This workshop will cover the basics underlying the use of stable isotope ratios of light elements (in particular C, N, O, and H) in ecological and archaeological studies. This includes the principles of isotope fractionation during photosynthesis and in food webs, fractionation in the hydrological cycle, and isotope fractionation during carbonate precipitation. We will discuss why a thorough understanding of these principles (and the caveats involved) are critical to interpreting stable isotope data of environmental samples, whether from contemporary systems or organisms, or from the past.

Steven Bouillon graduated as a bioscience engineer at KU Leuven (Belgium) before embarking on a PhD at the Vrije Unversiteit Brussel on carbon dynamics and trophic relationships in mangrove ecosystems. After some postdoctoral years in Brussels and the Centre of Estuarine and Marine Ecology (the Netherlands), he holds a faculty position at the Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences at KULeuven since 2009.

 

His research strongly builds on the application of C, N, H and O stable isotope analyses, with a focus on understanding the functioning of ecosystems and faunal communities: fluxes of carbon and nutrients, foodwebs, reconstruction of environmental conditions – mostly in tropical aquatic systems: rivers, lakes, wetlands, floodplains. Through managing a well equipped stable isotope lab, he is also involved in wide variety of studies within other disciplines including archaeological studies, e.g. to reconstruct diets of animals and humans in the past.

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