Presentation of Team Members

While many remote sensing applications are based on single source data sets and standard methods for image analysis, the availability of Earth Observation data as well as sophisticated methods for data analysis increased during the last years.
My current research activities and outputs concentrate on:

• using advanced machine learning techniques for remote sensing image analysis

• multisensor and multitemporal image analysis, with a focus on fusing SAR and optical remote sensing data

• monitoring land use and land cover changes as well as the corresponding impact on the ecosystem in different geographical regions

 Professor Waske's webpage

In 2010, I earned the Professorship for Ecological Modelling in joint appointment of  Osnabrück University (UOS) and the  Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ). Since then, I am also full member of the  Institute of Environmental Systems Research (IUSF) that belongs to the Division of Mathematics and Informatics of the UOS and is designed as platform for fostering collaboration of various institutes on environmental systems. As UFZ and OESA, the IUSF aims at the analysis of environmental systems and the development of sustainable solutions to complex socio-environmental problems such as the management of 

• chemicals in the environment,
• water resources,
• biological systems and ecosystem services

under global change. It combines environmental and agent-based modelling with economic valuation and governance research. IUSF runs a BSc Curriculum in “Applied Systems Sciences” and a MSc Curriculum in “Environmental Systems and Resource Management” where the students are provided with formal skills (mathematics, programming, model building and analysis, development of tools for decision-support), problem-oriented skills, and expertise in system-relevant disciplines (e.g. biology, physics, geography, macro-economics, geoinformatics, or psychology). This profile is unique in Germany and a perfect preparation for later work in environmental modelling.

 Professor Frank's webpage

Professor Hilker is the head of the Applied Systems Science research group, which is engaged in the analysis, mathematical modelling and simulation of environmental and ecosystem processes. These face considerable challenges in the context of global change in climate, land use and economic networking, as well as ongoing increases in pollutant emissions and resource consumption.
The intricacy of these processes necessitates an interdisciplinary approach. Our methodology integrates elements from applied mathematics, statistical physics, theoretical ecology, ecotoxicology, biogeochemistry and epidemiology.
The research is founded upon a formal, mathematically and scientifically substantiated systems methodology. The behaviour of complex systems can be conceptualised as an emergent property, emerging from microscopic interactions that give rise to new macroscopic phenomena.

 Professor Hilker's webpage

When and why do people behave in environmentally friendly ways, and how can we foster these types of behaviours in a targeted manner? Much of my research addresses these questions in the context of agriculture. I am interested in the psychological, economic, social and institutional factors affecting environmentally relevant decisions of farmers and their implications for the design of effective agricultural policies. For this purpose, I mainly use the methods and concepts of experimental economics and behavioural economics.
With a training as a biologist and environmental systems scientist, I understand myself as an interdisciplinary scholar and try to increase the relevance of my research through inter- and transdisciplinary exchange. In my reserach, I therefore try to build bridges to social and environmental psychology, environmental and ecological economics, agroecology,  rural sociology and agricultural policy, and in general to systems science and transformation research.
A major concern of mine is the exchange with decision-makers, practitioners and stakeholders. I believe that without a two-way communication of science and scientific evidence, the potential for change all too often remains unused.
Since 2019 and together with my family, I live on a farm with horse husbandry.

 Dr. rer. nat. Thomas' webpage

Projects

Research training group (RTG) Ecological Regime Shifts and Systemic Risk in Coupled Social-Ecological Systems (ECORISK)
Funding:  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Duration: Oct. 2024 - Sep. 2029
 To website

Undesirable regime shifts in agricultural systems can pose significant threats to ecosystem services, with direct impacts on human livelihoods. Human behavior, in particular the land-use decisions of farmers, is a key component in avoiding those shifts. However, it remains largely unknown how farmers might adjust their behavior in response to potential regime shifts or early warning signals. Therefore, understanding farmer behavior in the face of these shifts is an essential step for preventing undesirable and potentially irreversible outcomes.
In my research I will be investigating how farmers perceive regime shifts and how their behavior may be affected by undesirable ones. As a PhD candidate in the Department of Environmental Economics, I am also part of the interdisciplinary DFG-funded Research Training Group "ECORISK" and a member of the Institute of Environmental Systems Research (IUSF). Prior to my doctoral studies, amongst others, I worked as a research assistant at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. I completed my Master’s degree in Resource and Environmental Economics (M.Sc.) at Kiel University and a Bachelor’s degree in Energy Economics (B.Sc.) at the University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt.

