Welcome Christiane Lawrenz at FNK

1 October 2025

Photo: Christiane Lawrenz

Christiane Lawrenz just started her position as a PhD student at GERICS and the University of Hamburg. She is 25 years old and did her Master’s degree in Geography with a focus on Environment and Society at the University of Cologne.

In the interview she talks about her research area and how she became interested in it.

1. What is your research area?
My research focuses on modeling climate change and climate change adaptation in agriculture and conservation land use. I aim to understand how climate change affects land use and how we can adapt in a sustainable way.

2. How would you explain this to a child?
I try to find out how changes in the weather and climate affect farmers’ fields and natural areas. With the help of computers, I look at what might happen in the future and how people can prepare, for example by growing different plants or watering the existing plants more.

3. How did you become interested in this topic?
Climate change has always been a topic of interest for me. During my Master’s degree, I had the chance to study it in more detail using modeling and GIS analysis techniques. For my thesis, I projected extreme sea level rise for two East Frisian islands. This experience encouraged me to continue working on climate change and climate change adaptation through modeling.

4. What do you expect from Hamburg and the UHH?
I hope to find good supervision, inspiring scientific exchanges, and friendly colleagues. I look forward to learning a lot and contributing to the research community here.

Thank you and have a good start at FNK!