Why did you decide to study GCE?
GCE was the only study program that I found which combined multiple different topics pertaining to sustainability. I have always enjoyed learning about a broad range of subjects and GCE offered exactly that.

What did you like most about GCE?
Like I said previously, the broad range of subjects is what I liked about GCE the most. However, I was always drawn to the Societal Change modules since they included ways in which we might steer away from the unsustainable path our global civilization is currently on. In terms of the study program itself, I particularly liked the teaching and examination format. It encouraged critical thinking and practical work, rather than the outdated rote learning and repetition of information. This is especially relevant in today’s world where information can be accessed in a matter of seconds using a smartphone and an internet connection while the ability to critically process that information is much more important.

How has your career continued after GCE?
After essentially a year of looking for a job I applied for a PhD at the Professorship of Ecological Services with Prof. Dr. Thomas Koellner as the supervisor. And for the past three years this has been my job. My contract has finished in February 2021, but I am still continuing to work on the PhD.

What is your current position? What are your tasks?
Currently I am partly employed as a GCE lecturer teaching the course M16 Modeling Ecosystem Functions with the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). And the rest of my time is split between working on the PhD and caring for my newborn son together with my wife.

How has GCE supported your career?
GCE enabled me to do two internships, one at IPBES and one at UNCCD where I also worked as a consultant. I found these experiences at the UN extremely valuable and enjoyed them very much. GCE has also given me the opportunity to further my career by doing a PhD, as well as allowing me to give something back to GCE by becoming one of the lecturers.

What do you recommend to the current GCE students?
I would say, make the most out of the variety of courses offered by GCE. It is a rare opportunity since the vast majority of study programs force you to specialize in a single narrow field while GCE gives you the option for specialization, as well as a broader perspective.

The post GCE Alumni (12): PhD at the Professorship of Ecological Services appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Why did you decide to study GCE?

After completing my bachelor’s degree in biology at the Ludwig-Maximilians University of Munich in 2016, I was looking for a graduate program that could look beyond academic research only and dive deeper into applied and interdisciplinary research, rooted in ecology but with the eyes put in policy and decision making.

I scanned all Universities in Germany and discovered few only would bet on cross-sectorial graduate study programs in the field of climate change (although it is a very pressing issue, there is still a major gap in how universities address this topic, beyond the scientific view only).

I was happy to find that in a little city called Bayreuth a highly specialized (and relatively new) master program would devote itself with answering the climate challenge and finding solutions from research. I was captivated with the program after some Alumni – during my application – accepted to exchange some words with me and tell me more about the manifold opportunities and career outlooks during and after the GCE studies (e.g. attendance to UN COPs, fun remote sensing schools, internships, summer schools, etc).

After I got acceptance from Bayreuth, I automatically enrolled!

What did you like most about GCE?
The fact that I got the entire world in one classroom, 60% of students in my cohort were non-Europeans and thus represented a wide variety of countries and continents! They all brought in experiences and observations about the manifold ways climate change is impacting their cities and communities already.

Global classroom, global GCE: addressing a global issue like human-caused climate change requires global representativity and exchange of experiences – it is enriching to go into talks with classmates and share work and research experiences from distant yet similarly challenged countries like Ethiopia, Vietnam, Colombia, Australia or Peru.

How has your career continued after GCE?
As an early-career scientist you would perhaps expect me to work in academia and publish papers – but this has not been precisely my case (at least for the moment). In fact, after graduating I started working in the German corporate sector – a bit of a 180° degrees change, but why?

Well, during the GCE graduate program and in extracurricular manner, I joined the International Forestry Students Association (IFSA) youth delegation to the Halting Deforestation Conference held at FAO Rome in 2018. During the conference, expert FAO commissioners, representatives from manifold environment ministries and leading forestry and nature conservation NGOs were present to discuss the issue of deforestation, drivers and policy recommendations to stop global forest loss.

During the meeting, however, it became tangible to me that one powerful sector of society was missing in the conversation, namely: the private sector.

It all became embarrassingly evident when during an icebreaker, the whole plenary asked private sector delegates to raise hands, and in a room full of 150 heads, only 2 hands were raised up. I was shocked to see that one week had gone by discussing about the state of the worlds forest and yet only two heads from the corporate sector had been listening to the whole discussion.

