Esther has completed several postdoctoral research roles in Sweden and Germany since graduating from the University of York, UK, through the REAL project and has led several recent publications on vegetation change detected from paleoenvironmental data sets of Europe and Africa.
REAL project thesis
Githumbi, E.N., 2017. Holocene Environmental and Human Interactions in East Africa. Doctoral dissertation, University of York.
Recent publications
Githumbi EN, Finch J, Kinyanjui RN, Courtney-Mustaphi C, Musili P, Rucina S, Lejju J, Liljenberg P, Marchant R. 2025. Late Quaternary montane forest dynamics from equatorial East Africa: a biome perspective. Journal of Biogeography 52(9): e15173. [CC BY 4.0 Open Access]
Courtney-Mustaphi CJ, Githumbi EN, Shoemaker A, Kariuki R, Munishi L, Aleman J, Itambu MP, Mes A, Brushworth JP, Bailey-Neale K, Lapellegerie P, Marchant R, Lane PJ. in press Sept2026. 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
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]
Gordon, J.D., Fagan, B., Githumbi, E., Milner, N. and Thomas, C.D., 2025. Increased Holocene Diversity in Europe Linked to Human‐Associated Vegetation Change. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 34(12), e70166.
Githumbi, E., Kamamia, A., Kämpf, L., Mwangi, H., Sang, J., Karanja, J., Zech, M., Julich, S. and Feger, K.H., 2024. Using multi-proxy analysis to determine the long-term impacts of catchment dynamics on water reservoirs-A case from a tropical reservoir (Ruiru Basin Kenya). Science of the Total Environment, 954, p.176767.
Githumbi EN, Courtney Mustaphi CJ, Marchant R. 2021. Sedimentological, palynological and charcoal analysis of the hydric palustrine sediments from the Lielerai-Kimana wetlands, Kajiado, southern Kenya. Palaeoecology of Africa 35: 107–126.
DOI:10.1201/9781003162766-8