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14412 Potsdam
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Leonie Wenz leads the working group Data-based analysis of climate decisions at PIK and acts as deputy head of Research Department IV Complexity Science. She is affiliated with the Mercator Research Institute on Global Commons and Climate Change (MCC).
Leonie conducts research on the socioeconomic impacts of climate change by use of various mathematical data-analysis methods and models. In particular, she studies how we - individually and as societies - respond to weather extremes and a changing climatic environment with the aim of deriving sustainable adaptation strategies and development pathways. She has contributed to the development of the agent-based numerical model acclimate that can be used to investigate global economic response dynamics to local shocks.
A mathematician by training, Leonie earned her Ph.D. from University of Potsdam and PIK with a dissertation at the intersection of Climate Physics and Economics (summa cum laude). She completed a Postdoc at UC Berkeley as part of the prestigious Ciriacy-Wantrup programme in Natural Resource Economics and Public Policy.
Leonie has won several prizes and awards for her work (e.g. Leibniz dissertation award). Her research has appeared in, among others, Nature, Nature Climate Change, PNAS, Science Advances and Journal of Environmental Economics and Management and has informed e.g. the German parliament.
- Societal and economic impacts of weather extremes
- Climate decisions
- Climate change & sustainable economic development
- Climate impacts in a globally connected world
- Econometrics, agent-based modeling, mathematical data analysis
M. Kotz*, S. Lange, L. Wenz, A. Levermann
Changes in mean and extreme precipitation scale universally with global mean temperature across and within climate models
Journal of Climate (submitted) [Working Paper version]
L. Wenz & S.N. Willner
Climate impacts and global supply chains: an overview [Book chapter]
Handbook on Trade Policy and Climate Change [edited by M. Jakob] (2022).
M. Kotz*, A. Levermann, L. Wenz
The effect of rainfall changes on economic production
Nature (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04283-8
A. Stechemesser*, L. Wenz, M. Kotz*, A. Levermann
Strong increase of racist tweets outside of climate comfort zone in Europe
Environmental Research Letters (2021). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac28b3
M. Kotz*, L. Wenz, A. Levermann
Footprint of greenhouse forcing in daily temperature variability
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 118 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2103294118
T. Beaufils* & L. Wenz
A scenario-based method for projecting multi-regional input-output tables
Economic Systems Research (2021). https://doi.org/10.1080/09535314.2021.1952404
M. Kalkuhl, M. Kotz*, L. Wenz
DOSE - The MCC-PIK Database Of Subnational Economic output (Version 1) [Data set]
Zenodo (2021). http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4681306
K. Kuhla, S.N. Willner, C. Otto, L. Wenz, A. Levermann
Future heat stress to reduce people's purchasing power
PLoS ONE 16 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0251210
Day-to-day temperature variability reduces economic growth.
Nature Climate Change (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-00985-5/
>> Selected media coverage: Carbon Brief | The Guardian | Spiegel Online (german) | Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (german) | El País (spanish) | NRC Handesblad (dutch)
>> Radio interview discussing the study in Deutschlandfunk (german)
>> Motivated parliamentary enquiry on the resilience of the German economy
>> Response by German government
>> Informed stakeholder dialogue on the indirect effects of global climate change on the German economy organized by the Federal Environmental Agency (UBA)
- Impact of intensified weather extremes on Europe's economy
- Funded by Volkswagen Foundation as part of the Europe & global challenges initiative (2017-2023)
- Joint with Columbia University (A. Sobel), UC Berkeley (M. Auffhammer) and University of Sydney (M. Lenzen)
- More information: http://portal.volkswagenstiftung.de/search/projectDetails.do?ref=93350
- Additional module: What can we learn from the Corona crisis to enhance our societies' resilience to intensified weather extremes?
- Ciriacy-Wantrup Postdoctoral Fellowship in Natural Resource Economics and Political Economy
- Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics (mentor: Prof. Max Auffhammer)
- prizewinner in category Natural and Technical Sciences
- press releases by Potsdamer Neuste Nachrichten and PIK
- selected for participation as young economist
- sponsored by Mars Inc. and Leibniz Association
- prize for best Ph.D. thesis 2016
- awarded by Society of Friends & Promoters of PIK
- scholarship for dissertation project
- awarded by German Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, DBU)
- scholarship for research stay at UC Berkeley
- awarded by German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)