This observation was magnified through further extracurricular experiences of mine – as member of the Youth in Landscapes Initiative and attendee to further events by the Global Landscape Forum.

I observe and believe as of today that Science may create the best paper ever, but as long as it is not read and implemented by the people who need to read it and do the required changes, then no change is going to happen.

So that is why I started working at KPMG Germany in the corporate sustainability and responsibility field, driven by the idea of learning about where the private sector is currently standing – in terms of capacities – and what is ought to be done.

What is your current position? What are your tasks?
Currently I am a Senior Associate at KPMG Germany and support the Sustainability Services Department in the review and audit of non-financial disclosures (that is: sustainability reports) by top 30 leading German companies. I also engage in consultancy projects for the private sector, and provide technical support at the moment to the integrated accounting  initiative value balancing alliance e.V (natural capital valuation included here).

How has GCE supported your career?
GCE has been for me a platform to grow, a hub for ideas and to network (inside and outside Bayreuth) – Bayreuth is also a calmed city to best focus on research and classes.

Most importantly, GCE allows students to shape specialization topics – if you have a well-structured research plan, then you will encounter willingness and expert support from Professors in Bayreuth ready to help you best shape your endeavors based on their research profiles from diverse continents.

What do you recommend to the current GCE students?
Don’t restrict your understanding of sustainability and climate action to climate sciences or basic research only. Nature collapse caused by human is a humongous challenge that needs ambition and human talent from all fronts. Lately I have become big fan of “ecopreneurship” – which is the wave of young people bringing into the market disruptive ideas and innovative business models to tackle climate crisis and biodiversity collapse in the way of new services, products, big data applications and science-based solutions.

We are all needed, and if you have the seed of youth and green leadership I invite you to join the Youth in Landscapes Initiative – which regularly holds virtual training events, internship positions and calls to support nature restoration and conservation work on the ground.

Highlight: We invite you to check Carla’s sustainability blog “Tierra Somos” clicking here.

The post GCE Alumni (10): Senior Associate at KPMG Germany appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Professions in nature and environmental protection

Some GCE alumni are active in research and teaching:
For example, there is Prof. Dr. Manuel Steinbauer, who was one of the very first GCE students. In August 2019 he returned to the University of Bayreuth as a professor of sports ecology and will soon be teaching GCE students himself.
Or Dr. Gesche Blume-Werry who works as a postdoc at the University of Greifswald and researches the rewetting of peatlands. Md Lokman Hossain teaches courses such as “climate change” and “ecology” at the German University of Bangladesh. Patrick von Jeetze is currently doing his doctorate at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research on global scale human-nature relationships in agricultural landscapes. In contrast, Dr. Sia Gosheva-Oney’s postgraduate journey brought her to the University of Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. There, amongst others, she advises scientists on EU funding programs. She previously worked for the “Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH” as a consultant on the water, energy and food security nexus. Asja Bernd works on the island of Vilm near Rügen at the International Nature Conservation Academy of the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation where she designs and plans workshops on current national and international nature conservation issues.
Other GCE alumni, in turn, provide advice and information in companies, associations and in administration: Dr.-Ing. Albert Hans Baur works in management consulting to help develop sustainability strategies for companies. Katharina Funk works to implement the climate protection concept for the city of Erlangen. Farina Hoffmann is a project manager at the nature and environmental protection association “Grüne Liga”. Lastly, Nora Marie Zaremba writes for a daily newsletter of the Tagesspiegel, which informs, amongst others, ministries about the latest developments in energy and climate policy.

Tips from the “old” to the “new”

The GCE alumni provide current GCE students with various pieces of advice:
Asja Bernd emphasizes the wealth created by the great diversity of students of the international course, because “learning from each other is just as important as learning from lectures.”
Katharina Funk encourages students to undertake as many additional voluntary opportunities offered by the master´s program as possible, such as participating in environmental conferences and doing internships.
Md Lokman Hossain recalls the importance of “networking” by participating in environmental conferences, workshops and science schools.
Patrick von Jeetze advises giving yourself enough time to find out what you want to know more about and what you want to change in the world.
Farina Hoffmann suggests doing internships at places you might later see yourself professionally and consider already working alongside your studies.
Sia Gosheva-Oney recommends enjoying and actively organizing your studies and says: “What you learn now, during GCE, will help you during your entire career and will influence who you become as a person.”
Finally, Gesche Blume-Werry summarizes her advice to the new GCE students with one sentence: “Follow your passion and curiosity!”

