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(peer-reviewed)

Publications

2024

Foerster, V., Simon, M., Schäbitz, F. (2024). Drilling in an African Lake to Find Out Whether Climate Change Drove Human Evolution. Frontiers for Young Minds, 12, 1252697. doi: 10.3389/frym.2024.1252697

Beck, C., Berke, M., Feibel, C., Foerster, V., Olaka, L., Roberts, H.M., Scholz, C.A., Cantner, K., Noren, A., Kiptoo, G., Muirhead, J., and the Deep Drilling in the Turkana Basin (DDTB) Project Team (2024). ICDP workshop on the Deep Drilling in the Turkana Basin Project: Exploring the link between environmental factors and hominin evolution over the past 4 Ma. Scientific Drilling, 33, 93–108, 2024. https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-33-93-2024

Trauth, M., Fischer, M. L., Foerster, V., Marwan, N., Roberts, H. M. & Schäbitz, F. (2024). A combined directly-dated and tuned age model for the Chew Bahir, Ethiopia. Quaternary Science Reviews, 15, 100208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qsa.2024.100208

Trauth, M.H., Asrat, A., Fischer, M.L., Hopcroft, P., Foerster, V., Kaboth-Bahr, S., Kindermann, K., Lamb, H.F., Marwan, N., Maslin, M., Schaebitz, F., Valdes, P.J. (2024). Early Warning Signals for the Termination of the African Humid Period. Nature Communications 15, 3697, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47921-1.

Fischer, M., Munz, P.M., Foerster, V., Schaebitz, F., Marwan, N., Schwanghart, W., Kaboth-Bahr, S., Asrat, A., Trauth, M.H., 2024. Spatio-temporal variations of climate along possible African-Arabian routes of H. sapiens expansion. Quaternary Science Advances 14, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qsa.2024.100174.

2023

McHenry, L. J., Foerster, V., & Gebregiorgis, D. (2023). Paleolakes of Eastern Africa: Zeolites, Clay Minerals, and Climate. Elements 19(2), 96–103.

Schäbitz, F., Richter, J., Foerster, V., Simon, M. Budke, A. (2023). Mobilität unserer Vorfahren. Die Ausbreitungsgeschichte des Homo sapiens von Afrika nach Europa. Geographische Rundschau 6, 30–35.

2022

Foerster, V. Asrat, A., Bronk Ramsey, C., Brown, E.T., Chapot, M.S., Deino, A., Duesing, W., Grove, M., Hahn, A., Junginger, A., Kaboth-Bahr, S., Lane, C.S., Opitz, S., Noren, A., Roberts, H.M., Stockhecke, M., Tiedemann, R., Vidal, C.M., Vogelsang, R., Cohen, A.S., Lamb, H.F., Schaebitz, F., Trauth, M.H., accepted. Pleistocene climate variability in eastern Africa influenced hominin evolution. Nature Geoscience.

Foerster V., Zeeden C. and Junginger A. 2022. Editorial: Integrating Paleoclimate, Stratigraphy, Sedimentology, and Paleontology in Human Evolution and Dispersal Studies—from Early Hominins to the Holocene. Frontiers in Earth Science 10, 10:892664.doi: 10.3389/feart.2022.892664.

Cohen, A. S., Campisano, C. J., Arrowsmith, J. R., Asrat, A., Beck, C. C., Behrensmeyer, A. K., Deino, A.L., Feibel, C.S., Foerster, V., Kingston, J.D., Lamb, H.F., LOwenstein, T.K., Lupien, R.L., Muiruri, V., Olago, D.O., Owen, R.B., Potts, R., Russel, J.M., Schaebitz, F., Stone, J.R., Trauth, M.H., Yost, C. L., 2022. Reconstructing the Environmental Context of Human Origins in Eastern Africa Through Scientific Drilling. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 50.

Lupien, R.L., Russell, J.M., Pearson, E.J., Castañeda, I.S., Asrat, A., Foerster, V., Lamb, H.F., Roberts, H.M., Schäbitz, F., Trauth, M.H., Beck, C.C., Feibel, C.S., Cohen, A.S., 2022. Orbital controls on eastern African hydroclimate in the Pleistocene. Science Reports 12, 3170.

2021

Duesing, W., Kaboth-Bahr, S., Asrat, A., Cohen, A.S., Foerster, V., Lamb, H.F., Schaebitz, F., Trauth, M.H., Viehberg, F., 2021. Changes in the cyclicity and variability of the eastern African paleoclimate over the last 620 kyrs. Quaternary Science Reviews 273, 107219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107219.

Trauth, M.H., Asrat, A., Berner, N., Bibi, F., Foerster, V., Grove, M., Kaboth-Bahr, S., Maslin, M.A., Mudelsee, M., Schäbitz, F., 2021. Northern Hemisphere Glaciation, African climate and human evolution. Quaternary Science Reviews 268, 107095, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107095.

