Veronika Pinzger

Hannah Prawitz (sie / ihr)

Doctoral Researcher

Department Integrative Earth System Science
IMPRS

Main Focus

Hannah Prawitz is a Doctoral Researcher in the Earth Resilience Science Unit and the COPAN collaboration at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Max-Planck-Insitute of Geoanthropology.

With an academic background in both natural and social sciences, Hannah’s research focuses on understanding the complex dynamics of planetary-scale socio-ecological systems. She explores how societies and the environment co-evolve, with a particular emphasis on the roles of institutions and political systems in sustainability transformations. While a significant part of her work centers on agri-food systems, her research interests extend to other domains of human-environment interactions as well. Hannah is interested in developing and applying both conceptual models and quantitative simulation models to better capture the feedbacks and interplay between human and natural systems. In her work, she draws on a wide variety of methods, ranging from automated literature reviews and simulation modeling to statistical data analysis and qualitative research. Her goal is to advance our understanding of human-environment interactions and to inform pathways towards a more sustainable future. Beyond research, she is also engaged in various forms of public outreach, such as giving talks at schools and taking part in public science events.

My Core Research Themes at MPI GEA:

Curriculum Vitae

Professional Positions:

From 2024: Doctoral researcher at the Max-Plank-Institute of Geoanthropology in the Department of Integrative Earth System Sciences
From 2024: Research Associate at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Earth Resilience Research Unit
2023-2024: Research Associate at the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Department Ecosystem Services
2021-2024: Guest researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate-Impact Research (PIK), Research department 1: Earth System Analysis
2020-2023: Student Assistant at the Integrative Research Institute on Transformations of Human-Environment Systems (IRI THESys) at Humboldt-University Berlin

Education:

2024: Master of Sciences in Urban Ecosystem Sciences at Technical University Berlin
2023: Master of Sciences in Integrated Natural Resource Management at Humboldt-University Berlin
2021/2022: Exchange Semester at University Stockholm, Sweden
2020: Bachelor of Sciences in Biophysics at Humboldt-University Berlin
2019: Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences at Humboldt-University Berlin
2018:Exchange Semester Sciences Po Paris, Campus de Menton, France

Publications:

Schlüter, M., Wijermans, N., González-Mon, B., Lindkvist, E., Orach, K., Prawitz, H., Martin, R., Martínez-Peña, R., Pellowe, K. E., & Sanga, U. (2025). Navigating the space between empirics and theory – Empirically stylized modelling for theorising social-ecological phenomena. Environmental Modelling & Software, 189, 106444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsoft.2025.106444

Prawitz, H., & Pinzger, V. (2025). Be the Change: How Peer-to-Peer and Project-Based Seminars Open Communicative Arenas and Possibilities to Provoke Institutional Change at Universities. In W. L. Filho, J. Newman, A. Lange Salvia, L. Viera Trevisan, & L. Corazza (Eds.), North American and European Perspectives on Sustainability in Higher Education(pp. 629–644). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-80434-2_34

Klein, A., Unverzagt, K., Alba, R., Donges, J. F., Hertz, T., Krueger, T., Lindkvist, E., Martin, R., Niewöhner, J., Prawitz, H., Schlüter, M., Schwarz, L., & Wijermans, N. (2024). From situated knowledges to situated modelling: A relational framework for simulation modelling. Ecosystems and People, 20(1), 2361706. https://doi.org/10.1080/26395916.2024.2361706

Prawitz, H., Raudonat, J., Schifer, C., Pinzger, V., Kremer, J., Schorr, F., Rode, T., Hinderer, A., Hoffmann-Richter, H., & Kraft, P. (2024). Studieren(d) transformieren – Wie Studierende einen Unterschied machen. In W. Leal Filho (Ed.), Lernziele und Kompetenzen im Bereich Nachhaltigkeit (pp. 63–84). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-67740-7_4

Goldenbogen, B., Adler, S. O., Bodeit, O., Wodke, J. A. H., Escalera‐Fanjul, X., Korman, A., Krantz, M., Bonn, L., Morán‐Torres, R., Haffner, J. E. L., Karnetzki, M., Maintz, I., Mallis, L., Prawitz, H., Segelitz, P. S., Seeger, M., Linding, R., & Klipp, E. (2022). Control of COVID‐19 Outbreaks under Stochastic Community Dynamics, Bimodality, or Limited Vaccination. Advanced Science, 9(23), 2200088. https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202200088

Teaching:

2020-2023: Coordination of the Lecture Series “The green Thread” as part of the "Studiu Oecologicum" at Humboldt-University Berlin
2022-2023: Seminar "Transform Studieren?! - Die Universität als Reallabor für Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung“ at Humboldt-University Berlin

Awards and Scholarships

2023: Humboldt Prize of the Humboldt University for outstanding theses for the master's thesis "Towards modelling the Anthropocene: Conception and analysis of planetary-scale social-ecological feedbacks
2023: IRI THESys Award for excellent Bachelor and Master theses in the field of human-environmental research for students at Humboldt-University Berlin (2nd place)
2019-2023: Deutschlandstipendium at the Integrative Research Institute on Transformations of Human-Environment Systems (IRI THESys) at Humboldt-University Berlin with a focus on sustainability and global justice