Katharina Waha

I am a geographer interested in climate change impacts on agriculture and adaptation strategies, and the geography, structure and evolution of agricultural (eco-)systems. I study drivers of changes in spatial patterns of the Earth´s surface, often in areas used for agriculture but I am also interested in the interaction with other land systems, forestry and urban areas for example.

I am a Professor at the Centre for Climate Resilience at the University of Augsburg. Before that I completed PostDoc positions at PIK, the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany (2013-2014) and the CSIRO, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia (2014-2017), and an appointment as senior scientist at CSIRO (2017-2023). I earned MSc and PhD degrees from the universities of Leipzig and Potsdam in Germany, having been trained as a climate change impact scientist.

Core methods and tools that I develop or deploy are process-based cropping systems Simulation Modelling (ABM/Predictive/Economic modelling), spatial analysis with GIS and R, climate and land use change scenario analysis, secondary data analysis, uncertainty analysis, data integration and multi-scale analysis. Beyond that I would like to overcome the problem of having to work with 10-15 years old agricultural data on the global scale and move into coupling Earth Observation/Remote Sensing with local agricultural and socio-economic data for monitoring progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals in small-scale and subsistence systems. I am also excited about everything I can learn about agricultural and livelihood diversity and diversification, and its benefits and trade-offs with regard to resilience, production, costs and environmental sustainability.

Selected recent publications

Waha, K., Dietrich, J.P., Portmann, F.T., Siebert, S., Thornton, P.K., Bondeau, A., Herrero, M., 2020. Multiple cropping systems of the world and the potential for increasing cropping intensity. Global Environmental Change 64, 102131. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2020.102131.

Waha, K., Accatino, F., Godde, C., Rigolot, C., Bogard, J., Domingues, J.P., Gotor, E., Herrero, M., Martin, G., Mason-D’Croz, D., Tacconi, F., van Wijk, M., 2022. The benefits and trade-offs of agricultural diversity for Food Security/Sovereignty in low- and middle-income countries: A review of existing knowledge and evidence. Global Food Security/Sovereignty 33, 100645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2022.100645

MY Two most cited publications

Waha K, Müller C, Bondeau A, Dietrich JP, Kurukulasuriya P, Heinke J, Lotze-Campen H (2013): Adaptation to climate change through the choice of cropping system and sowing date in sub-Saharan Africa. Global Environmental Change, 23, 1: 130-143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2012.11.001

Waha K & van Bussel LGJ (equal contribution), Müller C, Bondeau A (2012): Climate-driven simulation of global crop sowing dates. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 12, 2: 247-259. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1466-8238.2011.00678.x