Our research is on global change.
We study the impact of human activities on the natural environment.
The approach we adopt is highly interdisciplinary, combining tools from envirionmental chemistry, remote sensing, wildlife observation, and citizen science. We bridge the natural and social sciences to study the Earth System from an integrated perspective.
To achieve this, we have 2 complementary strategies:
We target different spatial and temporal scales to have access to areas and time periods with different levels of anthropogenic impacts (e.g. remote areas, past climate changes).
Up to 11% of worlds rainforests overlap with conventional oil and natural gas reserves. In this context, the occurrence of petroleum-extraction activities in the Amazon and their impact on the environment and those indigenous populations living in the vicinity of these areas has generated a great deal of controversy. A major cause for concern has been the reported high levels of oil-related lead in the blood of members of remote indigenous communities. On a different vein, the use of lead-based ammunition, which in 2003 had a global consumption of 120,000 tons, is a very important source of direct lead release to soil at the global level. This study aims at providing new insights into lead (and other heavy metals) pollution in remote areas of the planet, and at establishing their potential sources.
Tropical climates are changing rapidly in the most populated regions of the planet. The changes largely arise from alterations in the Hadley circulation driven by natural and anthropogenic factors, ...
The overriding aim of GEOLAKE is to disentangle the effects of climate change and anthropogenic activities on the environment and to highlight the long-term adaptation of populations in the Upper ...