Julien Azuara

Julien Azuara is an Assistant Professor affiliated with the Chrono-environment laboratory (UMR 6249 CNRS/UFC) at the Université de Franche-Comté in France. His research focuses on plant population dynamics in past and present ecosystems, with particular emphasis on Holocene forest dynamics, past climatic variations, cliff ecology, and meadow ecosystems. He holds a PhD in Paleontology from the National Museum of Natural History in Paris (2017), where his dissertation examined the influence of climate and human activities on Holocene vegetation in the northwest Mediterranean.

His research interests span several interconnected fields:

• Palaeoclimatology - reconstructing past climate variations using multi-proxy approaches
• Paleoecology - analyzing historical plant-animal-environment interactions
• Palynology - utilizing pollen analysis for vegetation reconstruction
• Cliff and Meadow Ecology - studying these ecosystems as biodiversity refugia
• Holocene Forest Dynamics - examining long-term vegetation changes

His recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on reconstructing Mediterranean vegetation and climate dynamics during the Holocene, utilizing innovative techniques such as pollen-based REVEALS modeling, wavelet analysis of multi-proxy records, and plant functional type classification. The research consistently addresses human-environment interactions, climate variability impacts on ecosystems, and methodological advances in paleoenvironmental reconstruction.

He actively collaborates on interdisciplinary projects including the Demeter Project investigating agrobiodiversity changes and the reconstruction of Neolithic landscapes in Mediterranean France. His work integrates approaches from paleoecology, archaeology, and climate science.