Lea-Deborah Kolb

PhD Student

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv)
Halle-Jena-Leipzig

Puschstraße 4
04103 Leipzig

and guest at Department of Ecological Systems Modelling OESA

Email

lea.kolb@ufz.de

Portrait of Lea Kolb

Research Interests

  • Computational modelling of human-environment systems
  • Agent-based Modelling
  • Agricultural Policy
  • Sustainable land-use
  • Farmers' Choices

As a geoecologist and systems scientist, I study human impacts on the environment and our living conditions. My focus is on digital experiments using equation- and rule-based computer models to understand how we can use resources sustainably. My research, part of the CAP4GI project, examines the subsidies given by the EU to farms under the Common European Agricultural Policy (CAP), totaling about 7 billion euros annually in Germany alone. These subsidies significantly influence how farms manage their fields, impacting food security and biodiversity. However, current payment programs do not effectively achieve all of these goals.

My work aims to redesign agricultural payments to better meet farmers' needs while improving habitat quality and biodiversity. This involves investigating strategies such as the introduction of payments for the maintenance of hedgerows. I use digital experiments with economic-ecological and agent-based models to address these research questions.

Scientific Career

since 03/2022


PhD researcher at Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ and German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig

2016 - 2020


2011 - 2015

M.Sc. Environmental Systems Science and Resources Management, Osnabrück University, Germany

B.Sc. Geoecology, Technical University of Brunswick, Germany

Projects

  • CAP4GI - Improving Green Infrastructure, biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Common Agricultural Policy

2024 (1)