Dr. Lisa Murken

Working Group Leader
Murken

Lisa Murken is an agricultural economist and co-lead of the working group Adaptation in Agricultural Systems. Her research focuses on socio-economic impacts of climate change and adaptation solutions in low- and middle-income countries.

Contact

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
T +49 (0)331 288 2586
Lisa.Murken[at]pik-potsdam.de
P.O. Box 60 12 03
14412 Potsdam

ORCID

Lisa studied International Relations at the Technical University of Dresden and the University of Nice - Sophia Antipolis (BA) and holds an MSc in Environment and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science. In her doctoral dissertation in agricultural economics, completed at PIK and the University of Kassel (02/2023), she analyzed the effects of different land tenure modalities on farmers' resilience to climate change in sub-Saharan Africa, using methods from econometrics and environmental psychology. Her PhD was funded by the German National Academic Foundation. Prior to joining PIK, she worked as a consultant for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

In my research, I focus on the intersection of development economics, agricultural- and climate science. The aim is to analyze policy-relevant issues using modern quantitative methods, in order to identify causal relationships. For this purpose, I use experimental and quasi-experimental approaches, often based on primary household data collected by our team and partners in the field. A particular goal is to bridge different time horizons in applied climate impact and adaptation research, to identify adaptation strategies that work both currently and in the future. Thematic areas of interest include:

  • Land tenure, land conflicts and local commons
  • Household resilience to climate change
  • Impact of adaptation strategies
  • Seasonal adaptation dynamics
  • Timing of and motivation for household-level adaptation to climate change

Work in progress (selected):

Pulkkinen, K., Undorf, S., Gornott, C. and Murken, L. Burden of proof in climate change adaptation finance (under review)

Murken, L.
, Mager, G., Laudien, R., Kraehnert, K. & Gornott, C. The impact of weather risk on tenure security – Evidence from smallholder farmers in Tanzania (under review)

Murken, L., Kraehnert, K., van den Broek, K., Adriko, J. & Gornott, C.. The Role of Tenure Security in
Farmers’ Decision-Making on Investment in Improved Seeds: Insights from Mental Models. Ruhr Economic
Papers, http://doi.org/10.4419/96973237

Maskell, G., Shukla, R., Murken, L., Nguyen, T.T., Weituschat, C.S. & Gornott, C.. Clarifying household-level
determinants and outcomes of adaptive capacity in Vietnam’s coffee growing region (under review)

Peer-reviewed publications:

Murken, L.,
Kraehnert, K. & Gornott, C. (2024). Is this land for sale? The effects of drought on land ownership in Uganda. Ecological Economics, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.108095

Murken, L. & Gornott, C. (2022). The importance of different land tenure systems for farmers' response to climate change: a systematic review. Climate Risk Management, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crm.2022.100419

Siderius, C., Conway, D., Yassine, M., Murken, L., Lostis, P., & Dalin, C. (2020). Multi-scale analysis of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Arabian Gulf region. Environmental Research Letters 15, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab8a86

Book chapters:

von Loeben, S., Murken, L., Lombardi, N. & Baas, S. (2021): Evaluating Costs and Benefits of Farm-Level Disaster and Climate Risk Management Good Practices. - In:Leal Filho, W., Luetz, J., Ayal, D. (Eds.), Handbook of Climate Change Management, Cham : Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22759-3299-1

Policy reports:

AGRICA Climate Risk Analyses:

  • Ghana (2019): https://doi.org/10.2312/pik.2020.001 (as lead author)
  • Ethiopia (2020): https://doi.org/10.2312/pik.2020.003 (as lead author)
  • Ghana sub-national (2021): https://doi.org/10.48485/pik.2021.001 (as co-author)
  • Burkina Faso (2021): https://doi.org/10.48485/pik.2022.001 (as co-author)
  • Niger (2021):  https://doi.org/10.48485/pik.2022.002 (as co-author)
  • Uganda (2023): https://doi.org/10.48485/pik.2023.021 (as co-author)
  • Madagascar (2024): https://doi.org/10.48485/pik.2024.005 (as co-author)

Siderius, C., Conway, D., Yassine, M., Murken, L. & Lostis, P. (2019). Characterising the water-energy-food nexus in Kuwait and the Gulf region. LSE Middle East Centre Paper Series (28). Middle East Centre, LSE, London, UK. https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/102852/

FAO (2019). Disaster risk reduction at farm level: Multiple benefits, no regrets. Rome.160 pp. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO, (Lombardi, N., Murken, L., von Loeben, S. & Baas, S.)

PACO: https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/output/projects/all/1011

DecLaRe: https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/output/projects/all/949

AgrImpact: https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/output/projects/all/974

AGRICA: https://www.pik-potsdam.de/research/projects/imported/745

  • Agrica_21: https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/output/projects/all/892
  • Agrica_Madagascar: https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/output/projects/all/898
  • Agrica Ethiopia: https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/output/projects/all/975

ClimSec Sahel (completed): https://www.pik-potsdam.de/research/projects/imported/628

  • ClimSec Sahel 2.0: https://www.pik-potsdam.de/en/output/projects/all/848

  • PhD Scholarship of the German National Academic Foundation, 08/2020 - 12/2022
  • Carlo-Schmid Fellowship awarded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), 09/2017 - 03/2018
  • MSc Environment and Development Best Overall Performance Prize (awarded by the London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Geography & Environment), 11/2017
  • Study scholarship of the German National Academic Foundation, 07/2013 - 08/2017