Schaebitz, F., Lamb, H., Asrat, A., Trauth, M.H., Vogelsang, R., Viehberg, F.A., Foerster, V. (2021). Ethiopian lakes as paleoenvironmental and paleoclimate archives. In: Litt, T., Richter, J., and Schäbitz, F. (Eds.), The Journey of Modern Humans from Africa to Europe. Culture-Environmental Interaction and Mobility. Schweizerbart Science Publishers, Stuttgart, pp. 14–21.

Maier, V. und Foerster, V., 2021. Studierende gestalten Erklärvideos. Bodenprofile didaktisch reduzieren und videografisch aufbereiten. In: Jeannine Wintzer, Ivo Mossig, Angela Hof (Hrsg.): Prinzipien, Strukturen und Praktiken geographischer Hochschullehre. UTB Verlag, Bern.

Krueger, J., Foerster, V., Trauth, M.H., Hofreiter, M., Tiedemann, R., 2021. Exploring the Past Biosphere of Chew Bahir/Southern Ethiopia: Cross- Species Hybridization Capture of Ancient Sedimentary DNA from a Deep Drill Core. Front. Earth Sci. 9:683010. doi: 10.3389/feart.2021.683010.

Schaebitz, F., Asrat, A., Lamb, H.F., Cohen, A.S., Foerster, V., Duesing, W., Kaboth-Bahr, S., Opitz, S., Viehberg, F.A., Vogelsang, R., Dean, J., Leng, M.J., Junginger, A., Bronk Ramsey, C., Chapot, M.S., Deino, A., Lane, C.S., Roberts, H.., Vidal, C., Tiedemann, R., Trauth, M.H., 2021. Hydroclimate changes in eastern Africa over the past 200,000 years may have influenced early human dispersal. Nature Communications Earth and Environment, (2021)2:123 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-021-00195-7.

Fischer, M.L., Bachofer, F., Yost, C., Bludau, I.E., Schepers, C., Foerster, V., Lamb, H.F., Schäbitz, F., Asrat, A., Trauth, M.H., Junginger, A., 2021. A Phytolith supported Biosphere-Hydrosphere Predictive Model for southern Ethiopia: insights into paleoenvironmental changes and human landscape preferences since the Last Glacial Maximum. Geosciences 2021, 11, 418. https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences11100418.

Kaboth-Bahr, S., Gosling, W.D., Vogelsang, R., Bahr, A., Scerri, E.M.L, Asrat, A., Cohen, A.S., Düsing, W., Foerster, V., Lamb, H.F., Maslin, M.A., Roberts, H.M., Schäbitz, F., Trauth, M.H., 2021. Paleo-ENSO influence on African environments and early modern humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Jun 2021, 118 (23) e2018277118; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2018277118.

Roberts, H., Bronk Ramsey, C., Chapot M., Deino A., Lane C., Vidal C., Asrat A., Cohen A., Foerster V., Lamb H., Schäbitz F., Trauth, M.H., 2021. Using multiple chronometers to establish a long, directly-dated lacustrine record: constraining >600,000 years of environmental change at Chew Bahir, Ethiopia. Quaternary Science Reviews 266, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.107025.

Arnold, G.E., Foerster, V., Trauth, M.H., Lamb, H., Schaebitz, F., Asrat, A., Szczech, C., Günter, C., 2021. Advanced hyperspectral analysis of sediment core samples from the Chew Bahir Basin, Ethiopian Rift, in the spectral range from 0.25 to 17 µm: support for climate proxy interpretation. Frontiers in Earth Science, 9:606588. doi: 10.3389/feart.2021.606588.

Gebregiorgis, D., Deocampo, D.M., Foerster, V., Longstaffe, F.J., Schaebitz, F., Junginger, A., Markowska, M., Trauth, M.H., Asrat, A. 2021. Modern sedimentation and authigenic mineral formation in the Chew Bahir Basin, southern Ethiopia: implications for interpretation of Late Quaternary paleoclimate records. Frontiers in Earth Science. doi: 10.3389/feart.2021.607695.

Duesing, W., Berner, N., Deino, A.L., Foerster, V., Kraemer, K.H., Marwan, N. and Trauth, M.H., 2021. Multiband Wavelet Age Modeling for a 293 m (600 kyr) Sediment Core From Chew Bahir Basin, Southern Ethiopian Rift. Front. Earth Sci. 9:594047. doi: 10.3389/feart.2021.594047.

Trauth, M.H., Asrat, A., Cohen, A.S., Duesing, W., Foerster, V., Kaboth-Bahr, S., Kraemer K.H., Lamb, H.F., Marwan, N., Maslin, M.A., Schäbitz, F., 2021. Recurring types of variability and transitions in the ∼620 kyr record of climate change from the Chew Bahir basin, southern Ethiopia, Quaternary Science Reviews, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106777.

