Profile
Abstract
Karsten is a Research Associate at the Meteorological Institute of Leipzig University. He is linking extreme weather events, biodiversity loss and human-induced climate change. One key question he is trying to answer is to what extent the observed changes are attributable to anthropogenic causes. He also has a keen interest in climate change communication and is currently involved in a project which aims at accelerating the transfer of (climate) science knowledge into society. Previously, Karsten has worked as postdoctoral researcher at GERICS (German Climate Service Center Hamburg) as well as at the Environmental Change Institute (ECI) of the University of Oxford. At ECI Oxford, he helped developing the rapid event attribution framework (together with Fredi Otto), now widely known as World Weather Attribution. All of these positions did have a seizable knowledge transfer component as well, either between forest managers and science or media actors and science.
Professional career
- since 03/2022
Research Associate at Leipzig University's Institute for Meteorology - 10/2020 - 02/2022
Research Associate at Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS Hamburg) - 01/2012 - 09/2020
Research Associate at the Environmental Change Institute of Oxford University (UK)
Education
- 02/2007 - 12/2011
PhD candidate at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain) - 10/1999 - 09/2006
Bachelor and master student at Leipzig University's Institute for Meteorology
Panel Memberships
- since 01/2024
German Meteorological Society (DMG)
- Attribution of extreme weather events (heat waves, floods, droughts, forest fires) to human-induced climate change
- Attribution of the observed global temperature change
- Statistical analysis and physical interpretation of weather observation data and large ensembles of climate model simulations
- Analysis of dynamic and thermodynamic changes in the climate system
- Role of aerosols in the context of extreme weather events
- Communication of state-of-the are climate knowledge in the media and to the public
- Knowledge transfer to society through direct collaboration, interaction and strategising with civil society actors
- Public lectures and teaching at schools
- Supporting processes of societal transformation with the help of trans- and cross-disciplinary research and networking
- Linking of socio-psychological and climate research to understand transformation dynamics (involving actors from media, politics, industry and the public)
- Advancing research into understanding critical aspects of communication more generally (e.g 'deficit model', 'narrative control', 'virality')
- Climate change and human influence
- Attribution of extreme weather events
- Role of aerosols in the climate system
- Climate dynamics and atmospheric circulation
- Global hydrological cycle
- Climate science communication
- Dynamics of societal change
Research fields
Climate, Meteorology, Environment, environmental protection, ecology
Specializations
Extreme Weather Event Attribution
Climate Science and Science communication
Contact for media inquiries
Phone: +491705256479