Christine Heinzel

 The effect of environmental perception of hydro-climatic uncertainty and risk on agricultural decision-making

Project affiliation:   B5 

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.

Christine Heinzel

© UNU-EHS

Doctoral Researcher
Equal Opportunity Representative of the PhDs
Institute of Geography

Seminarstraße 33
49074 Osnabrück

Room: 04/107

Phone: +49 541 969-6446

  christine.heinzel@uni-osnabrueck.de

Member of the   Human-Environment Research Working Group

Ai, M.; Feng, W.; Heinzel, C.; Chen, S.; and Yang, L. E. (2026): Bridging planned and autonomous adaptation for flood resilience in multi-ethnic communities along China’s Tea-Horse Road. Chinese Journal of Sociology, 2057150X261419582.  https://doi.org/10.1177/2057150X261419582 

Heinzel, C.; Grobusch, L. C.; Petzold, J.; Chen, S.; Feng, W.; Yang, L. E. and Garschagen, M. (2024): What are the drivers, barriers, and actor responsibilities for transitioning from short-term, mitigation-focused flood management to long-term flood resilience management in China?: a Systematic Review Protocol. PROCEED-24-00215.
  https://doi.org/10.57808/proceed.2024.18

Heinzel, C.; van der Heijden, S.; Mayer, A.; Sänger, N. and Sandholz, S. (2024): Need for intensive care? A socio-technical systems perspective on water supply failure preparedness in German health care facilities. In: International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, 44, 100644.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcip.2023.100644

Yang, L. and Heinzel, C. (2024): Klimarisiko und Resilienzstrategien in China. In: Geographische Rundschau, 5, 26–29.

Brückner, A.; Falkenberg, T.; Heinzel, C. and Kistemann, T. (2022): The Regeneration of Urban Blue Spaces: A Public Health Intervention? Reviewing the Evidence. Front. In: Public Health, 9:782101.
  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.782101 

Heinzel, C.; Fink, M. and Höllermann, B. (2022): The potential of unused small-scale water reservoirs for climate change adaptation: A model- and scenario based analysis of a local water reservoir system in Thuringia, Germany. Front. Water 4:892834.
  https://doi.org/10.3389/frwa.2022.892834 

Paris, J.; Falkenberg, T.; Nöthlings, U.; Heinzel, C.; Borgemeister, C. and Escobar, N. (2022): Changing dietary patterns is necessary to improve the sustainability of Western diets from a One Health perspective. The Science of the Total Environment, 811, 151437.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151437

Sänger, N.; Heinzel, C. and Sandholz, S. (2021): Advancing Resilience of Critical Health Infrastructures to Cascading Impacts of Water Supply Outages—Insights from a Systematic Literature Review. In: Infrastructures, 6, 177.
  https://doi.org/10.3390/infrastructures6120177