Esther Githumbi
© Esther Githumbi
Dr. Esther Githumbi
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Institute of Soil Science and Site Ecology
Institute of Soil Science and Site Ecology
Visiting address:
Judeich-Bau, 2.40 Pienner Straße 19
01737 Tharandt
Scientific career
2022 to present - Post Doctoral Researcher
- Linking soil erosion dynamics with identification of source areas and stratigraphic geochemical
sediment core analysis for deciphering the impact of land-use change in the watershed of a drinking water reservoir in Central Kenya.
- Design and operate a monitoring system of dynamics of suspended sediments in the reservoir.
- Sedimentological and geochemical features analysis (high-resolution magnetic susceptibility
connected to ITRAX-XRF core scanning, P fractions, lipid and sugar biomarkers).
- Establish sediment core chronologies (7Be;137Cs;210Pb)
- Compare modelled ages with micro-sedimentological information (i.e., flood event
markers).
- Connect sedimentology results with historic land-use information in the watershed (maps, aerial photographs, satellite imagery).
- Combine sediment data and historic land use data with information from plot-scale experimental studies and assessment of suspended sediment dynamics in the watershed to develop record of land-use change and impact on the reservoir.
2020 - 2021 - Late Quaternary Researcher - University of Lund
- Completed Holocene land-cover reconstructions from Europe and submit data to open database.
- Increased the resolution of the land-cover reconstructions to provide data to land-use modelers.
2018- 2020 - Post Doctoral Researcher - Linnaeus University
- Identified suitable pollen records from Europe and contact authors to share data.
- Compiled a European Holocene pollen database.
- Data clean-up and standardization.
- Holocene land-cover reconstructions covering Europe.
2013 - 2016 - Marie-Curie Early Stage Researcher - University of York
- Developed a research project looking into environmental histories of different East African landscapes, logistical support and supervision during the duration of the project.
Trained and supervised lab work done by undergraduate
2012 - 2013 Research Intern National - Museums of Kenya
- Microfossil analysis – pollen, charcoal, non-pollen palynomorphs.
- Data analysis and interpretation.
Providing support on field expeditions
I am an ecological researcher focusing on the analysis of land-cover and land-use to understand environmental change at multiple spatial and temporal scales. I am currently working on a DFG funded project “Linking soil erosion dynamics with identification of source areas and stratigraphic-geochemical sediment core analysis for deciphering the impact of land-use change in the watershed of a drinking water reservoir in Central Kenya”. The DFG funded project will identify the sources of sediment and associated loads to Ruiru reservoir located in a typical rural landscape in the uplands of Central Kenya. We want to understand both the driving processes and spatio-temporal dynamics of soil erosion and sediment transport from the watershed to the water body and its sedimentary sink.
Publications in peer-reviewed journals
| 12 |
Strandberg, G., Lindström, J., Poska, A., Zhang, Q., Fyfe, R., Githumbi, E., Kjellström, E., Mazier, F., Nielsen, A. B., Sugita, S., Trondman, A.-K., Woodbridge, J., & Gaillard, M.-J. (2022). Mid-Holocene European climate revisited: New high-resolution regional climate model simulations using pollen-based land-cover. Quaternary Science Reviews, 281, 107431. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107431 |
| 11 |
Githumbi, E., Fyfe, R., Gaillard, M.-J., Trondman, A.-K., Mazier, F., Nielsen, A.-B., Poska, A., Sugita, S., Woodbridge, J., Azuara, J., Feurdean, A., Grindean, R., Lebreton, V., Marquer, L., Nebout-Combourieu, N., Stančikait\.e, M. ., Tan\ct\uau, I., Tonkov, S., & Shumilovskikh, L. (2022). European pollen-based {REVEALS} land-cover reconstructions for the Holocene: methodology, mapping and potentials. Earth System Science Data, 14(4), 1581–1619. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1581-2022 |
