Marine Palynology and Paleoceanography

Bachelor's courses

Introductionary courses in Marine Sciences are offered as level 200 and 300 courses. They are a cooperative effort between the Department of Biology (UU BIO), Department of Earth Sciences (UU GEO) and the Royal NIOZ.

• Marine Sciences I: an introduction in Dutch (BSc level 1)
• Marine Sciences II: Evolution and Ecology of Coastal Seas in Dutch (BSc level 2)
• Marine Sciences III: Oceans of the Future (BSc level 3)

Master's courses and programmes

Marine Palynology and Paleoceanography coordinates two MSc courses, notably the course ‘Introduction to Marine Sciences’, in which biology, earth sciences, physics, chemistry and law of the sea is integrated. MPP also coordinates the course Extreme Climate Transitions, on the reconstruction of deep-time paleoecology and paleoclimate based on organic fossils and complementary techniques. MPP is active in the field of Earth and Environment in three MSc programs:

• Marine Sciences is a two-year English-taught multidisciplinary Master’s program that includes both lecture courses and research. The first 6 to 9 months are primarily devoted to courses, the remainder of the program is primarily spent conducting independent research and/or a traineeship.
• Earth Life and Climate is a two-year English-taught Master’s program focused on the reconstruction of past oceans and climate. The first year is  primarily devoted to courses, while second year is primarily spent conducting independent research and/or a traineeship.
• Environmental Biology: this two-year Master's program comprises about two courses, and two individual research projects of at least half a year. All Master's level courses are offered in English.

MSc Student Research subjects, general introduction

The opportunities for research within Marine Palynology and Paleoceanography are concentrated within three main areas:

• Paleoceanography and past Global Change
• Phytoplankton culturing & experimental aquatic ecology
• Actuo Marine Biology - applied and theoretical

Students interested in research topics with Marine Palynology and Paleoceanography should contact Prof Appy Sluijs.

Understanding environmental change through time

The Marine Palynology and Paleoceanography research program is based on the analysis of recent and fossil marine biota and molecules recovered from marine deposits. The aim is to provide basic contributions to the understanding of the role of primary and secondary producers as monitors, recorders, drivers, and moderators of climatic and environmental change on different temporal and spatial scales, in the past, present and future. The Marine Palynology and Paleoceanography group operates in close collaboration with the Royal Netherlands Institute of Sea Research (NIOZ).

Integration of data

The research program is characterized by an integration of actualistic (observational, experimental) data and/or models with palaeo-data to improve the understanding of past and present behavior of biota in relation to exogenous stressors (e.g. climate change, meteorite impacts, human impact) triggering dynamic biotic processes such as extinction, migration and evolution.

Interface between biology and Earth sciences

Successful implementation of this mission implies the development of research projects on the interface of biology and Earth sciences. The program is an integral part of the interfacultary 'Institute for Palaeoenvironment and Palaeoclimate Utrecht' (IPPU) and is the contribution of Utrecht University to the 'Netherlands Research School of Sedimentary Geology' (NSG).

To study biotic responses to environmental and climatic change we use a selection of biota and organic compounds that are sensitive to such changes and abundantly available in the fossil record.

See an overview of our output in the UU repository.

See an overview of current staff and visitors in the UU repository.

Project 1

• Topic: Can we trace Holocene meltwater megafloods from Icelandic ice caps in sediments from the marine realm? To study this, we open new core material from the coast of North Iceland and will use geochemical signals in sediments (measured through XRF-scanning) to reconstruct past flooding events.
• Number of students: 1
• Duration: 8-10 weeks, with a month on Texel
• Timing: April and June (Rick is probably on a ship in May, where he can email. The Texel part needs to be in April then).
• Contact person: Rick Hennekam

Project 2

• Topic: Analysis of North Sea sediments and oxygen use. The exchange of carbon, oxygen and nutrients between sediment and water is an important aspect of biogeochemical cycling in shallow seas like the North Sea. In this project, the student will help perform laboratory experiments in which sediment-water fluxes into and out of North Sea sediments are determined and linked to sediment properties and environmental conditions.
• Number of students: 1
• Duration: 8-10 weeks, with a month on Texel
• Timing: flexible
• Contact person: Peter Kraal
• Additional info: pending on timing, the student may assist on a ship during a short (monday-friday) expedition on the North Sea.

Project 3

• Topic: Video analyses of deep-sea cold waters reefs, trenches and/or canyons using Biigle.
• Number of Students: 2
• Duration:  8-10 weeks, with a month on Texel
• Timing: flexible
• Contact person: Furu Mienis 

Project 4

• Topic: Biodiversity analyses of samples collected from deep-sea polymetallic nodule fields or hydrothermal vents using microscopy and/or genetic methods.
• Number of Students: 1
• Duration: 8-10 weeks, with a month on Texel
• Timing: flexible
• Contact person: Sabine Gollner 

Project 1

• Topic: Sampling and enrichment/isolation of microorganisms from North Sea coastal waters/sediments: This would involve sampling, learning different techniques of isolation and enrichment in aerobic and anaerobic conditions, characterization of the isolates, microscopy.

Project 2

• Topic: Molecular characterization of marine microbes: DNA extraction from environmental samples and microbial isolates, DNA observation and diversity characterization, DNA sequencing and learning how to analyze DNA sequencing data.

