Kay Beets

Dr. Kay Beets is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Earth and Climate at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Faculty of Science. Her research focuses on sedimentology, paleoclimatology, and Quaternary science, with a particular emphasis on reconstructing past environmental and climatic changes through geochemical and sedimentological analyses. She has contributed to studies on loess-paleosol sequences, fluvial dynamics, and aeolian processes in regions such as China and the Netherlands.

Her work integrates field observations with laboratory techniques, including grain size analysis, isotopic tracing, and zircon dating. Key projects include investigations into the Messinian Salinity Crisis, Holocene sea-level changes in the Netherlands, and the climatic drivers of Younger Dryas environmental shifts. Dr. Beets teaches courses in Geochemistry and Landscape Dynamics, emphasizing hands-on fieldwork and geospatial analysis.

Collaborations span international teams studying paleoenvironmental records from Spain to central China, reflecting her global research interests. She has supervised five PhD theses and contributed datasets to Pangaea, highlighting her commitment to open science.