The text was originally written for the Elite Network of Bavaria.
English editing kindly done by Taylor Blair

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Verschiedenste Berufe im Natur- und Umweltschutz

Einige der GCE-Alumni sind mittlerweile in der Forschung und Lehre tätig:
Da ist zum Beispiel Prof. Dr. Manuel Steinbauer, der zu den Studierenden des allerersten GCE-Jahrganges gehörte. Im August 2019 kehrte er als Professor für Sportökologie an die Universität Bayreuth zurück und wird schon bald selber GCE-Studierende unterrichten.
Oder Dr. Gesche Blume-Werry, die derzeit als Postdoc an der Universität Greifswald arbeitet und zur Wiedervernässung von Torfmooren forscht. Md Lokman Hossain wiederum unterrichtet an der Deutschen Universität Bangladesch Kurse wie „Klimawandel“ oder „Ökologie“. Patrick von Jeetze promoviert zurzeit am Potsdam Institut für Klimafolgenforschung zu Mensch-Natur-Beziehungen in landwirtschaftlich geprägten Landschaften auf globaler Ebene. Dagegen hat Dr. Sia Gosheva-Oneys Weg in die Schweiz nach Zürich geführt, an die Universität Zürich und Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich. Dort berät sie unter anderem WissenschaftlerInnen zu Förderprogrammen der EU. Früher arbeitete sie für die „Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH“ als Beraterin zum Nexus Wasser-, Energie- und Ernährungssicherheit. Asja Bernd arbeitet auf der Insel Vilm bei Rügen an der Internationalen Naturschutzakademie des Bundesamtes für Naturschutz und konzipiert und plant dort Workshops zu aktuellen nationalen und internationalen Naturschutzthemen. Andere GCE-Alumni wiederum engagieren sich beratend und informierend in Unternehmen, Verbänden und in der Verwaltung:
Dr.-Ing. Albert Hans Baur arbeitet in der Unternehmensberatung und entwickelt u.a. Klima- und Nachhaltigkeitsstrategien für Unternehmen. Katharina Funk setzt das Klimaschutzkonzept der Stadt Erlangen um. Farina Hoffmann ist Projektmanagerin beim Natur- und Umweltschutzverband “Grüne Liga“ und Nora Marie Zaremba schreibt für einen täglich erscheinenden Newsletter des Tagesspiegels, der u.a. Ministerien über die neuesten Entwicklungen in der Energie- und Klimapolitik informiert.

Tipps der „Alten“ an die „Neuen“

Den derzeitigen GCE-Studierenden geben die GCE-Alumni verschiede Ratschläge mit auf den Weg:
Asja Bernd hebt den Reichtum hervor, der durch die große Diversität der Studierenden des internationalen Studienganges entsteht, denn „das Lernen voneinander ist genauso wichtig wie das Lernen in Vorlesungen“.
Katharina Funk ermuntert dazu, möglichst viele der zusätzlichen freiwilligen Angebote des Studienganges zu nutzen, z.B. an Umweltkonferenzen teilzunehmen und Praktika zu absolvieren.
Md Lokman Hossain erinnert an die Bedeutung des „Netzwerkens“ durch die Teilnahme an Umweltkonferenzen, Workshops und Science Schools.
Patrick von Jeetze rät dazu, sich genügend Zeit zu geben um herauszufinden, worüber man mehr erfahren und was man in der Welt verändern wolle.
Farina Hoffmann schlägt vor, dort Praktika zu absolvieren, wo man sich später einmal beruflich sehen könnte und es in Erwägung zu ziehen, neben dem Studium schon etwas zu arbeiten.
Sia Gosheva-Oney empfiehlt die Studienzeit zu genießen und aktiv zu gestalten und sagt: „Was ihr während des GCE-Studiums lernt, wird euch während eurem gesamten Berufsweg unterstützen und beeinflussen, wer ihr als Person werdet“.
Und Gesche Blume-Werry fasst abschließend ihren Ratschlag an die neuen GCE-Studierenden mit einem Satz zusammen: „Folgt eurer Leidenschaft und Neugierde!“

Dieser Text wurde ursprünglich für das Elitenetzwerk Bayern geschrieben.

