Prof. Dr. Birgit Müller

Contact

Head of Working Group POLISES (POLicy Instruments and Socio-Environmental Systems under global change)

Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ

Department of Ecological Modelling

Permoserstr. 15
04318 Leipzig
Germany

Building 1, room 2.04

Tel.: +49 341 6025 2664

birgit.mueller@ufz.de    

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8780-4420

Research Interests

Use of process-based models for an enhanced understanding and governance of social-ecological systems under global change:

1. Exploring dynamics of socio-environmental resource systems under uncertainty
   
2. Effects of policy instruments for global food security and for coping with climate risk (such as weather insurances) on socio-environmental systems (SES)
   
3. Adequate representation of human decisions in agent-based models for natural resource use Journal Club
4. Advancement of methods related to incorporate cross-scale effects in land use models
   
5. Potential of SES models as tool of thinking and tool for communication in inter- and transdisciplinary research    
   

Current Projects

• POLISES - Global food security policies and their social-ecological side effects in regions prone to global change
  Project Website POLISES
• INSURANCEGRASS -Assessment of formal, natural and social insurances: how to cope best with impacts of extreme events on grasslands for sustainable farming systems? (D-A-CH Program, April 2022 – March 2025).
• BESTMAP - Behavioural, Ecological and Socio-economic Tools for Modelling Agricultural Policy (September 2019 -  August 2023).
• NamTip - Understanding and Managing Desertification Tipping Points in Dryland Social-Ecological Systems – A Namibian Perspective (March 2019 - February 2022).
• SESYNC Pursuit: Testing and extending Ostrom’s frameworks: quantitative synthesis and modeling of social-ecological dynamics (2017- ongoing)
  

Finished Projects

• DFG funded Project SEEMI - "Effects of microinsurance on informal safety nets and on strategies for natural resource use – a model-based analysis" (March 2017 - August 2020)
• Junior Research Group POLISES - Global food security policies and their social-ecological side effects in regions prone to global change (2014-2019) Short description
  Project Website POLISES
• Collaborative SESYNC-UFZ-IDiv project: Synthesis of micro-scale human decision making to mitigate risks to ecosystem services
• Sustainability of (Post-)Nomadic Resource Utilization Under Global Change - Conceptual Understanding Through Ecological-Economic Modelling (2008-2012)
• Ecological Economics: Modelling and conceptual foundation, with an example of grazing in semi-arid regions (2004-2007)

Memberships

• Member of external advisory board of the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Centre (SESYNC) Annapolis, US (since 2018)
  
• Member of Editorial Board of open-access journal SESMO – Socio-Environmental Systems Modelling (since 2019)
• Member of Steering Committee of Global Land Program Working Group: “Large-scale Behavioural Models of Land Use Change”

Publications

Latest Publications:

• Letschert, J., Müller, B., Dressler, G., Möllmann, C., Stelzenmüller, V. (2025):
  Simulating fishery dynamics by combining empirical data and behavioral theory
  Ecol. Model. 501 , art. 111036 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2025.111036
• Will, M., Jäger, F., Müller, B. (2025):
  Farmer decision-making on agri-environmental schemes: An agent-based modelling approach to evaluate different policy designs in Saxony, Germany
  Agric. Syst. 229 , art. 104439 10.1016/j.agsy.2025.104439
• Berger, U., Bell, A., Barton, C.M., Chappin, E., Dreßler, G., Filatova, T., Fronville, T., Lee, A., van Loon, E., Lorscheid, I., Meyer, M., Müller, B., Piou, C., Radchuk, V., Roxburgh, N., Schüler, L., Troost, C., Wijermans, N., Williams, T.G., Wimmler, M.-C., Grimm, V. (2024):
  Towards reusable building blocks for agent-based modelling and theory development
  Environ. Modell. Softw. 175 , art. 106003 10.1016/j.envsoft.2024.106003
• Eisenhauer, N., Frank, K., Weigelt, A., Bartkowski, B., Beugnon, R., Liebal, K., Mahecha, M., Quaas, M., Al-Halbouni, D., Bastos, A., Bohn, F.J., de Brito, M.M., Denzler, J., Feilhauer, H., Fischer, R., Fritsche, I., Guimaraes-Steinicke, C., Hänsel, M., Haun, D.B.M., Herrmann, H., Huth, A., Kalesse-Los, H., Koetter, M., Kolleck, N., Krause, M., Kretschmer, M., Leitão, P.J., Masson, T., Mora, K., Müller, B., Peng, J., Pöhlker, M.L., Ratzke, L., Reichstein, M., Richter, S., Rüger, N., Sánchez-Parra, B., Shadaydeh, M., Sippel, S., Tegen, I., Thrän, D., Umlauft, J., Wendisch, M., Wolf, K., Wirth, C., Zacher, H., Zaehle, S., Quaas, J. (2024):
  A belowground perspective on the nexus between biodiversity change, climate change, and human well-being
  Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment 3 (2), e212108 10.1002/sae2.12108
• Huber, R., Bartkowski, B., Brown, C., El Benni, N., Feil, J.-H., Grohmann, P., Leonhardt, H., Mitter, H., Müller, B. (2024):
  Farm typologies for understanding farm systems and improving agricultural policy
  Agric. Syst. 213 , art. 103800 10.1016/j.agsy.2023.103800
• Letschert, J., Müller, B., Dressler, G., Möllmann, C., Stelzenmüller, V. (2024):
  FISHCODE - FIsheries Simulation with Human COmplex DEcision-making
  Version: 1.1.0 CoMSES Model Library 10.25937/dzcq-6c02
• Will, M., Bartkowski, B., Schwarz, N., Wittstock, F., Grujić, N., Li, C., Ge, J., Ziv, G., Müller, B. (2024):
  From primary data to formalized decision-making: open challenges and ways forward to inform representations of farmers' behaviour in agent-based models
  Ecol. Soc. 29 (4), art. 31 10.5751/ES-15400-290431
• Bartkowski, B., Schepanski, K., Bredenbeck, S., Müller, B. (2023):
  Wind erosion in European agricultural landscapes: More than physics
  People Nat. 5 (1), 34 - 44 10.1002/pan3.10418
• Li, C., Will, M., Grujić, N., Ge, J., Müller, B., Gosal, A., Ziv, G. (2023):
  An agent-based model of UK farmers’ decision-making on adoption of agri-environment schemes
  In: Squazzoni, F. (ed.)
  Advances in social simulation. Proceedings of the 17th Social Simulation Conference, European Social Simulation Association
  Springer Proceedings in Complexity
  Springer, Cham, p. 463 - 475 10.1007/978-3-031-34920-1_37
• Wang, H.-H., van Voorn, G., Grant, W.E., Zare, F., Giupponi, C., Steinmann, P., Müller, B., Elsawah, S., van Delden, H., Athanasiadis, I.N., Sun, Z., Jager, W., Little, J.C., Jakeman, A.J. (2023):
  Scale decisions and good practices in socio-environmental systems modelling: guidance and documentation during problem scoping and model formulation
  Socio-Environmental Systems Modelling 5 , art. 18563 10.18174/sesmo.18563
• Will, M., Groeneveld, J., Lenel, F., Frank, K., Müller, B. (2023):
  Determinants of household vulnerability in networks with formal insurance and informal risk-sharing
  Ecol. Econ. 212 , art. 107921 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107921
• Anderies, J.M., Cumming, G.S., Clements, H.S., Lade, S.J., Seppelt, R., Chawla, S., Müller, B. (2022):
  A framework for conceptualizing and modeling social-ecological systems for conservation research
  Biol. Conserv. 275 , art. 109769 10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109769
• Bartkowski, B., Schüßler, C., Müller, B. (2022):
  Typologies of European farmers: approaches, methods and research gaps
  Reg. Envir. Chang. 22 (2), art. 43 10.1007/s10113-022-01899-y
• Dressler, G., Groeneveld, J., Hetzer, J., Janischewski, A., Nolzen, H., Rödig, E., Schwarz, N., Taubert, F., Thober, J., Will, M., Williams, T., Wirth, S.B., Müller, B. (2022):
  Upscaling in socio-environmental systems modelling: Current challenges, promising strategies and insights from ecology
  Socio-Environmental Systems Modelling 4 , art. 18112 10.18174/sesmo.18112
• Jäger, F., Rudnick, J., Lubell, M., Kraus, M., Müller, B. (2022):
  Using Bayesian belief networks to investigate farmer behavior and policy interventions for improved nitrogen management
  Environ. Manage. 69 (6), 1153 - 1166 10.1007/s00267-022-01635-6
• Roxburgh, N., Stringer, L.C., Evans, A.J., Williams, T.G., Müller, B. (2022):
  Wikis as collaborative knowledge management tools in socio-environmental modelling studies
  Environ. Modell. Softw. 158 , art. 105538 10.1016/j.envsoft.2022.105538
• Trajković, M., Vujaklija, D., Ziv, G., Gosal, A., Ge, J., Gunning, J., Mueller, B., Williams, A., Nadeu, E. (2022):
  D6.1 Analysis of needs and capacity of different audiences including policy makers, expert practitioners and other modellers
  ARPHA Preprints 10.3897/arphapreprints.e82715
• Will, M., Backes, A., Campenni, M., Cronk, L., Dressler, G., Gornott, C., Groeneveld, J., Habtemariam, L.T., Kraehnert, K., Kraus, M., Lenel, F., Osgood, D., Taye, M., Müller, B. (2022):
  Improving the design of climate insurance: combining empirical approaches and modelling
  Clim. Dev. 14 (9), 804 - 813 10.1080/17565529.2021.2007837
• Williams, T.G., Brown, D.G., Guikema, S.D., Logan, T.M., Magliocca, N.R., Müller, B., Steger, C.E. (2022):
  Integrating equity considerations into agent-based modeling: A conceptual framework and practical guidance
  JASSS 25 (3), art. 1 10.18564/jasss.4816
• Ziv, G., Gunning, J., Václavík, T., Beckmann, M., Paulus, A., Mueller, B., Will, M., Cord, A., Roilo, S., Bullock, J., Evans, P., Domingo-Marimon, C., Masó Pau, J. (2022):
  Deliverable D2.2 BESTMAP Conceptual Framework Design & Architecture
  ARPHA Preprints 10.3897/arphapreprints.e82404

Full list of publications: Publications

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