Dirk Verschuren is full professor in paleoecology and climate change at Ghent University, and teaches courses in the Biology, Geology and Archeology programs. His multi-disciplinary research connects the domains of paleoclimatology, ecology, geology, geography and archeology. His primary research themes are the climate and environmental history of tropical Africa, and the long-term perspective of modern-day interactions between humans, climate, ecosystems and landscapes. He studies these topics using the natural archives of environmental change preserved in lake sediments.