Juliane Helm
April, 2026
Research Data Management course for the Kili PhDs at the UFZ
A 3-day workshop about research data management was held at UFZ for the Kili-SES PhD candidates. The course included various topics that are crucial for handling data efficiently and safely as a researcher.
The course introduced the foundations, principles and practical skills required for responsible research data management. It covered ethical, legal, technical, and methodological aspects of handling research data throughout its entire life cycle. The course began by defining scientific freedom and the importance of responsible conduct and research, then the importance of reproducibility and quality of research. FAIR and CARE principles were also introduced to emphasise the maintenance of openness while protecting sensitive information (legally and ethically).
The students were also made aware of the ethics, governance, and legal frameworks that ensure research is conducted responsibly by protecting participants, regulating personal data and intellectual property, and preventing misconduct through principles of integrity, oversight, and compliance. Practical sessions were also conducted for the workshop participants to familirise themselves with Data Management Planning tools and how it can be used for their research.
In addition to planning, the workshop covered the full data life cycle, including best practices for data collection, documentation, file naming and version control to ensure data remains organized and reusable. Participants learned about the GDPR requirements, informed consent, and special considerations for personal, sensitive, and animal research data. The course also introduced secure storage solutions, encryption methods, and the 3‑2‑1 backup rule to minimise risks of data loss or breaches. Finally, the workshop addressed long‑term archiving, open formats, persistent identifiers, and the use of trusted repositories to ensure that research outputs remain accessible, reproducible, and valuable beyond the duration of the project.
Utilising AI in data management was also a timely and re-occurring topic throughout this workshop. Participants were additionally trained on the responsible use of AI, including how to document AI involvement, avoid plagiarism, and ensure that no personal, confidential, or unpublished information is shared with AI tools.
Beyond data‑focused content, the programme also included a session on the history of the UFZ campus, that is its past as a former forced labor camp, giving participants a deeper understanding of the site’s historical context.
In a nutshell, we had fun and learned a lot!
–Sachini Somapala–
April, 2026
Completing My PhD: A Milestone Achieved!
I successfully defended my PhD dissertation on 23 April 2026 at Goethe University Frankfurt. My dissertation, entitled “Relationships between biodiversity and material Nature’s Contributions to People along environmental gradients of Mount Kilimanjaro,” investigated how biodiversity supports different material Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP), including wood-based resources, agricultural production, medicinal plants, wild foods, and game resources across environmental and land-use gradients on Mount Kilimanjaro. Using ecological surveys, socio-economic data, and structural equation modelling, I explored how biodiversity, climate, land-use intensity, and human management jointly shape the supply of these resources.
The findings show that different biodiversity components contribute differently to specific NCP, while human agricultural inputs can increase crop yields but often at the cost of biodiversity. The dissertation also highlights the importance of protected areas for conserving biodiversity and culturally important species, while emphasizing the need for management strategies that balance conservation and local livelihoods.
I would like to sincerely thank my supervisors and mentor, colleagues, field assistants, friends, and family for their guidance, encouragement, and support throughout this journey. I am also very grateful to the KiLi-SES project and all collaborators who contributed to this work.
Asanteni sana!
–Koggani Dickson Koggani–
April, 2026
A PhD Journey Successfully Completed!
Neema, involved in the SP7 of the Kili-SES research unit, has successfully completed a PhD titled “Understanding the multidimensionality of the Kilimanjaro social–ecological system: insights for building desirable futures.”
The dissertation explores how interdisciplinary knowledge co-production can support sustainability in the Kilimanjaro social–ecological system (SES). By integrating ecological, social, and economic perspectives, the research examined farming systems, multifunctionality, and participatory future scenarios to understand how people and nature interact under changing environmental and social conditions. Using approaches such as Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP), multifunctionality assessments, and participatory scenario planning, the thesis highlights how diverse actors’ priorities, knowledge systems, and land-use decisions shape sustainability outcomes and desirable futures in Kilimanjaro. The dissertation will be publicly available through the Goethe University Frankfurt publication server.
Neema is deeply grateful to supervisors, collaborators, colleagues, field assistants, local communities in Kilimanjaro, friends, and family for their support throughout this PhD journey.
– Neema Robert-
April, 2026
In memory of Mgetha Kaswamila
We are deeply saddened to share the passing of our dear colleague, Mgetha Kaswamila.
