studies, where I focused on researching East Asian monsoon dynamics. My journey led me to pursue a PhD in Geosciences at Heidelberg University, which I am about to finish.

My current research concentrates on studying the climates and ecosystems of South Africa during the late Pliocene and early Pleistocene periods, aiming to understand their potential influence on our early human ancestors.

For a comprehensive overview of my educational background and experiences, please refer to my CV provided below.

My work

  • Paleoclimate reconstruction

    I employ different proxies trying to reconstruct past climates, especially temperature, precipitation and seasonality.

  • Paleoecology

    I use palynology and biomarkers to recontruct past ecosystems and their variability through time.

  • Hominin evolution

    I try to contextualize major paleoclimatic fluctuations with the early human evolution across the Plio-Pleistocene.

Currently the focus of my research lies on southern Africa. But I would like to branch out in the future and do research on the whole African continent as well as other regions in the Southern Hemisphere which have been underrepresented in science.

Proxies & Methods

Methodologically, I am looking to apply multiple proxies to reach a better understanding of paleoclimatic records. I enjoy spending time in the lab, coding and am always open to learn new analytical methods or try out novel statistical and modelling procedures. Below you will find a selection of proxies with which I have worked so far.

  • Pollen & Spores
  • Biomarkers
  • XRF-Core scanning
  • Grain sizes
  • Statistical analysis

My publications, grants and field work

Field work and research visits

Year Description
2023/11 - 2023/12 Research cruise M195 CYCRTACI aboard RV Meteor, Mediterranean Sea
2022/05 - 2022/06 Six-week research visit at the University of Notre Dame, USA
10/2021 Research cruise EUROFLEETS+ aboard RV Aegaeo, SW Aegean
09/2019 - 10/2019 Six-week research visit at the National Taiwan University, including participation in a coring campaign at Sanxingmei Pond (Taiwan)

Grants & Awards

  • Best Poster Award, IODP/ICDP Colloquium 2022 Potsdam
  • ECORD Research Grant 2021 for a short term research visit at Notre Dame University, USA

Publications

  • Koutsodendris, A., Dakos, V., Fletcher, W.J., Knipping, M., Kotthoff, U., Milner, A.M., Müller, U.C., Kaboth-Bahr, S., Kern, O.A., Kolb, L., Vakhrameeva, P., Wulf, S., Christanis, K., Schmiedl, G., Pross, J., 2023. Atmospheric CO2 forcing on Mediterranean biomes during the past 500 kyrs. Nature Communications 14, 1664.
  • Koutsodendris, A., Auer, G., Beny, F., Iatrou, M., Kern, O., Kolb, L., Livanos, I., Mantopoulos, P., Martinot, C., Meier, K., Morfis, I., Panagiotopoulos, I., Paraschos, F., Sakellariou, D., Tsampouraki-Kraounaki, K., 2021. Climate dynamics and environmental change in the Aegean Sea during the Holocene. EUROFLEETS+ Cruise Report ‘MYRTOON’, September 30th – October 9th, Piraeus (Greece) – Piraeus (Greece), 1-19.

Conference contributions

  • Kolb, L., Koutsodendris, A., Berke, M., Taylor, A., Pross, J. (2023): Terrestrial ecosystem change during critical periods of early hominin evolution in SE Africa over the past 4 Ma. INQUA Conference 2023, Roma.
  • Kolb, L., Koutsodendris, A., Berke, M., Taylor, A., Pross, J. (2022): Ecosystem change in SE Africa during critical periods of early hominin evolution between 4 and 1.8 Ma. IODP/ICDP Colloquium 2022, Potsdam.
  • Macho, G., Neubauer, S., Kuykendall, K., Berke, M., Hopley, P., Koutsodendris, K., Kolb, L., Caley, T. (2022): The Taung Child revisited. East Africa Association for Paleoanthropologists & Paleontologists (EAAPP) Conference, Arusha.

Contact me

If you would like to get in touch with me just write me an Email either to my university mail or my personal mail. I am also on Researchgate and Bluesky.