Marielle Geppert

Marielle Geppert is an Associated Scientist at the Institute of Geological Sciences, Department of Geosciences at Freie Universität Berlin, specializing in paleoclimatology and environmental reconstructions. Her research focuses on paleolake systems in the Kalahari Desert, particularly at the UNESCO World Heritage Site Tsodilo Hills in Botswana, with additional work in NE Tibet Plateau, China.

Her educational background includes a Ph.D. in Geosciences (ongoing since 2017) at Freie Universität Berlin focusing on paleolake reconstruction at Tsodilo Hills, an M.Sc. in Environmental Earth Sciences from both Nanjing University (2015) and Freie Universität Berlin (2017), and a B.Sc. in Geoecology from Universität-Potsdam (2014).

• Research interests: Environmental reconstructions through lake sediments
• Palaeoclimatology of arid regions
• Sedimentology and paleohydrology
• Human-environment interactions in Quaternary
• Stable isotope analysis for climate reconstruction

Her recent publications demonstrate a strong focus on paleoenvironmental reconstruction in the Kalahari region, particularly examining hydrological settings at Tsodilo Hills during the Late Pleistocene. Her work combines field sedimentology with advanced analytical techniques to understand ancient climate conditions and their relationship to human occupation patterns.

Scientific Awards:

• Best Poster Award, Geo.X Annual Meeting 2020
• Promotionsstipendium des Evangelischen Studienwerk Villigst e.V.
• Elsa-Neumann-Stipendium

Marielle Geppert has supervised multiple B.Sc. theses on topics related to Kalahari soil processes and southern African precipitation sources. She has taught field and laboratory methods courses in physical geography at the B.Sc. level since 2017 and completed a certificate program in university teaching methodology at the Dahlem Center for Academic Teaching (2019-2021).