| 10 |
Githumbi, E. N., Courtney Mustaphi, C. J., & Marchant, R. (2021). Late Pleistocene and Holocene Afromontane vegetation and headwater wetland dynamics within the Eastern Mau Forest, Kenya. Journal of Quaternary Science, 36(2), 239–254. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.3267 |
| 9 |
Githumbi, E., Marchant, R., & Olago, D. (2020). Using the Past to Inform a Sustainable Future: Palaeoecological Insights from East Africa (pp. 187–195). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14857-7_18 |
| 8 |
Marchant, R., Richer, S., Boles, O., Capitani, C., Courtney-Mustaphi, C. J., Lane, P., Prendergast, M. E., Stump, D., De Cort, G., Kaplan, J. O., Phelps, L., Kay, A., Olago, D., Petek, N., Platts, P. J., Punwong, P., Widgren, M., Wynne-Jones, S., Ferro-Vázquez, C., … Wright, D. (2018). Drivers and trajectories of land cover change in East Africa: Human and environmental interactions from 6000 years ago to present. Earth-Science Reviews, 178, 322–378. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2017.12.010 |
| 7 |
Hawthorne, D., Courtney Mustaphi, C. J., Aleman, J. C., Blarquez, O., Colombaroli, D., Daniau, A.-L., Marlon, J. R., Power, M., Vannière, B., Han, Y., Hantson, S., Kehrwald, N., Magi, B., Yue, X., Carcaillet, C., Marchant, R., Ogunkoya, A., Githumbi, E. N., & Muriuki, R. M. (2018). Global Modern Charcoal Dataset (GMCD): A tool for exploring proxy-fire linkages and spatial patterns of biomass burning. Quaternary International, 488, 3–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.03.046 |
| 6 |
Githumbi, E. N., Kariuki, R., Shoemaker, A., Courtney-Mustaphi, C. J., Chuhilla, M., Richer, S., Lane, P., & Marchant, R. (2018). Pollen, People and Place: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Ecosystem Change at Amboseli, Kenya. Frontiers in Earth Science, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2017.00113 |
| 5 |
Githumbi, E. N., Courtney Mustaphi, C. J., Yun, K. J., Muiruri, V., Rucina, S. M., & Marchant, R. (2018). Late Holocene wetland transgression and 500 years of vegetation and fire variability in the semi-arid Amboseli landscape, southern Kenya. Ambio, 47(6), 682–696. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-018-1014-2 |
| 4 |
Gallego-Sala, A. V., Charman, D. J., Brewer, S., Page, S. E., Prentice, I. C., Friedlingstein, P., Moreton, S., Amesbury, M. J., Beilman, D. W., Björck, S., Blyakharchuk, T., Bochicchio, C., Booth, R. K., Bunbury, J., Camill, P., Carless, D., Chimner, R. A., Clifford, M., Cressey, E., … Zhao, Y. (2018). Latitudinal limits to the predicted increase of the peatland carbon sink with warming. Nature Climate Change, 8(10), 907–913. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0271-1 |
| 3 |
Marchant, R., Courtney-Mustaphi, C., & Githumbi, E. (2017). Entangled ecosystem-people-animal interactions: perspectives from the East African savannas. Past Global Changes Magazine, 25(2), 80–81. https://doi.org/10.22498/pages.25.2.80 |
| 2 |
Courtney Mustaphi, C. J., Githumbi, E. N., Shotter, L. R., Rucina, S. M., & Marchant, R. (2016). Subfossil statoblasts of Lophopodella capensis (Sollas, 1908) (Bryozoa, Phylactolaemata, Lophopodidae) in the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene sediments of a montane wetland, Eastern Mau Forest, Kenya. African Invertebrates, 57(1), 39–52. https://doi.org/10.3897/afrinvertebr.57.8191 |
| 1 |
Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Shoemaker, AC, Githumbi EN, Kariuki R, Muriuki RM, Rucina S, Marchant R (2015). Historical ecology perspectives of changes in Amboseli, Kenya. GLP News, 26, 1-4. http://www.real-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Mustaphi-et-al-2015-Amboseli-GLPNews_Nov2015nocover.pdf |