Research Interests

Regime shifts and tipping points, Sustainable agriculture, Environmental Economics, Farmer Behavior, Policy Evaluation

After finishing his studies in Geography at Ruhr-University, Bochum, Martin Franz worked at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Ruhr Area Research (today: Regional Development). This was followed by teaching and research activities at the Department of Geography at Philipps University, Marburg where he did his Ph.D. on the "Development of Brownfields in Europe and the Institutional Dimension of Sustainability" in 2008.
In 2011 he finished his Habilitation thesis on "Changing Power Structures in Agrofood Networks - Case Studies from India". In Winter 2013/2014 Martin Franz' employment as lecturer in Marburg was put on hold for a stand-in professorship at the University of Bayreuth. In October 2014 he accepted the offer of a professorship for Human Geography at Osnabrück University. 

 Professor Franz's Webpage

Projects

Research training group (RTG) Ecological Regime Shifts and Systemic Risk in Coupled Social-Ecological Systems (ECORISK)
Funding:  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Duration: Oct. 2024 - Sep. 2029
 To website

Blerim Berisha began his work at the Institute of Geography of Osnabrück University in October 2024 and is currently pursuing his PhD as part of the ECORISK project. His research focuses on the influence of farmers’ perceptions of systemic risk and potential regime shifts on their decisions to adopt or maintain specific agricultural practices.
Previously, Blerim completed his bachelor's and master's degrees in English Philology and Geography at Georg-August University of Göttingen. During his time there, he worked as a tutor in economic geography and empirical teaching research, providing support to fellow students, and contributing to the academic community. Additionally, he participated in the ENLIGHT exchange project, which aims to foster collaboration and learning among European universities.
Blerim’s master thesis explored remittances as a livelihood strategy in rural areas of Kosovo, contributing to developmental and economic geography. For this thesis, he conducted interviews with families in the municipality of Klinë/Klina, primarily those relying on subsistence farming and with at least one family member living abroad and sending money into their country of origin.
In addition to his research, Blerim is actively involved with the German-Baltic Future Foundation and the  German-Baltic Youth Exchange Network, which fosters cooperation between Germany and the Baltic states to enhance intra-EU trade and political union.

Stefanie Engel holds a PhD degree in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Maryland (USA). After her PhD, she led a Robert-Bosch Foundation funded junior research group at the Center for Development Research in Bonn (Germany). In 2006, she became Professor of Environmental Policy and Economics at ETH Zurich (Switzerland). In October 2014 she joined Osnabrück University after being awarded an Alexander von Humboldt-Professorship, the highest endowed international research award in Germany. Her research focusses on designing and evaluating interventions promoting cooperation in collective action dilemmas, including external incentives, participatory approaches, as well as inner skills training.

 Professor Engel's webpage

Projects

Research training group (RTG) Ecological Regime Shifts and Systemic Risk in Coupled Social-Ecological Systems (ECORISK)
Funding:  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Duration: Oct. 2024 - Sep. 2029
 To website

Ronald Walusimbi is a PhD Candidate on the DFG-funded Research Training Group “Ecological Regime Shifts and Systemic Risk in Coupled Social-Ecological Systems”, working on understanding behavior and the role of inner factors in telecoupled settings facing systemic risks involving heterogeneous actors. He aims to understand how participatory methods can be adapted to allow upscaling to situations where actors are geographically distant. The PhD research will involve: development of online tools for participatory processes; an online economic lab experiment assessing behavior with and without such processes, connecting students in two different countries. The study aims at reducing deforestation, water scarcity, and/or eutrophication in the agricultural transition. He is working under the subproject “Participatory Interventions to Foster Cooperation in the Face of Regime Shifts and Systemic Risk” at the Department of Environmental Economics under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Stefanie Engel since October, 2024.
In addition, Ronald Walusimbi is an Applied Agricultural Economist by training and has worked on a climate-smart research project at Makerere University since May 2021 using experimental economics. Furthermore, he supported research activities including facilitation of in-lab experiments and a field survey among urban consumers for the EU-Funded FooDLAND project. Before that, Ronald served as an Agricultural Officer immediately after finishing his Bachelor degree, advising smallholder farmers under Mubende District Local Government in Uganda. His research skills and participatory approaches were enhanced during his employment with the Central Archdiocesan Province Caritas Association (CAPCA) in Uganda on a DANIDA-funded project as a Monitoring and Advocacy officer and Project Coordinator where the NGO-IDEAs "Impact Toolbox", a participatory toolbox to encourage beneficiary participation in project goal-setting and evaluation, promoting participatory project evaluation, was introduced.