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What did you like most about GCE?
The diversity of the courses offered was very valuable for me. I gained both methodological skills, like using remote sensing, as well as technical knowledge on climate change, biodiversity or ecosystem services. Also the chance to study with people from many different countries and backgrounds, although my year was not the most international, unfortunately.

How has your career continued after GCE?
After finishing the degree, I worked as a freelancer in several remote sensing projects focused on nature conservation. From 2017 to 2019, I was part of the Chair of Biogeography of the University of Bayreuth within the research project ECOPOTENTIAL, for which I mainly did coordination and communication work. Now, I am working for the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation.

What is your current position? What are your tasks?
Currently, I work as a scientific officer at the International Academy for Nature Conservation of the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. I design and organise different workshops on national and international scale about current topics in conservation. Having a strong background in communication from my Bachelor studies, I also do public relations work for the Academy.

How has GCE supported your career?
Given that my Bachelor degree was in Science Journalism, without studying GCE I most likely would not be where I am right now. I enjoy working on interdisciplinary topics, so the possibility to choose from diverse courses was a major reason for me to study GCE. The programme has provided me with a solid basis of expertise upon which I have built in my career.

What do you recommend to the current GCE students?
Think about what you want to gain from the study programme but also remain open to topics or courses you might not have considered in advance. You can learn about quite diverse topics, so it can be valuable to dip your toes into something new – and maybe discover a new interest.
Appreciate the chance to study in an environment with – hopefully – students from many different places and different experiences. Learning from each other is just as important as learning from lectures.
Take the opportunities you have to delve into topics you are passionate about and interested in. If you know where you want to work afterwards, think about how you will get there, and consider detours as the scenic route. If you do not know yet, that is completely normal. Work on the things you are interested in.
Be ambitious about your work, if that is important to you, but also keep in mind that assignments have a certain scope for a reason.
Don’t take all courses that are interesting in the first semester. Seriously, don’t. You have a third semester as well and as soon as assignments are due, you will regret it. I was involved in GCE for long enough to have seen this again and again. And again …

The post GCE Alumni (9): Scientific officer at the International Academy for Nature Conservation appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Why did you decide to study GCE?
I wanted to study the intersection between economy and environment. 

What did you like most about GCE?
Small classes, students from all over the world, interesting topics, practical experiences.

How has your career continued after GCE?
I went to Leipzig to work with the UFZ for one year, but as I have always been a journalist, I began to focus on energy and climate journalism.

What is your current position? What are your tasks?
Today, I work for the “Tagesspiegel”, a newspaper in Berlin, where I am part of “Tagesspiegel Background Energie & Klima”, a daily newsletter that informs ministries, companies, institutions and associations about latest developments in energy and climate politics. 

How has GCE supported your career?
When I graduated I felt that GCE prepared me well to work at the intersection between economy and ecocology. 

What do you recommend to the current GCE students?
It is a profound study program with small classes and encouraging professors.

The post GCE Alumni (8): Climate journalist for “Tagesspiegel” appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Why did you decide to study GCE?
After my undergraduate study program “Integrated Life Sciences”, I decided that the climate crisis is a much more pressing matter to me than studying the structure of molecules. So, I was looking for study programmes that combined the scientific knowledge of global warming with elements of climate policy – and found GCE.

What did you like most about GCE?
I really liked the opportunities to go to international conferences, such like IPBES and COP and the first-hand experience of climate negotiations.

How has your career continued after GCE?
I worked for 8 months as a Research Associate at the department of Ecological Modelling at the University of Bayreuth. After that, I started working in a local administration for climate protection in the city of Erlangen.

What is your current position? What are your tasks?
As a manager for local climate protection my main tasks are to implement the climate protection measures of the climate protection concept. This can be the installation of photovoltaic systems, public relations work, implementing ideas for a sustainable lifestyle and many more.

How has GCE supported your career?
GCE has prepared me well for my current job. Climate protection is a cross-sectional task and one has to know many things to get things done. GCE has provided me with a lot of knowledge in various fields which helps a lot.

