Dr. Nathalie Van Der Putten

Biography

Nathalie van der Putten is an assistant professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, specializing in palaeoecology and physical geography. She obtained a joint PhD degree from Ghent University and Aix-Marseille University in 2008. During her PhD, she spent two years at IMBE, the Mediterranean Institute of Biodiversity and Marine and Continental Ecology. In 2010, she took up a two-year postdoctoral position funded by the Swedish Research Council at Lund University in the Geology Department. Van der Putten’s research primarily focuses on Late Quaternary palaeoecology and paleoclimatology, with particular expertise in plant macrofossil analysis. She employs peat archives to reconstruct past vegetation changes during the glacial-interglacial transition into the Holocene. Her work extensively covers the sub-Antarctic region, studying peat records on islands influenced by the Southern Hemisphere Westerlies. As an educator, she coordinates undergraduate courses in Geobotany and Palaeoclimate Change, and has a history of organizing fieldwork and excursions for students. She actively contributes to the research community and engages with various projects related to sustainable development goals. Moreover, she has participated in multiple field campaigns and serves as a lead scientist.

Research Interests

Experience

Courses