Research Interests

Food Security, Climate Change, Technology Adoption, Sustainable Agriculture, Land Degradation, Behavioral Economics, Development Economics, Resource Economics, Agricultural and Rural Development, Participatory Research Methods

Since 2021, I have served as the spokesperson for the Section for Labour and Industrial Sociology in the German Sociological Association (DGS). I have been a Professor of Economic Sociology at Osnabrück University since the winter term of 2014, following my Habilitation in sociology at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, where I also worked as a research assistant. Prior to this, I completed my doctorate at Osnabrück University. My research focuses on key issues that require further investigation, including the fragmentation of work, the digitalisation of processes, social inequality, sustainability transitions, financialisation, and the monitoring of change processes.

 Professor Holst's webpage

My research focuses on the dynamics of the human-water system under the influence of climate and land-use change, and on the perception and management of uncertainty by human actors. In this context, it is important to deepen the understanding of the plurality and heterogeneity of actors, also with regard to sustainable strategies and goals, by identifying (sometimes competing) visions and scenarios. I work on the complex human-water dynamics in different case studies, such as the management of water resources and the perception of hydroclimatic risks in agriculture, the balancing of water supply and water use in the context of water resource management, the management of uncertainties in dam management, and the risks and risk perception of floods.

 Professor Höllermann's webpage

Projects

Research training group (RTG) Ecological Regime Shifts and Systemic Risk in Coupled Social-Ecological Systems (ECORISK)
Funding:  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Duration: Oct. 2024 - Sep. 2029
 To website

Since October 2024, I am a PhD candidate in the 'Human-Environment Research' working group and a member of the Research Training Group ‘Ecological Regime Shifts and Systemic Risk in Coupled Social-Ecological Systems (ECORISK).’ I hold both a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Geography from the University of Bonn. During my studies and professional experiences at institutions like the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC), the Centre for Development Research (ZEF), and the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), I focused on climate adaptation, resilience-building strategies, and health geography. My work as a research associate at the Institute for Environment and Human Security at the United Nations University (UNU-EHS) in Bonn and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich further deepened my interest in these areas.
As part of an ECORISK sub-project at Osnabrück University, I am currently investigating how farmers' perceptions of hydroclimatic uncertainties and risks shape agricultural decision-making in Lower Saxony. In my Master’s thesis, I modeled the use of small water reservoirs in Thuringia to mitigate potential crop losses from drought, highlighting the critical role of local climate adaptation strategies. My PhD research builds on this work through close collaboration with agricultural stakeholders to identify their challenges and co-develop practical, resilience-enhancing solutions

Research interests

My primary research interests lie in socio-hydrological interactions and dynamics, especially in the context of climate change adaptation and agricultural systems.

Claudia Pahl-Wostl is full professor for resources management at the Institute for Environmental Systems Research (USF) in Osnabrück, Germany. She is an internationally leading scholar on governance and adaptive and integrated management of water resources and the role of social and societal learning. Her research programme builds on foundations in systems science, which explicitly acknowledge the complex and often unpredictable dynamics of the systems to be managed. In 2012 the Bode Foundation Water Management Prize was awarded to Prof. Pahl-Wostl for the pioneering interdisciplinary work on “Governance in times of change” and comparative analyses of water governance in large river basins.

 Professor Pahl-Wostl's webpage

Projects

Research training group (RTG) Ecological Regime Shifts and Systemic Risk in Coupled Social-Ecological Systems (ECORISK)
Funding:  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Duration: Oct. 2024 - Sep. 2029
 To website

Since October 2024, Peter C. Frandsen is a Ph.D. student in the interdisciplinary research training group ECORISK and is further associated with the working group resource management at the institute of Geography. His dissertation project investigates early warning signals and governance responses in the context of drought.
He completed his bachelor's degree in geography at the University of Göttingen with a focus on natural hazards and risk. Afterwards he attended a one-year Master's program in Urban Geography at the Radboud University in Nijmegen. The master's thesis titled “Rethinking Rooftops - The culture-driven transformation of rooftops in Rotterdam”, investigated innovative approaches to urban land use on the rooftops of Rotterdam. This was followed by a Master's degree on Global Change Geography in Freiburg, this time with a focus on wetlands, land use and remote sensing. During his time in Freiburg, he completed internships and research stays at the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) in Potsdam and the University Center in Svalbard (UNIS), among others. The second master's thesis “Post-aquaculture land use succession in coastal Bangladesh” investigated previously little-researched land use trends in a part of Bangladesh hitherto dominated by aquaculture, with the help of remote sensing methods.

