curriculum vitae
Full name: Willem Gerrit de Klerk
Date of birth: November 8th 1969
Place of birth: Dordrecht, The Netherlands
Current residence: Karlsruhe, Germany
Professional experience:
2013-present: Voluntary palynologist at the palaeoecological research group of the Greifswald University and the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe. Research: reconstruction of genesis, development and functioning of ice-wedge polygon mires in northeastern Siberia, and the perception of mires and wetlands by ancient cultures.
2012-2013: Palynologist at the Freie Universität Berlin. Research: reconstruction of vegetation history and human culture around Lake Rangsdorf near Berlin, with special emphasis on the Pre-Roman Iron Age.
2011-2012: Palynologist at the palaeoecological research group of the Greifswald University. Research: reconstruction of genesis, development and functioning of ice-wedge polygon mires in northeastern Siberia.
2006-2010: Palynologist at the Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe. Research: high-resolutional reconstruction of vegetation history in the central Vosges Mountains (NE France) during the last Millennia, with special emphasis on short-distance variation in mire vegetation and peat formation processes.
2004-2006: Participation in various research projects of the palaeoecological research group of the Greifswald University. Researches: genesis, development and functioning of peatlands in western Georgia (“Colchis”), western Siberia, northeastern Siberia, and Svalbard.
2003-2004: Position of “Archivischer Mitarbeiter” at the Vorpommersche Landesarchiv Greifswald. Assignment: digitalisation of historical register maps of Vorpommern (“Schwedische Matrikelkarte”; ca. 1700 CE).
2000-2003: Research at the Institute of Botany and Landscape Ecology, Greifswald University. Assignment: preparation of a palynological database for Vorpommern; evaluation of palynological research methods and their scientific history; research into human-induced soil erosion during the most recent centuries.
1995-2000: Palynologist at the Geographical Institute of the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University Greifswald. Research: reconstruction of vegetation history and landscape development of Vorpommern (NE Germany) during the Weichselian late Pleniglacial, Lateglacial, and Holocene in relation to palaeoclimate and (a)biotic landforming processes.
Education:
2002: Promotion (Dr. rer. nat.) at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University, Greifswald (Germany). Grade: magna cum laude.
1988-1995: Study of physical geography, Utrecht University (The Netherlands), specialisations: geomorphology and palynology.
1982-1988: Johan de Witt-Gymnasium Dordrecht
1976-1982: Primary school