The University of Oslo is participating in a new project that has been awarded €12 million by the European Research Council (ERC) through the Horizon Europe Synergy Grant scheme.
The research project, Ecological Archaeologies of the Afrotropics (EcoArch), will investigate how human activity, climate, and wildfires have shaped landscapes and biodiversity in Africa and Arabia over the past 6,000 years.
High-level collaboration
EcoArch is led by Professor David Wright at the University of Oslo and brings together specialists in archaeology, geosciences, evolutionary ecology, and land-cover modelling from three institutions: Professor Sanne Boessenkool at the University of Oslo, Associate Professor Sarah Ivory at Penn State University, and Professor Sandy Harrison at the University of Reading. The six-year project starts in March 2026.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for us to carry out groundbreaking research on landscapes and climate systems. No one has done research like this at this scale before,” says Wright.
Sanne Boessenkool adds: “It feels absolutely fantastic to be awarded an ERC Synergy. I truly look forward to working with David, Sarah and Sandy on the EcoArch project, and together with all our partners.”
Boessenkool is a professor at the Department of Biosciences and will use her experience with ancient DNA from sediments to analyse changes in biodiversity over time.
Ancient DNA meets new technology
Today, nearly one billion people live in the African and Arabian tropics, a region experiencing some of the most severe impacts of global climate change. Nevertheless, researchers lack detailed, observation-based data on how past environmental changes occurred and what drove them.
The team will combine ancient DNA analysis, rapid generation of pollen data using AI, biomarkers, and advanced vegetation and fire modelling. The results will be used to validate and refine climate models.
“Pollen is strongly influenced by climate and reflects the vegetation and environment it comes from in a very good way. By dating the pollen, we can learn a lot about what the climate was like at that time,” says Wright.
One aim of the project is to test new, more detailed climate models that will give farmers greater predictability and better opportunities to decide which crops to invest in.
Horizon Europe Synergy Grant
ERC Synergy Grant is among the largest research funding schemes in Europe. In Norway, only 21 researchers have previously received such an award. The funding goes to projects that collaborate across countries and disciplines, with goals so extensive that they cannot be carried out by a single research team.
“In total, there will be 15 different teams involved in this project, most of them based in Africa and Arabia. They will conduct fieldwork at up to 20 different locations in the region. This will provide us with a unique amount of data,” says Wright.