group leader

Dr. Monika Egerer

I am a professor for Urban Productive Ecosystems in the School of Life Sciences at the Technical University of Munich.

Originally from Southeast Michigan, USA I studied biology at Kalamazoo College where I developed a strong interest in ecology, conservation, agriculture and the environment. I received a PhD in Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Interested in joining our group?

Contact: monika.egerer@tum.de; +49 (8161) 71 - 4756

Dept. of Life Science Systems, TUM School of Life Sciences, Hans Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2, 85354 Freising, Germany

Research team

Administration and TECHNICAL staff

**Sandra Großkopf**

**Sandra** provides research and teaching administrative support, organization and secretarial services.
**Contact**: sekretariat.upe@ls.tum.de

**Michael Miesl**

**Michael** is a research technician with expertise in physical aspects of soil. He supports field and lab work.
**Contact**: miesl@tum.de

**Regina Hüttle**

**Regina** is a research technician with expertise in plant biology. She supports field and lab work
**Contact**: regina.huettl@tum.de

Ottilie Peis

**Ottilie** is a research technician with expertise in plant biology. She supports field and lab work.
**Contact**: ottilie.peis@tum.de

Postdocs, phds and research staff

Dr. Joan Casanelles Abella

**Joan** is an SNF Postdoc fellow with expertise on urban ecology, biodiversity, species interactions, biogeography and conservation biology. He is currently interested in integrating ecology, urban geography and social sciences.
**Contact**: joan.casanelles@tum.de

Steffi Burger

**Steffi** is a PhD candidate doing participatory social empirical research in the project *Urban Oases in Climate Change*. She is interested in nature-based solutions for urban climate change resilience and enjoys working at science-policy-practice interfaces.
**Contact**: stefanie.burger@tum.de

Agata Cybinska

**Agata** is a research technician with expertise in plant protection and insect-plant interactions. She is supporting field and laboratory research in the ‘CityBees’ urban garden project.
**Contact**: agata.cybinska@tum.de

Theresia Endriß

**Theresia (Resi)** is a researcher with expertise in biodiversity, Education for Sustainable Development, outdoor education and human-nature relationships. She leads sustainability and ESD initiatives in our group including ‘CampusAckerdemie'.
**Contact**: theresia.endriss@tum.de

Niclas Hoegel

**Niclas** is a PhD candidate, researcher and project manager in ‘StreuWiKlim’ on the climate change resilience of orchard meadows. He is interested in agroforestry, biodiversity and climate change.
**Contact**: niclas.hoegel@tum.de

David Schoo

**David** is a scientific researcher with expertise in geography, market gardening, biodiversity, spatial tools and interdisciplinary research. He is a researcher in the ‘BioDivHubs’ project.
**Contact**: david.schoo@tum.de

Astrid Neumann

**Astrid** is a PhD candidate with expertise in zoology conducting research in 'Forschen für Wildbienen'‘. She is interested in pollinators and nature conservation in urban gardens.
**Contact**: astrid.neumann@tum.de

Gaya Ten Kate

**Gaya** is a PhD candidate with expertise in plant ecology and plant-insect interactions. She is doing research in ‘CityBees’ in gardens and is co-affiliated with the Plant-Insect-Interactions group.
**Contact**: gaya.ten-kate@tum.de

Lauren Porter

**Lauren** is a PhD candidate with expertise in soil science conducting research in the RTG UGI. She is interested in creating soils for sustainable drainage systems. Lauren is co-affiliated with the Soil Science group.
**Contact**: lauren.porter@tum.de

Dr. Susanne Raum

**Susanne** is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Fellow with expertise and interests in urban forests, ecosystem services, nature-society interactions, social science research and climate change.
**Contact**: susanne.raum@tum.de

Dr. Aaron Sexton

**Aaron** is a postdoctoral researcher with expertise in plant-pollinator interactions, urban ecology, and synthesis research. He is conducting research in the urban garden system including in the CityBees project.
**Contact**: aaron.sexton@tum.de

Alexandra Zink

**Alex** is a PhD candidate interested in how people shape the environment and the way species interact, especially plants and pollinators in urban contexts. She is doing research in the ‘CityBees’ project in urban gardens.
**Contact**: alex.zink@tum.de

some of our thesis students, research assistants, and affiliated scholars

Flora Heckner

**Flora** is a MSc student in ecological engineering. She works in the CitySoundscapes project synthesizing information on soundscape planning and writes our Urban Ecosystems Group newsletter.

Sebastian Speth

**Sebastian** is a MSc Informatics student. He supports the management of our website and IT infrastructure, as well as general data management and IT troubleshooting.

Valentina Arros

**Valentina** is a Natural Science Illustrator and Visual Communicator. She is a part of the "**Creature Conserve**" mentorship program that supports artists in science-based art projects. She is supporting our BioDivHubs project with educational signage.

student and staff alumni & Thesis students

Graduated Masters students:

Carolina Achilles, Tobias Bahlmann, Jorge Alberto Benitez, Claudio Caci, Yannik Hecher, Michael Hemauer, Ying Huang, Christian Lanfranchi, Julia Felderhoff, Hien Nguyen, Janine Opitz, Alejandra Orenday Valderrama, Veronica Sebald

Graduated Bachelors students:

Bigna Lu Abderhalden, Anne Behrens, Phoebe Koppendorfer, Sandra Kronester, Denis Mandic, Ilja Schoenheinz, Hannah Thomas, Vanessa Zahl

Researchers:

Dr. Julia Schmack

Research assistants:

Felix Conitz, Michael Hemauer, Christian Lanfranchi, Hien Nguyen, Nina Schäle, Veronica Sebald, Sebastian Speth, Hannah Thomas, Evrim Yilmaz

Visiting researchers:

Olivia Maddox (Drexel University), Aanchal Thapa (Rice University), Francisco Tomatis (University of Valladolid)

Important partnerships include (but not limited to):

Plant-Insect-Interactions Group, Technical University of Munich (Sara Leonhardt)

Forest and Agroforestry Systems, Technical University of Munich (Peter Annighöfer)

Museum für Naturkunde, Berlin: Ulrike Sturm, Susan Karlebowski and Martin Tscholl

Institut für Landschaftsplanung und Ökologie, U Stuttgart: Leonie Fischer’s research group

URBNANCE Research Group, Leibnitz-Institut für ökologische Raumentwicklung: Martina Artmann’s research group

BUGS team: Stacy Philpott (UC Santa Cruz), Brenda Lin (CSIRO), Shalene Jha (UT Austin), Heidi Liere (U Seattle), Peter Bichier (UC Santa Cruz), Hamutahl Cohen (UC Riverside)

Australian Urban Agriculture Research Network: Jonathan (Yotti) Kingsley, Pauline Marsh, Brenda Lin, Lucy Keniger, Aisling Bailey, Emily Foenander, Tonia Gray, Danielle Tracey, Philip Pettitt, Jeremy Addison, Heather Johnstone, Kate Neale, Tyler King, Teresa Capetola, Dave Kendal, Rebecca Patrick, Sonia Nuttman, Claire Henderson-Wilson, Chris Reed, Niki Frantzeskaki, Sara Barron, Claire Hetzel, Alessandro Ossola, Rosie Welch

Healthy Landscapes Research Group (U Tasmania Hobart): Dave Kendal, Emily Flies, Caragh Threlfall, Pauline Marsh, Jason Byrne, Penelope Jones, Menna Jones, and others

Photography by hanna photography (www.hanna-photography.com)