2020

Fischer, M.L., Markowska, M., Bachofer, F., Foerster, V., Asrat, A., Zielhofer, C., Trauth, M.H. and Junginger, A., 2020. Determining the Pace and Magnitude of Lake Level Changes in Southern Ethiopia Over the Last 20,000 Years Using Lake Balance Modeling and SEBAL. Frontiers in Earth Science 8:197. doi: 10.3389/feart.2020.00197.

Russel, J., et al., 2020. ICDP workshop on the Lake Tanganyika Scientific Drilling Project: a late Miocene–present record of climate, rifting, and ecosystem evolution from the world’s oldest tropical lake. Sci. Dril., 27, 53–60, 2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/sd-27-53-2020.

2019

Trauth, M.H., Asrat, A., Duesing, W., Foerster, V., Kraemer, K.H., Marwan, N., Maslin, M.A:, Schaebitz, F., 2019. Classifying past climate change in the Chew Bahir basin, southern Ethiopia, using recurrence quantification analysis. Climate Dynamics, doi.org/10.1007/s00382-019-04641-3.

2018

Foerster, V., Deocampo, D.M., Asrat, A., Günter, C., Junginger, A., Kraemer, H., Stroncik, N.A., Trauth, M.H., 2018. Towards an understanding of climate proxy formation in the Chew Bahir basin, southern Ethiopian Rift. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 501, 111-123, doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.04.009.

Trauth, M.H., Foerster, V., Junginger, A., Asrat, A., Lamb, H.F., Schaebitz, F., 2018. Abrupt or Gradual? Change Point Analysis of the Late Pleistocene-Holocene Climate Record from Chew Bahir, Southern Ethiopia. Quaternary Research (2018), 1-10, doi:10.1017/qua.2018.30.

2016 – 2014

Foerster, V., Vogelsang, R., Junginger, A., Asrat, A., Lamb, H.F., Schaebitz, F., Trauth, M.H., 2016. Reply to the comment on “Environmental change and human occupation of southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya during the last 20,000 years. Quaternary Science Reviews 129: 333–340”. Quaternary Science Reviews 141, 130–133, 10.1016/j.quascirev.2016.04.003.

Cohen, A.S. , Campisano, C., Arrowsmith,R., Asrat, A., Behrensmeyer,A.K., Deino, A., Feibel, C., Hill†,A., Johnson, R., Kingston, J., Lamb, H., Lowenstein, T., Noren, A., Olago, D., Owen, R.B., Potts, R., Reed, K., Renaut, R., Schäbitz, F., Tiercelin, J.-J., Trauth, M.H., Wynn, J., Ivory, S., Brady, K., O’Grady, R., Rodysill, J., Githiri, J., Russell, J., Foerster, V., Dommain, R., Rucina, S., Deocampo, D., Russell, J., Billingsley, A., Beck, C., Dorenbeck, G., Dullo, L., Feary, D., Garello, D., Gromig, R., Johnson, T., Junginger, A., Karanja, M., Kimburi, E., Mbuthia, A., McCartney, T., McNulty, E., Muiruri, V., Nambiro,E., Negash, E.W., Njagi, D., Wilson, J.N., Rabideaux, N., Raub,T., Sier,M.J., Smith, P., Urban, J., Warren, M., Yadeta, M., Yost, C., Zinaye, B., 2016. The Hominin Sites and Paleolakes Drilling Project: Inferring the Environmental Context of Human Evolution from Eastern African Rift Lake Deposits. Scientific Drilling 21, 1-16, doi:10.5194/sd-21-1-2016.

Foerster, V., Vogelsang, R., Junginger, A., Asrat, A., Lamb, H.F., Schaebitz, F., Trauth, M.H., 2015. Environmental Change and Human Occupation of Southern Ethiopia and Northern Kenya during the last 20,000 years. Quaternary Science Reviews 129, 333–340, doi: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.10.026.

Trauth, M.H., Bergner, A.G.N., Foerster, V., Junginger, A., Maslin, M.A., Schaebitz, F., 2015. Episodes of Environmental Stability and Instability in Late Cenozoic Lake Records of Eastern Africa. Journal of Human Evolution 87, 21–31, doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.03.011.

Foerster, V., Junginger, A., Asrat, A., Lamb, H. F., Wennrich, V., Weber, M., Rethemeyer, J., Frank, U., Brown, M.C., Trauth, M.H. and Schaebitz, F., 2014. 46 000 years of alternating wet and dry phases on decadal to orbital timescales in the cradle of modern humans: the Chew Bahir project, southern Ethiopia. Climate of the Past Discussions 10, 977–1023.

Foerster, V., Junginger, A., Langkamp, O., Gebru, T., Asrat, A., Umer, M., Lamb, H., Wennrich, V., Rethemeyer, J., Nowaczyk, N., Trauth, M.H., Schäbitz, F., 2012. Climatic change recorded in the sediments of the Chew Bahir basin, southern Ethiopia, during the last 45,000 years, Quaternary International 274, 25–37.