Symposium

Deep Time, Present Challenges: The Role of Paleosciences

in Conservation and Environmental Decision-Making 

Thursday 22 May 2025 (9:00 - 13:00hr)

Wageningen campus, Aurora Building, room B9259

Scope

We are happy to announce that on May 22nd, from 9:00 to 13:00, we are hosting our symposium: Deep Time, Present Challenges: The Role of Paleosciences in Conservation and Environmental Decision-Making. The aim of this symposium, is to give (aspiring) researchers an overview of the way that paleosciences can play a crucial role in informing conservation, from both a scientific and a policy-wise perspective.

Addressing today’s environmental challenges requires a solid understanding of how ecosystems and climates have changed over time. Paleosciences—such as paleoecology, paleoclimatology, and paleolimnology—offer essential long-term perspectives by reconstructing past environments using natural archives like sediment cores, tree rings, and fossil records.

This symposium will explore how these historical insights contribute to conservation biology and environmental science. By revealing patterns of ecological change, species responses to past climate shifts, and pre-industrial baselines, paleoscientific data help us distinguish between natural variability and human-driven change. This information is critical for setting realistic conservation targets, understanding ecosystem resilience, and designing policies that are informed by long-term trends rather than short-term observations.

We will take you from the fundamentals of paleoscience to examples of paleodata directly informing conservation strategies. The discussion will emphasize the importance of integrating paleoscientific knowledge into environmental planning to improve decision-making and enhance the sustainability of conservation efforts.

Programme

Details of the programme will follow, please register below if you'd like to attend.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

More information

Zoë S. Kleijwegt MSc
PhD Candidate Past landscape reconstruction
Soil Geography and Landscape group
Phone: +31 317484823
Email: zoe.kleijwegt@wur.nl

Registration

To register, please enter your details below and click "Register".