Climate & Ecosystems Change

We are Earth system scientists passionate about understanding the complex relationships between climate change, terrestrial ecosystems, and the carbon cycle.

Our research combines fieldwork, remote sensing, and modeling techniques. We analyze satellite data from ESA, NASA, and other space agencies while integrating climate datasets from reanalysis and climate models. This comprehensive approach helps us uncover new insights into how our planet is changing.

We are particularly interested in how high-latitude climate change influences wildfires, how these fires affect permafrost peatlands, and how the resulting carbon emissions impact the climate. Our group was the first to identify and study overwintering zombie fires in boreal forests. We also highlighted the role of lightning in driving more intense arctic-boreal fire regimes and created the first global fire cause map, distinguishing between lightning- and human-caused fires. Our research now extends to other regions, including Europe and tropical forests.

Collaboration is at the heart of our work. We are proud to be part of international initiatives like NASA's Arctic-Boreal Vulnerability Experiment. We actively share our findings with land and fire managers to support real-world decision-making and regularly engage with the public through national and international media.

At Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, we teach courses on remote sensing, climate change, and wildfire in both BSc and MSc programs, inspiring the next generation of Earth system scientists.

Iconic papers

Janssen, T., Jones, M., Finney, D., van der Werf, G., van Wees, D., Xu, W., & Veraverbeke, S. (2023). Extratropical forests increasingly at risk due to lightning fires. Nature Geoscience, 1-9. 

Jones, M., Abatzoglou, J., Veraverbeke, S., Andela, N., Lasslop, G., Forkel, M., Smith, A., Burton, C., Betts, R., van der Werf, G., Sitch, S., Canadell, J., Santin, C., Kolden, C., Doerr, S., Le Quéré (2022). Global and regional trends of fire under climate change. Reviews of Geophysics, 60, e2020RG000726.

Jones, M. W., Veraverbeke, S., Andela, N., Doerr, S. H., Kolden, C., Mataveli, G., Pettinari, M.L., Le Quere, C., Rosan, T.M., van der Werf, G., van Wees, D. & Abatzoglou, J. T. (2024). Global rise in forest fire emissions linked to climate change in the extratropics. Science, 386(6719), eadl5889. 

Scholten, R., Jandt, R., Miller, E., Rogers, B., & Veraverbeke, S. (2021). Overwintering fires in boreal forest. Nature, 593, 399-404.

Scholten, R., Coumou, D., Luo, F. & Veraverbeke, S. (2022). Early snowmelt and polar jet dynamics co-influence recent extreme Siberian fire seasons. Science, 378, 1005-1009.

Veraverbeke, S., Rogers, B., Goulden, M., Jandt, R., Miller, C., Wiggins, E., & Randerson, J. (2017). Lightning as a major driver of recent large fire years in North American boreal forests. Nature Climate Change, 7, 529-534.