What do you recommend to the current GCE students?
Try to take all the opportunities that GCE offers. Go to conferences, do as many internships as you can and use the GCE network. And most importantly: Don’t forget to have fun.

The post GCE Alumni (7): Manager for local climate protection in Erlangen appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Why did you decide to study GCE?
The general topic of Global Change Ecology combined with the diversity of branches of the topic one could pick and delve into.

What did you like most about GCE?
When I started studying GCE, we were 7 people altogether in my year, which allowed for a very intensive supervision from the side of the GCE profs; additionally, the study course supported our education by enabling us to visit international conferences and to participate in summer and winter schools. One amazing experience I had was a summer school in the Brazilian Amazon, where we did research with international students, experienced new cultures, and lived on a boat.

How has your career continued after GCE?
After I graduated GCE, I started working as a junior policy advisor for the GIZ at the headquarters in Eschborn and later in Bonn. During this time, I advised the BMZ on the water-energy-food security nexus topic.
Later on, I continued with obtaining my PhD degree in PhD program Ecology in Zurich. After I obtained my PhD degree, I worked shortly as a scientific assistant on project funded by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment. After that I left academia.

What is your current position? What are your tasks?
I am a research manager at a joint office of UZH and ETH Zurich. The office is part of the offices of the vice-presidents for research at both universities. In my role, I advise researchers on EU funding schemes. Also a big part of my work is the negotiation of contracts and agreements.

How has GCE supported your career?
I loved that there was a good mixture of mandatory and optional courses, ensuring that all students get a very good overall quality of knowledge and yet still have the option to go into their own specific area of interest. Furthermore, I won friends for life with the people I got to know there. Last but not least, we could always discuss openly with our professors about politico-scientific topics but could also always give input to the structuring of the study course.

What do you recommend to the current GCE students?
What you learn now, during GCE, will help you during your entire career and will influence who you become as a person. Enjoy it as much as you can and be active!

The post GCE Alumni (6): Research manager at UZH and ETH Zurich appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Why did you decide to study GCE?
Because of its interdisciplinary setting and the option to study the social and natural sciences dimensions of socio-ecological systems. 

What did you like most about GCE?
The liberty of choosing most of the curriculum, including Science Schools, freely and according to my interests. GCE also provided an array of opportunities to partake in high-level meetings such as IPBES and the UNFCCC COP. Since GCE is embedded in the Elite Network of Bavaria, this provides further chances for networking and exchange with peers from various backgrounds. 

How has your career continued after GCE?
I am pursuing a PhD at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

What is your current position? What are your tasks?
Currently, I am employed as a research assistant and PhD student in the Land Use Modelling Group at PIK. I use a global land system model to study human-nature relations in agricultural landscapes at the global scale. My focus is on programming and data analysis.

How has GCE supported your career?
It supported me, because during my study I was often able to freely choose the subjects I was most interested in.

What do you recommend to the current GCE students?
Try not to feel overwhelmed by the many choices and options that GCE provides. Try not to rush things and let the game come to you. Give yourself time to find something that you really want to change or know more about! Also, don’t get caught up with talking too much trash about the shitty weather in Bayreuth. Remember, it’s only the current state of the atmosphere and will only last for days or weeks. The climate, however, is shaped by you! Enjoy the time with your peers and make Bayreuth a beautiful memory!

The post GCE Alumni (5): PhD at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research appeared first on Global Change Ecology.

Why did you decide to study GCE?
International student body, interdisciplinarity, connections to UN bodies and conferences, students from different backgrounds.

What did you like most about GCE?
International students, student coordination was fantastic and always helpful, community among the students.

How has your career continued after GCE?
Started working for “GRÜNE LIGA e.V.” since 06/2020 as a project manager.

What is your current position? What are your tasks?
Project manager at GRÜNE LIGA for a project on gypsum mining, I manage the project, by getting in contact with people in the industry and civil organizations, organizing events, overlooking the finances.

How has GCE supported your career?
It has given me a good backround knowledge on current issues on the environment.

What do you recommend to the current GCE students?
Try and pick internships that are really interesting to you for a future job, maybe even start working at a place next to the studies.

Cover picture: Pixabay License

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