Mgetha was part of the Kili Project for many years, working as a Field Assistant and becoming an integral and deeply valued member of our team. Those who worked with him will remember not only his experience and dedication, but also his calm presence, his reliability, and the quiet respect he showed to everyone around him. He was someone you could always count on, and his contribution to the project will not be forgotten.
Many of us had the privilege of working alongside him in the field, sharing long days and challenges together. His loss is felt deeply, both professionally and personally, across the entire project.
Mgetha leaves behind his wife and three children — two sons Abiudy (16 years), and Price (13 years) and his little daughter Presures (5 years).
To honor his memory and express our condolences, a delegation of seven members of the Kili Project traveled to attend his funeral. Being there in person was important to us. We wanted to stand with his family, to show our respect, and to say goodbye. Together, we brought a financial contribution and laid a wreath in his honor.
Funerals in Tanzania are deeply meaningful communal events. People come together in large numbers – often traveling long distances – to pay their respects and support the bereaved family. This collective presence is a powerful expression of care, solidarity, and respect. At the same time, it also brings significant costs for the family. Contributions are therefore an essential and heartfelt way of sharing this responsibility. In this context, the support from the Kili Project was received with sincere gratitude.
Our thoughts are with Mgetha’s family, his friends, and all who knew him.
We will remember him with respect, gratitude, and great fondness.
March, 2026
PhD Successfully Completed!
Dickson Mauki, PhD student under SP1 in the Kilimanjaro Social-Ecological Systems project, has successfully completed his PhD entitled:
“Plant functional strategies and regulating Nature’s Contributions to People along environmental gradients of Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.”
His research integrates ecological, biogeochemical, and functional trait approaches to investigate drivers of carbon storage, enzyme activities, and soil multifunctionality within tropical mountain ecosystems. Through extensive fieldwork and data synthesis across Kilimanjaro’s elevational gradient, his work contributes to advancing our understanding of biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships and sustainable ecosystem management under changing environmental conditions.
During his PhD journey, Dickson worked with interdisciplinary datasets linking vegetation traits, soil processes, climate, and land use to better understand ecosystem resilience and the delivery of ecosystem functions and services across tropical landscapes.
Dickson is deeply grateful to all supervisors, collaborators, field assistants, local communities, and fellow PhD students who contributed to and supported this journey. Aksanteni sana.
– Dickson Mauki-
February, 2026
Kick-Off 2nd phase of Kili-SES in Tanzania
From 9-13 February, project partners and researchers met in Tanzania for the Phase II Kick-Off of the Kili-SES project. The meeting marked the official start of the second project phase and focused on strengthening collaboration, aligning research goals, and initiating synthesis activities across all subprojects.
The workshop week opened at the Nkweseko Research Station, creating a productive environment for intensive discussions, presentation preparation, and bilateral and multilateral dialogue among the subprojects.
On 10 February, the official opening at the Uhuru Conference Center in Moshi included a warm welcome by the speaker of the Research Unit Katrin Böhning-Gaese, a project introduction by Andreas Hemp, and a keynote by Elisabeth Mwakosya (TAWIRI), highlighted the long-term collaboration between TAWIRI and Kili-SES. Researchers from the seven Kili-SES subprojects, including Principal Investigators, Co-PIs, postdoctoral researchers, and PhD students, then presented their objectives for Phase II. Associated projects also provided short overviews, followed by discussions that further strengthened collaboration within the network.
On 11 February, participants visited the Machare Coffee Estate, guided by Bente Medoch, to learn about coffee cultivation systems, plantation management, organic farming practices, and their role in supporting sustainable land use and local livelihoods.The final two days were spent together discussing synthesis, data management, and coordination. A central element was an internal 3-Horizons workshop, which aimed to kick-start the synthesis work on transformation within the Kili-SES project. It provided a basic understanding of the main challenges and potential pathways for change in the Kilimanjaro region. It specifically built on research insights from previous and ongoing project phases, in particular on lessons learned and experiences gained through fieldwork. Activities were organised in three phases: 1) describing the main challenges and positive elements in the present of the Kili social-ecological system, 2) exploring desirable futures and inspiring practices, 3) collecting actions, strategies and management decisions that can help transition from the present to desirable futures.