Information for both topics:

• Number of students: 3 per project
• Duration: Both between 2 and 3 weeks. Project 2 could be accommodated to 1 week on location only, followed up with data analysis remotely. Project 1 could involve 3 days preparation time.
• Timing: flexible
• Contact person: Laura Villanueava 

Project 1

• Topic: Video survey analysis of Antarctic benthic communities
• Number of students: 1-2
• Duration: N/A
• Supervisor: Dick van Oevelen
• Contact person: Andrew Hirst

Project description: The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is composed of many fjords which are fed by broad glacial fronts. Several lines of evidence indicate that the glacial input supports high benthic production. The WAP is however experiencing rapid and significant warming since the second half of the 20th century and therefore most coastal glaciers are in retreat. These retreats will likely cause major shifts in the food web structure of these productive fjords. Due to their remoteness, however, our understanding of the functioning of these Antarctic fjord ecosystems is limited. 

Andvord Bay is a glaciomarine fjord along the WAP and has been studied intensively in the last decade by colleagues from the USA (https://craigrsmithlab.com/fjordeco/). They have conducted extensive video surveys showing that the sediment is inhabited by a rich and diverse megafauna community, including anemones, sponges and brittle stars. In this BSc topic, you will feed the photographs into dedicated software (PAPARA(ZZ)I or Beagle) to convert these organism counts to biomass units using size metrics and conversion factors.

Project 2

• Topic: Temperature dynamics in intertidal soft sediment environments (data analysis)
• Number of students: 1
• Duration: N/A
• Supervisor: Brenda Walles
• Contactperson: Andrew Hirst

Project description: This project aims to analyze temperature patterns in intertidal sediments across multiple sites in the Western Scheldt, Eastern Scheldt, and Wadden Sea during 2024 (normal summer) and 2025 (heatwave conditions). The focus is on understanding how sediment properties (e.g., grain size, tidal elevation) influence heating and cooling dynamics. The work will involve statistical analysis and visualization of large field datasets, identifying site-specific differences and environmental drivers of sediment temperature.

Project 3

• Topic: Temperature tolerance of estuarine (benthic) species (literature review).
• Number of students: 1
• Duration: N/A
• Supervisor: Brenda Walles
• Contact person: Andrew Hirst

Project description: This project aims to analyze temperature patterns in intertidal sediments across multiple sites in the Western Scheldt, Eastern Scheldt, and Wadden Sea during 2024 (normal summer) and 2025 (heatwave conditions). The focus is on understanding how sediment properties (e.g., grain size, tidal elevation) influence heating and cooling dynamics. The work will involve statistical analysis and visualization of large field datasets, identifying site-specific differences and environmental drivers of sediment temperature.

Project 4

• Topic: Tidal wave character in the Wadden Sea
• Number of students: 1
• Duration: N/A
• Supervisor: Theo Gerkema and Jie Mi
• Contact person: Andrew Hirst

Project description: This project focuses on the tidal dynamics in the Dutch Wadden Sea (DWS), an ecologically important multi-inlet water body between the North Sea and the Dutch mainland. The dynamics of this region are mainly driven by tidal action, variability in the wind regime, and freshwater discharge. Numerical simulations have been carried out using the General Estuarine Transport Model (GETM) for a period of 35 years in the Dutch Wadden Sea. The candidate will work with this long-term model dataset to analyze the characteristics of the tide (progressive versus standing) and to understand the hydrodynamics of the DWS over several decades. This will allow assessing how decadal changes in wind and extreme events may ultimately affect hydrodynamics and potentially influence material exchange processes in the region.

We are looking for an enthusiastic candidate with:

• Bachelor’s student in Marine Science, Geographic Information Science, or a similar, with a basic knowledge of MATLAB or Python.

Project 5

• Topic: Sexual size dimorphism: patterns and drivers of size differences in the sexes of marine animals
• Number of students: 2
• Costs: travel and accommodation for short visits to the site in Yerseke
• Duration: N/A
• Supervisor and contact person: Andrew Hirst

Project description: Males and females often show marked morphological differences. One important difference is in body sizes; think of the huge male elephant seal versus the small female, or the males of angler fish which are dwarf parasites on their female host. While in many invertebrates the female is the larger sex (possibly due to fecundity selection), males are typically the larger sex in many vertebrates (especially when there is male-male competition for females, the males hold territory or resources, and fight other males for access to females). There are a wide range of hypotheses to explain the degree of sexual size dimorphism (SSD), but often the tests of such theories has been restricted to the use of terrestrial species. Marine species often have very well documented body sizes, have diverse life histories, and marked male-female differences. They present excellent opportunities to tests theories of SSD. In this study you will put together comprehensive (quality controlled) data on the body sizes of the sexes of wide ranges of animal species from marine environments, and explore the diversity of size differences, and to examine possible drivers of these patterns (e.g. Rensch’s rule, Quantitative genetic theory). Taxa we may consider using in this exploration include: decapods and euphausiids, but many other taxa could be considered. We have to date explored such analysis in marine pelagic copepods:

• Macroevolutionary patterns of sexual size dimorphism in copepods | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
• And marine and freshwater fish: Selection for increased male size predicts variation in sexual size dimorphism among fish species | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences