Kimmo Kumpula

I am interested in how DNA that has been buried and preserved in soils can be used as a method for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. Historical reconstructions of biodiversity can act as an important tool to understand previous extinction events and might give us insights on how species could be affected by future climate changes.

The object of my master thesis is to analyze modern plant DNA in soils from the mountain region of Sweden and assess how well and at what scale it matches the contemporary vegetation in the area. My aim is to evaluate the method and its usage as a proxy for vegetation diversity.

MSc Student

Research Description