– Claudia Hemp and Juliane Helm –
January, 2026
Mountain Forests of East Africa Reveal a New Insect Family
Researchers under the lead of Claudia Hemp have identified a previously unknown family of African grasshoppers, Ixalidiidae, using modern genetic methods combined with over 40 years of research. These small, mostly flightless grasshoppers live in East African mountain and coastal forests, including Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount Meru, and the Eastern Arc Mountains, with related species also found in West and Central Africa. Because they are well camouflaged and morphologically similar, they remained unrecognized for a long time. Long-term ecological research programmes on Kilimanjaro provided key specimens that helped reveal this distinct evolutionary lineage. The study also shows how natural history collections are essential for modern biodiversity research, allowing scientists to combine historical material with new genomic data. The discovery highlights the importance of East African forests as hotspots of unique and still hidden biodiversity. The research was supported by the DFG (German Research Foundation), the Orthopterists’ Society, and the SYNTHESYS Programme.
You can find the article here.
– Claudia Hemp –
January, 2026
Assessing nature’s non-material contributions to people across diverse habitats at Mount Kilimanjaro, Tanzania.
Biodiversity plays a vital role in supporting Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP) which are all benefits and detriments of nature to people’s quality of life. People’s interactions with biodiversity and non-living elements of nature—together referred to as entities of nature (EN)—support not only material (e.g., food) and regulating NCP (e.g., water purification), but also non-material NCP, such as aesthetic enjoyment, recreation, or spiritual fulfillment. Despite their importance, the specific links between EN and non-material NCP remain poorly understood. Unlike material and regulating contributions, non-material NCP are often intangible and strongly shaped by human perception, making them inherently more challenging to assess and quantify.
My PhD addresses this gap by providing empirical evidence on how people perceive and interact with nature through the operationalization of non-material NCP. The Mount Kilimanjaro social–ecological system offered an ideal setting for this research. Its remarkable diversity of habitats, combined with the presence of multiple social groups whose knowledge, values, and interactions with nature differ, provides a unique opportunity to examine how perceptions of non-material NCP are shaped.
To investigate these relationships, my research integrates concepts, tools, and methods from both the natural and social sciences. First, I examined which non-material NCP and entities of nature people perceive as meaningful, and where these perceptions occur. Using Twitter as a source of large-scale, text-based narratives, I captured how tourists describe their nature experiences in their own words. Second, I investigated the direct associations between perceived non-material NCP and EN. Drawing on ecological network analysis, non-material NCP were characterized based on the breadth and specificity of their associations with EN, resulting in a typology of specialized and generalized NCP. Finally, I explored how NCP–EN relationships vary across social groups by employing a soundscape-based approach, examining how the acoustic characteristics of habitats support different non-material NCP.
By explicitly linking non-material NCP to entities of nature, my research clarifies how nature matters, where and for whom, generating insights directly relevant for management and conservation. Using a soundscape-based approach, I showed that residents continue to value habitats within the national park despite access restrictions. Using social media data, I found that highly biodiverse habitats do not necessarily correspond to a greater diversity of perceived non-material NCP for tourists; instead, higher-elevation habitats were associated with a wider range of experiences. This pattern may reflect the park’s emphasis on summit-focused activities, which can redirect tourists’ attention away from biodiversity-rich habitats. Together, these findings highlight opportunities for more inclusive conservation strategies and interventions that broaden engagement with biodiversity.
Beyond Mount Kilimanjaro, my PhD responds to the broader need for new tools to better understand the links between nature and non-material NCP. By combining ecological network analysis with emerging soundscape approaches, this work unpacks the ecological foundations of non-material NCP. The typology of specialized and generalized NCP developed in this research provides a transferable framework that can inform indicator development and vulnerability assessments. Importantly, this work emphasizes that nature experiences are inherently multisensory, and therefore no single method is sufficient to capture their full complexity. For example, while Twitter analysis suggested that tourists primarily perceived recreational experiences in mid-elevation habitats, the soundscape-based approach revealed additional contributions, such as learning, that would otherwise remain hidden.
While a PhD journey is rarely linear or smooth, it is a deeply creative and transformative experience. Once it is over, you can only look back with a smile, recognizing it as a true adventure. This work would not have been possible without the support of supervisors, colleagues, friends, and family. I can only wish you more time spent outdoors, and if you are lucky enough in the amazing southern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro! Asante Sana (:
– Eugenia Degano –