Dr Maximilian Kotz

Postdoctoral Researcher
Kotz

Maximilian Kotz is a post-doctoral researcher in the Research Department 4 - Complexity Science.

He is a member of the working group Data based analysis of climate decisions.

Department

Working Group

Curriculum Vitae

PDF document Full Version — PDF document, 238 KB

Contact

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)
maxkotz[at]pik-potsdam.de
P.O. Box 60 12 03
14412 Potsdam

ORCID

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research 04.2023-present
Post-doctoral Researcher

University of Queensland 09.2023-12.2023
Visiting scholar at the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science and Australian Institute for Business and Economics.

University of Potsdam 09.2019-04.2023
PhD in climate physics/environmental economics
Summa cum laude

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research 09.2019-04.2023
Doctoral Researcher

European Central Bank 06.2022-12.2022
Part-time research consultant on climate impacts 

California Institute of Technology 03.2019-06.2019
Field researcher on US GO-SHIP IO6S cruise in Southern Ocean

University of Cambridge 2017-2018
Master of Science in Natural Sciences
First class honours

California Institute of Technology 06.2017-09.2017
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

University of Cambridge 2014-2017
Bachelor of Arts in Natural Sciences
First class honours

University of Reading 06.2016-08.2016
National Environmental Research Council summer fellowship

My work is broadly interested in understanding climate change and its impacts. 

On the one hand, this involves statistical analyses of physical climate models to understand how anthropogenic emissions are driving global climatic changes.

On the other hand, this involves applying statistical methods from environmental economics to reveal how fluctuating climate conditions impact society. Impacts can range from those visible within the market economy (such as economic growth and inflation), to important but non-market impacts including women's welfare in developing countries and biodiversity.

I am also interested in combining these approaches to project future (and attribute historical) damages from climate change, as well as using these results to inform climate policy, for example through their combination with Integrated Assessment Models to estimate the Social Cost of Carbon.

My work is regularly reported on by international media (see publications below), and has been used to inform the work of regulatory bodies such as the European Central Bank.

M. Kotz, A. Levermann, L. Wenz. The economic commitment of climate change. Nature. (Accepted).

M. Kotz, Friderike Kuik, Eliza Lis, Christiane Nickel. Global warming and heat extremes to exacerbate inflationary pressures. Nature Communications Earth & Environment. (2024).
Selected media coverage: Forbes, The Independent, The Washington PostAssociated PressABC News, The New Scientist, The ConversationDeutschlandfunk, ZDF, UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction

M. Kotz, S. Lange, L. Wenz, A. Levermann. Constraining the pattern and magnitude of projected extreme precipitation change in a multi-model ensemble. Journal of Climate. (2023).  
Press Release.
Selected media coverage: The New Scientist, Carbon Brief, CNN Indonesia

A. Stechemesser, M. Kotz, M. Auffhammer, L. Wenz. Prolonged exposure weakens risk perception and behavioral mobility response: Empirical evidence from Covid-19Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives. (2023).

L. Wenz, R. D. Carr*, N. Kögel*, M. Kotz, M. Kalkuhl. DOSE - Global data set of reported sub-national economic output. Nature Scientific Data. (2023).
PIK News

M. Kotz, F. Kuik, E. Lis, C. Nickel. The impact of global warming on inflation: averages, seasonality and extremes. ECB Working Paper Series. (2023)
BBC Newsnight segment with interview
PIK News
Selected media coverage: BBC, Washington Post, Zeit OnlineDer StandardCBS, Bloomberg, Korean Broadcasting SystemThe Economic Times, Scientific American
Policy outcomes: SUERF Policy Brief; Green Central Banking  Article; presented to IMF and ECB (multiple); informed Eurosystem macroeconomic projections and ECB Governing Body; development of Eurosystem tool to assess food inflation risks from extreme summer heat.

M. Kotz, A. Levermann, L. Wenz. The effect of rainfall changes on economic production. Nature. (2022).  
Nature cover
Nature news & views
Press release
Selected media coverage: Süddeutsche Zeitung, Spiegel Online, Politico, Australian Financial Review, The Indian Express

A. Stechemesser, L. Wenz, M. Kotz, A. Levermann. Strong increase of racist tweets outside of climate comfort zone in Europe. Environmental Research Letters. (2021). 

M. Kotz, L. Wenz, A. Levermann. Footprint of greenhouse forcing in daily temperature variability. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (2021).  

M. Kalkuhl, M. Kotz, L. Wenz. DOSE - The MCC-PIK Database Of Subnational Economic output (Version 1) [Data set] Zenodo (2021).

Kotz, M., Wenz, L., Stechemesser, A. et al. Day-to-day temperature variability reduces economic growthNature Climate Change (2021).  
Nature Research Highlight
Press release
Selected media coverage: New Scientist, Eos

*Students I supervise.

Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, University of Queensland, seminar, November 2023

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, invited seminar, November 2023

Network for Greening the Financial System Consortium Workshop, invited speaker, November 2023

Australian Institute for Business and Economics, University of Queensland, seminar, October 2023

Energietag Rheinland-Pfalz, invited speaker, October 2023

Panelist in discussion on Gender, Inequality and Climate Change for the German Embassy in Prague, April 2023

Barcelona Supercomputing Centre, seminar on climate damages, January 2023

ECB Green seminar series, December 2022

Mannheim University Ringvorlesung Klimawandel, September 2022

CMCC Ca'Foscari, Venice, Italy, Invited Seminar, June 2022

University of Reading Meteorology Department Seminar