Dr. Sören Köpke

Sören Köpke is a political scientist. He was awarded a PhD (Dr.rer.pol.) from Technische Universität Braunschweig in 2018 for a dissertation on drought, development and environmental conflicts. He holds a Master’s degree in Political Science and English and American Studies from Leibniz University Hannover and studied at National University of Ireland, Galway. His research focuses on social-ecological dynamics of agriculture and the international policy of environmental change. In this context, he conducted field research on several occasions, mostly in Sri Lanka. Sören Köpke taught bachelor- and master-level courses at the Institute of Social Sciences, TU Braunschweig, in climate policy, political ecology, water management and international relations from 2012 to 2016.  Sören Köpke also works as a TV journalist in Hannover, Germany.

Since April 2018, Sören Köpke has been a lecturer and postdoctoral researcher at the Section for International Agricultural Policy and Environmental Governance. His current research is on biodiversity policy, wildlife management, and environmental governance.

Köpke, S. (2019). Territorializing Chinese Inner Asia. IQAS – International Quarterly for Asian Studies, 50(1-2)

Köpke, S. (2018). The Political Ecology of Drylands. Drought, development, and environmental conflict. Münster: LIT Verlag

Köpke, S. (2018). Sri Lanka: Rekonfiguration des Singhalesischen Nationalismus? ASIEN, 147 (April 2018) 


Köpke, S. ,Withanachchi, S.S., Withanachchi, C.R., Pathiranage, R. & A. Ploeger (2018). So- cial–ecological dynamics in irrigated agriculture in dry zone Sri Lanka: a political ecology. Sustainable Water Resource Management, February 7, 2018.

Köpke, S. ,Withanachchi, S.S., Withanachchi, C.R., Pathiranage, R. & A. Ploeger (2014). Cross-scale Dynamics in Dry Zonal Paddy Cultivation in Mahaweli River Basin, Sri Lanka: An Analysis of Spatial and Temporal Climate Change impacts in Water Resource Management. Climate, 2(2)