In addition to his studies, he was a long-standing member of the European Geography Association (EGEA) and is currently member in the German Committee for Disaster Reduction (DKKV) as a Young Professional.

Research interests

Land Use change, Integrated Drainage Basin Management, Risk and hazards, Global change, Wetlands and deltascapes, Social-ecological systems

Since 01 October 2022, Prof. Dr. Andrea Lenschow has been Vice President for International Affairs, Diversity and Academic Staff Development at Osnabrück University.
Between 2009 and 2011 she was Dean of the School of Social Sciences, and between 2015 and 2017 she was managing director of the newly created Institute of Social Sciences. From 2011 to 2022 she acted as an internal member of the University Council of Osnabrück University.
In 2003, Lenschow moved to Osnabrück to take up an assistant professorship at the School of Social Sciences at Osnabrück University. In 2007 she was awarded the W3 professorship in European Politics and Integration in the same school.
From 1984 to 1987, Prof. Dr. Andrea Lenschow studied socioeconomics at Kiel University and then from 1987 to 1991 politics (MA) and public administration (MPA) at Pennsylvania State University. Between 1991 and 1995 she worked on her PhD in the field of political science as a scholarship holder at New York University. She subsequently worked as a post-doc researcher as a Marie Curie Fellow at the Erasmus University Rotterdam and as a Jean Monnet Fellow at the European University Institute in Florence. From 1997 to 2003, she was employed as an assistant professor at the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg.

 Professor Lenschow's webpage

Projects

Research training group (RTG) Ecological Regime Shifts and Systemic Risk in Coupled Social-Ecological Systems (ECORISK)
Funding:  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Duration: Oct. 2024 - Sep. 2029
 To website

Publications

Ortland, M. and Schilling-Vacaflor, A. (2024): New Approaches to Govern Pineapple Supply Chains from Costa Rica: Towards more Just and Sustainable Production and Trade? In: Arjé (under review).

Michel Ortland has been a PhD student in the Research Training Group “Ecological Regime Shifts and Systemic Risk in Coupled Social-Ecological Systems (ECORISK)” since October 2024. Within the subproject C3, “Governance Designs in Telecoupled Problem Situations”, he focuses on the analysis of novel regulations for supply chains between the Global North and the Global South. In this context, he investigates the risks of ecological regime change in telecoupled agricultural systems. His research focuses on how governance designs can bridge the distance and the associated lack of transparency and gaps in responsibility between (agricultural) producers and consumers by making transnational operating companies more responsible for environmental and social risks along the supply chain. He is investigating how the state level and the corporate level interact with each other and to what extent these interactions influence the implementation of sustainable practices. His work is being supervised by Prof. Dr. Andrea Lenschow.
Michel Ortland completed his Bachelor's degree in Geography and Economics and Ethics at the University of Vechta. He then finished his Master's degree in Economic and Social Geography at Osnabrück University. In his master's thesis entitled “Sustainability standards in the Costa Rican pineapple value chain: An analysis of new governance dynamics and their impact on sustainability”, he examined different regulatory processes and their consequences for sustainability. The research was part of the project “Transformative Research and Capacity Building to Protect Livelihoods and Biodiversity in Costa Rica”. The three-month research stay in Costa Rica took place in close cooperation with the Universidad Técnica Nacional (UTN) and was funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

Professor Hilker is the head of the Applied Systems Science research group, which is engaged in the analysis, mathematical modelling and simulation of environmental and ecosystem processes. These face considerable challenges in the context of global change in climate, land use and economic networking, as well as ongoing increases in pollutant emissions and resource consumption.
The intricacy of these processes necessitates an interdisciplinary approach. Our methodology integrates elements from applied mathematics, statistical physics, theoretical ecology, ecotoxicology, biogeochemistry and epidemiology.
The research is founded upon a formal, mathematically and scientifically substantiated systems methodology. The behaviour of complex systems can be conceptualised as an emergent property, emerging from microscopic interactions that give rise to new macroscopic phenomena.

