Knowledge Core GmbH is an environmental change research group active out in the field, in the laboratory, at the computer, and through dissemination and outreach. We partner on project proposals, implementation and fulfilment, training of highly-qualified personnel in Africa, Europe and North America. Our approach combines quantitative and qualitative research methods using multiple lines of evidence from Geosciences, Archaeology, Social Sciences and Humanities, to better understand drivers of environmental change and potential solutions.
Knowledge Core GmbH operates with three main foci
1) deliver data, analyses and guidance on Environmental Changes through research projects primarily in Europe, Africa, and North America;
2) professional training on research methods in the field, laboratory, and computer; and are a
3) provider of the top geoscientific laboratory hardware and instruments. See: PaleoLabTools for subsampling sediments in the field and laboratory
We are a registered participant for EU Funding and Tenders and conduct research and design for innovation.
We contribute toward
Recent deliverables
Courtney-Mustaphi CJ, Githumbi EN, Shoemaker A, Aleman J, Munishi L, Itambu MP, Lapellegerie P, Bailey-Neale K, Marchant R, Lane P. in press. Palaeoenvironmental radiocarbon dates for environmental change and land use research across eastern Africa: an updated open access data set. Paleoecology of Africa 36. Data: http://dx.doi.org/10.7910/DVN/NJLNRJ
Muiruri V, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Marchant R, Nkirote M’Mbogori F, Minya A, Lane P. 2026. High resolution multi-proxy analyses document Mid to Late Holocene environmental change in arid Marsabit County, northern Kenya, East Africa. The Holocene. [© The Author(s) 2026] Data:https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/S3PBQG
Milner A et al. 2026. Priority research questions in global peatland science. Communications Earth & Environment 7, 349. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access] [Data] [The Conversation]
Wang Y, Feldpausch T, Swindles G, Moss P, McGowan H, Sim T, Morris P, Benfield A, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Wahl D, Montoya E, Githumbi E, Honorio Coronado E, Augustijns F, Verstraeten G, O’Donnell (Roe) J, Tibby J, Benavides J, Hapsari KA, Schittek K, Ramdzan KNM, Bao K, Cole LES, Anderson L, Gałka M, Emuobosa Akpo O, Strobel P, Ramya Bala P, Dommain R, Marchant R, Sukumar R, Chawchai S, Pullyottum Kavil S, Mooney S, Kelly TJ, Gao Y, Voulgarakis A, Boom A, Burton C, Berrio JC, Ribeiro K, Anderson L, Hardiman M, Spater M, Page S, Gallego-Sala A. 2026. Unprecedented burning in tropical peatlands during the 20th century compared to previous two millennia. Global Change Biology 32(3): e70717. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access] [FigShare Supplement] [Preprint version]
Anderson TM, Hempson GP, Donaldson J, Beale CM, te Beest M, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Cromsigt JPGM, Foy C, Fynn R, Hanan N, Keoikantse S, Parr K, Probert J, le Roux L, Smit IPJ, Staver AC, Archibald S. 2025. Identifying ecological knowledge and research gaps via the African Database on Savanna Protected Areas (ADSPA). Diversity and Distributions 31(11): e70123. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access] Data: https://osf.io/xfcb7/ [Apache 2.0 license] Code: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.9ghx3ffxp
Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Camara-Brugger SO, Chellman NJ, Muñoz S, Kariuki R, Damber M, Shoemaker A, Ekblom A, Munishi L, Lane P, Marchant R, Heiri O. 2025. Multiple paleofire proxy metrics from tropical lake sediment and soil in the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem. The Holocene 35(9): 926–936. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access] Data: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/S4ILZT
Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Platts PJ, Willcock S, Timberlake JR, Osborne J, Matimele H, Summer Osgood H, Muiruri V, Gehrels M, Bayliss J, Marchant R. 2025. Tree demographics and soil charcoal evidence of fire disturbances in an inaccessible forest atop the Mount Lico inselberg, Mozambique. Plants, People, Planet 7(1): 229–244. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access] Data: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/EZIWDT
- Video context: [YouTube]
Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Camara-Brugger SO, Ekblom A, Munishi L, Kariuki R, Shoemaker A, Lane P, Marchant R. 2025. Multiporate Poaceae pollen grains observed in the recent fossil record from the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem and Lake Victoria region. Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 333: 105240. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access] Data: https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/JGZTIK