There is something almost stubborn about researchers who keep measuring, even when it is cold, wet, and dark. When others pack away their equipment and wait for spring, Claire Treat goes the other way. She keeps measuring. Because, according to her, it is precisely there in the transitions, in winter, in the muddy in-between seasons that we overlook something crucial. 

“Many people only measure when it’s pleasant,” she says with a smile. “But nature doesn’t take a break just because it’s uncomfortable for us.” 

Today, she is a professor at LandCraft – Center for Landscape Research in Sustainable Agricultural Futures at Aarhus University, but the road here has been long and winding: from wetlands in New Hampshire to permafrost in Alaska, from Finnish peatlands to pandemic-shuttered research in Germany. It is a career that has moved across continents, yet remained remarkably consistent in its focus: carbon, water, and the landscapes where the two meet. 

From green hills to greenhouse gases 

Keene, New Hampshire, where Claire Treat grew up, resembles Denmark, she says, just with bigger hills. A green, postglacial landscape of rivers, lakes, and forests. This was where her interest in natural sciences first took shape, nurtured by inspiring teachers in chemistry and physics. Still, it was not until university that she truly realised research could become a career. 

“I honestly thought you had to be an engineer to get a job,” she says. “So, when a lecturer told me I could become a researcher, it was like my entire study programme shifted.” 

She studied at Mount Holyoke College, a women’s college in the United States, where the learning environment, as she puts it, allowed her to find her voice without gendered noise. One of her lecturers worked with wetlands, and that became the starting point for a research path that has followed her throughout her career. 

Alaska, permafrost, and thaw 

After her studies, adventure called. A winter as a ski lift operator in Colorado was followed by a position as a research technician at Michigan State University and summer fieldwork in Alaska. Here, among tundra and frozen ground, her fascination with permafrost took hold: soil that has been frozen for thousands of years, but is now thawing as the climate changes. 

In her PhD, she collected soil cores from permafrost regions and investigated how thawing affects greenhouse gas emissions. What happens to carbon and nitrogen when landscapes collapse, flood, or transform into new wetlands? 

“It changes everything,” she says. “Vegetation, hydrology, greenhouse gas emissions. The whole system becomes something else.” 

Europe and the realisation of winter’s importance 

A research stay in Germany marked the beginning of Claire Treat’s European journey. A postdoctoral position in Finland cemented her European connection, both professionally and personally. There, she worked on the role of peatlands in the global carbon cycle and co-authored a major study showing how peat formation over the past 130,000 years has been closely linked to climate, particularly temperature and humidity. 

But it was also here that she made an observation that would become one of her most important contributions: that a substantial share of methane emissions occurs outside the growing season. 

“About 20 percent of annual methane emissions occur during the cold part of the year,” she explains. “It’s just not where we’ve traditionally been measuring.” 

This insight became the foundation for her ERC Starting Grant and later her research group in Potsdam, a group that, ironically, was established right in the middle of the first COVID-19 lockdown. 

“Moving countries, starting a group, and not being able to meet your colleagues in person, that’s probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” she says. 

Closer to action 

Today, her focus has shifted a little further south. From the Arctic to Denmark. From the distant to the applied. 

At LandCRAFT, Claire Treat now works with low-lying soils, wetlands, and the restoration of organic soils. How can we reduce methane emissions while increasing carbon sequestration? And can wetlands function as filters that improve water quality in an intensively farmed country like Denmark? 

“I needed to get closer to places where research can make a real difference,” she says. “Here, the connection between research, policy, and people is very direct, and that’s incredibly motivating.” 

Responsibility for the next generation 

Responsibility for others now plays an increasingly central role in her work. As a professor, Claire Treat sees mentoring and teaching as an integral part of research, not as an add-on. 

“Being a researcher isn’t just about producing knowledge,” she says. “It’s also about creating spaces where others can grow both academically and personally.” 

She is actively involved in mentoring PhD students and early-career researchers and is deeply aware of the challenges that come with an academic career: insecurity, performance pressure, and the feeling that one’s identity is closely tied to results and publications. 

“Many young researchers struggle to find their footing,” she says. “If you can help them navigate that professionally and personally that’s one of the most meaningful things you can do.” 

She has previously worked with young people through outreach projects and sees education as a long-term investment not only in research, but in future decision-makers. 

Skiing, water, and a place to Land 

Privately, she still loves skiing, even if Denmark is not exactly known for its slopes. But one dream is clear: a house by the water, where work, life, and a love of nature can come together. 

“I’m really happy to be here,” she says. “I haven’t had a job I’ve enjoyed this much in a very long time.” 

And perhaps that is where the portrait finds its ending: with a professor who continues to measure, now with the dream of a view of both water, action, and a future that can still be shaped.