 Professor Hilker's webpage

While many remote sensing applications are based on single source data sets and standard methods for image analysis, the availability of Earth Observation data as well as sophisticated methods for data analysis increased during the last years.
My current research activities and outputs concentrate on:

• using advanced machine learning techniques for remote sensing image analysis

• multisensor and multitemporal image analysis, with a focus on fusing SAR and optical remote sensing data

• monitoring land use and land cover changes as well as the corresponding impact on the ecosystem in different geographical regions

 Professor Waske's webpage

After finishing his studies in Geography at Ruhr-University, Bochum, Martin Franz worked at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Ruhr Area Research (today: Regional Development). This was followed by teaching and research activities at the Department of Geography at Philipps University, Marburg where he did his Ph.D. on the "Development of Brownfields in Europe and the Institutional Dimension of Sustainability" in 2008.
In 2011 he finished his Habilitation thesis on "Changing Power Structures in Agrofood Networks - Case Studies from India". In Winter 2013/2014 Martin Franz' employment as lecturer in Marburg was put on hold for a stand-in professorship at the University of Bayreuth. In October 2014 he accepted the offer of a professorship for Human Geography at Osnabrück University. 

 Professor Franz's Webpage

Claudia Pahl-Wostl is full professor for resources management at the Institute for Environmental Systems Research (USF) in Osnabrück, Germany. She is an internationally leading scholar on governance and adaptive and integrated management of water resources and the role of social and societal learning. Her research programme builds on foundations in systems science, which explicitly acknowledge the complex and often unpredictable dynamics of the systems to be managed. In 2012 the Bode Foundation Water Management Prize was awarded to Prof. Pahl-Wostl for the pioneering interdisciplinary work on “Governance in times of change” and comparative analyses of water governance in large river basins.

 Professor Pahl-Wostl's webpage

Projects

Research training group (RTG) Ecological Regime Shifts and Systemic Risk in Coupled Social-Ecological Systems (ECORISK)
Funding:  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Duration: Oct. 2024 - Sep. 2029
 To website

Transformative research and capacity building to protect livelihoods and biodiversity in Costa Rica (LiveDiverseCR)
Funding:  Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD)
Duration: Jan. 2021 - Dec. 2024
 To website

Value Chains and Consumer Decisions – Remote Effects of Governance and Product Biographies Using Cocoa as an Example (CoVaCoa)
Funding:  The German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU)
Duration: Aug. 2020 - Jan. 2024
 To website

Since 1st October, 2024, Jana Rülke is the Coordinator and Public Relations Manager of the DFG-funded research training group (RTG) 'Ecological Regime Shifts and Systemic Risk in Coupled Social-Ecological Systems (ECORISK)'. She was also involved in the successful acquisition of the project.
Since 2020, Jana Rülke is working as a research associate in the research group Human Geography with a focus on Economic Geography. She was working in the DBU-funded research project "Value Chains and Consumer Decisions – Remote Effects of Governance and Product Biographies Using Cocoa as an Example". Her dissertation project focuses on the production conditions of cocoa in Ghana as well as the effects of different governance structures considering social, ecological and economic aspects.
She completed her bachelor's degree in agricultural sciences with a focus on agroecology at the Georg-August University of Göttingen. After longer stays abroad in different Sub-Saharan countries, she studied in the Master's program Geographies of Rural Areas - Change through Globalization at the University of Vechta. For her Master's thesis, she successfully applied to participate in the international and interdisciplinary DAAD-funded project "Reconciling human livelihood needs and nature conservation" in Kenya. In her master's thesis "An Anthropogeographical Perspective on Human-Environment Relationships. Empirical Research on Human Needs and Nature Conservation in the Kenyan Biodiversity Hotspot Taita Hills Cloud Forest (THCF)" she addressed the challenge of assigning the personal positioning of local rural people, taking into account their individual challenges, to an anthropo- or ecocentric perspective. During her master studies Jana Rülke was supported by the Deutschlandstipendium of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Research Interests

Agri-food networks, Human-environment relations, Rural development, Globalization research,Global production networks, Community based approaches, Mixed methods approaches

Spatial foci

Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Costa Rica, Germany

Dana Schroeder has been enrolled in the Master's programme 'Geography: Society, Future, Environment' at the Institute of Geography since 1st October, 2023. Concurrently, she has been employed as a student assistant at the institute of geography.
Since 1st October 2024, she has also been providing support to the ECORISK Research Training Group in the areas of coordination and public relations.

Projects

Research training group (RTG) Ecological Regime Shifts and Systemic Risk in Coupled Social-Ecological Systems (ECORISK)
Funding:  Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Duration: Oct. 2024 - Sep. 2029
 To website