Dr. habil. Kathrin Stenchly

Kathrin Stenchly is a researcher at the section of Grassland Science and Renewable Plant Resources at the University of Kassel and Managing Director of CliMA, the Competence Centre for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation at Universität Kassel. She studied biology at the University of Leipzig and received her doctorate on the topic of spider communities in cocoa agroforestry systems in Indonesia from the Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Department of Agroecology. After her PhD, her research focused on increasing resource use efficiency and safeguarding the biodiversity of important species communities in urban farming systems in order to contribute to improving food security in West African cities. She habilitated at Universität Kassel in February 2020 and obtained the venia legendi for the subject of "Functional Ecology of Agricultural Landscapes".

Her scientific profile includes research topics on the functional ecology of plant and insect communities, landscape ecology, urban agriculture and sustainable resource management in a national and international context. Among them:

• Spatio-temporal change in the structural and functional diversity of plant, insect and spider communities in agricultural production systems under different land use, management and urbanisation intensities;
• Mapping temporal and spatial change in the structural heterogeneity of productive landscapes and its implications for landscape function and expected ecosystem services;
• Strengthening biodiversity services in organic agriculture;
• Economic importance of insect pollination as an essential ecosystem service at household level;
• Wastewater use in West African urban farming systems - impacts on human health and the soil environment;
• Conceptualisation and implementation of innovative experimental designs, method development, as well as evaluation approaches and monitoring for different - also trans- and interdisciplinary - research questions;
• Identification of ecologically, economically and socially relevant indicators for the development of sustainable land and resource management strategies;
• Investigation of various possible applications of plant and activated carbons in the agricultural sector and for the regeneration of agroforestry systems;
• Knowledge preparation and provision of sustainable land use strategies, management practices and environmental technologies through graphical non-verbal documentation;
• Influence of irrigation water quality on microbiological quality of irrigated crops and soils, as well as agronomic parameters and nutrient availability;
• Sustainable resource management - regional development and integration of unused biomass as a resource for circular products and economic transformation.

DBU Lupine - Conservation and Restoration of Species Diversity in the Mountain Meadows of the Rhön Biosphere Reserve - Management of the Invasive Perennial Lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus Lindl.) in a Complex System of Protected Areas

CAREFUL - Residual biomasses to (activated) carbon: prevention of footpad lesions in poultry husbandry

RE-DIRECT II - EU Interreg NWE "REgional Development and Integration of unused biomass wastes as REsources for Circular products and economic Transformation"

RE-DIRECT I - EU Interreg NWE "REgional Development and Integration of unused biomass wastes as REsources for Circular products and economic Transformation"

UrbanFood^Plus - African-German partnership to enhance resource use efficiency and improve food security in urban and peri-urban agriculture of West African cities