Carbon Cycling in Boreal Peatlands and Climate Change IV – Hyytiälä revisited
5th—9th of October 2026 @ Hyytiälä Forest Station
Programme:
- Carbon dynamics in natural an managed peatlands
- Role of non-CO₂ fluxes in climate impacts of peatlands
- Peatland restoration
- Functional diversity of peatlands
- Human-peatland relationship
Sessions are to be allocated to exact time slots.
Programme
Keynote speakers
Mike Waddington
Professor
MacMaster University
Dr. James Michael (Mike) Waddington is a Canada Research Chair in Ecohydrology and a Professor in the School of Earth, Environment & Society at McMaster University. Mike has expertise in boreal wetland research and will talk about shallow peatlands as sentinels of climate change.
Anna Beata Seniczak
Professor
Univeristy of Inland Norway
to be updated
Hannu Marttila
Professor
University of Oulu
Hannu Marttila is a Professor at the University of Oulu whose research focuses on hydrology, peatlands, and carbon and nutrient transport in northern environments. Hunting for lateral carbon movement in peatlands’ presentation examines how carbon is transported by water within and from peatlands, and why these often-overlooked lateral fluxes are important for understanding peatland carbon cycling and climate change impacts.
Bjorn Robroek
Associate professor
Radboud University
Bjorn specializes in unraveling the intricate relationships between plants and microbes in peatland ecosystems. His research focuses on understanding how these complex below- and aboveground interactions shape ecosystem functioning. In this light, Bjorn is also fascinated by (plant and microbe) community assembly along large enviro-climatic gradient.
Jenni Hultman
Research professor
LUKE (Natural Resources Institute Finland)
to be updated
Teemu Tahvanainen
University lecturer
University of Eastern Finland
The proliferation of Sphagnum moss growth and connected shift in ecosystem functions is a common phenomenon in peatland development. Triggering or acceleration of the phenomenon is widely observed in northern fens and it is fundamental to post-restoration development. Sphagnum proliferation is a progressive ecosystem shift that can lead to increased carbon accumulation, with remarkable implications for climate change impacts and restoration outcomes.
Monica Vasile
Postdoctoral researcher
University of Oulu
Monica Vasile is a historian of science and the environment with a background in anthropology. Her current research at University of Oulu within the SAFIRE project focuses on peatland restoration in Finland, especially its history and the scientific, political, and social debates surrounding it. She is interested in how restoration practices and ideas of ecological recovery change over time. Her broader research examines the history of conservation, rewilding and species recovery, with a focus on the relationship between scientific knowledge and environmental intervention. Earlier projects explored the political ecology of forests and conservation in Eastern Europe. Her work has been published across environmental history, environmental humanities, political geography, and conservation studies. Photography by Kevin Kallombo.
Artists
Annatuuli Saine
For the past ten years, I have been dancing in the Finnish wetlands and bringing Finnish and international artists, researchers, students, and conservationists to dance there with me. Together, we have danced at Siikaneva, Karvasuo, Torronsuo, and Kaitasuo. Now I am dancing alone at Pehkunsuo, in dialogue with Juhani Pallasmaa’s environmental artwork After the Rain.
Juhani Pallasmaa
to be updated
Ulla Taipale
In her work as an art curator, Ulla Taipale combines art with the natural sciences and experiences of nature. In recent years, peatlands have featured prominently in artists’ work, and magnificent artworks have been created in the bogs near the Hyytiälä Forest Station, inspiring audiences to experience the enchantment of bog nature both on site and at exhibitions around the world. Taipale works at the INAR / University of Helsinki, where she has curated the Climate Whirl Art&Science program since 2012.
Agnes Meyer-Brandis
to be updated
Field visits

Viheriäisenneva restored peatland

Siikaneva fen

SMEAR II forest
