Kseniia Boxleitner (Ashastina)

Kseniia Boxleitner (Ashastina) is a Scientific Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology in Jena, Germany, specializing in paleoecology and paleoethnobotany with regional expertise in Central and Northeast Asia. She contributes to the FEDD Project (Fruits of Eurasia: Domestication and Dissemination) and DAE Research Group, analyzing archaeological macrofossils from Central Asia, Europe, and the Caucasus Mountains.

Education:

• Diploma in Physical Geography and Ecology (2011), St. Petersburg State University, Russia
• Dual MSc in Polar and Marine Research (2013), University of Hamburg, Germany & St. Petersburg State University, Russia
• PhD in Quaternary Paleoenvironments (2018), Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany

Her research focuses on reconstructing Pleistocene vegetation dynamics through permafrost-preserved macrofossils, particularly at the Batagay megaslump site in West Beringia. She investigates interactions between climate, vegetation, and megaherbivores during the Late Quaternary, with significant contributions to understanding mammoth steppe ecosystems and plant domestication processes. Her analytical work combines paleobotanical methods with archaeobotanical data to trace human-environment interactions across Eurasia.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals dominant research themes in permafrost paleoenvironmental reconstruction (60%), archaeobotanical domestication studies (25%), and highland Central Asian archaeology (15%). Key methodological approaches include macrofossil analysis, multiproxy environmental reconstruction, and integration of archaeological with paleoclimatic data.

Scientific Recognition:

• Nature's 'Science on Camera' work photo competition winner (2017)
• Featured in Science magazine for Batagay megaslump research (2020)
• BBC documentary coverage of permafrost research (2020)

Boxleitner actively contributes to public science communication through media engagement and translation work, including leading the Russian translation of the 'Frozen Ground Cartoon' educational comic. Her research connects paleoenvironmental studies with contemporary climate change impacts through permafrost degradation observations.