Prof. Dr. Brigitte Urban

21335 Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, C13.022
Fon +49.4131.677-2816, brigitte.urban@leuphana.de

Guest scientist, Institute of Ecology

Vita

Academic Qualifications

1978 Doctorate at University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Department of Botany, Faculty of Natural Sciences; Thesis: "Environmental history of the Lower Rhine Basin during the Early Pleistocene"

1975 Diploma (MSc) degree in Biology (Botany, Biochemistry, Environmental Geology, Soil Science and Prehistory) at Albertus- Magnus-University Cologne

Professional Career

Since 2013 Chair of PhD Commission for Natural Science (Dr. rer. nat.) and Speaker of ´Promotionskolleg` of Faculty of Sustainability, Leuphana University LÜneburg

Since 2009 University Professor for Ecology, Head of working group Landscape Change, Leuphana University Lüneburg

2005-2006 Vice President of University of Lüneburg, International Affairs

2005-2009 Professor of Soil Science and Biology at University of Lüneburg

Since 2005 Honorary Professor of University of Tübingen, Faculty of Geosciences

2003-2004 Dean of Faculty of Civil Engineering (Water Management & Engineering, Applied Computing)

2001-2002 Vice President of University of Applied Sciences, NE Lower Saxony. Research, Science & Technology Transfer, International Affairs, 2^nd period

1996-1998 Vice President of University of Applied Sciences, NE Lower Saxony. Research, Science & Technology Transfer, International Affairs, 1^st period

1985-2005 Professor of Soil Science and Biology at University of Applied Sciences, NE Lower Saxony, since 2005 amalgamated with University Lüneburg

Since 1983 Assistant Professor/lecturer at the Faculty of Geosciences, University of Tübingen

1979-1983 Scientific assistant and postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute of Soil Science, Faculty of Agronomy, University of Bonn. Research project: "Vegetation and Soil Development on loess in Central Europe" (DFG). Set up of the Laboratory for Soil Biology and Palynology of the Institute of soil Science

1975-1978 Research fellow at the Geological Institute, University of Cologne, Quaternary and Environmental Geology, Holocene and Pleistocene environmental history

Honors and Functions

Awards:

Award of Knowledge Transfer Prize 2014 of Leuphana University Lüneburg for outstanding and innovative accomplishments in the category ´Transfer of Scientific Research beyond the University and Application oriented Research with a Practical Relevance`.

Functions:

Member of the Board of Trustees of Leibniz Institute for Applied Geophysics, LIAG, Hannover (Since 2008)

Chairperson of the Scientific Advisory Board of Leibniz Institute for Applied Geosciences, (LIAG, former GGA) Hannover (2005- 2008)

Member of the Scientific Board of Acta Palaeobotanica, W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, Krakow, Poland

Projects

Climate Change & Early Humans in the North
Brigitte Urban (Project manager, academic)
11/1/22 → 7/30/26
Project: Research
Climate and Environmental Variability during the late Middle Pleistocene at the Paleolithic Sites of Schöningen, Northern Germany
Brigitte Urban (Project manager, academic)
4/1/17 → 7/1/22
Project: Research
DAS: Klimaanpassung managen! Weiterbildung für Bildungsakteure, Naturschutzexpert_Innen, Umwelt-, Nachhaltigkeits- und Klimaschutzbeauftragte in Kommunen sowie Multiplikator_innen zu regionalen Klimaanpassungsmanager_Innen
Brigitte Urban (Project manager, academic) , Christine Katz (Coordination) , Karin Fischer (Project staff)
6/1/16 → 3/31/19
Project: Transfer (professional training)
Paläoumwelt und das Alter der Schöninger Speere und der quartären Abfolge im Tagebau Schöningen. Chronometrische und relative Datierung mittels Lumineszenz und Palynologie
Brigitte Urban (Project manager, academic)
10/1/13 → 7/31/17
Project: Research
Aktivierte Pflanzenkohle aus Elbauen - neue Wertschöpfungen durch die Entwicklung einer neuen Stoffstromstrategie für das Auengrünland der Elbe
Brigitte Urban (Project manager, academic) , Frank Krüger (Project staff)
5/1/13 → 12/31/15
Project: Transfer (R&D project)

View all projects

Publications

Journal contributions

A radical reassessment of the stratigraphy, palaeoenvironmental processes and dating of the Middle Pleistocene deposits at Schöningen, northern Germany
Charles Turner (Author) , Brigitte Urban (Author) , Thijs van Kolfschoten (Author) , 30.06.2026 , in: Quaternary International, 768 , 31 p.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Paleoenvironmental and behavioral insights into firewood selection by early Middle Pleistocene hominins
Ethel Allué (Author) , Naama Goren-Inbar (Author) , Yoel Melamed (Author) , Brigitte Urban (Author) , Nira Alperson-Afil (Author) , 15.06.2026 , in: Quaternary Science Reviews, 382 , 8 p.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Towards an ‘absolute’ timing of biostratigraphic and environmental phases from the Saalian late glacial to the Weichselian pleniglacial in central Europe—Insights from a lacustrine succession in Lichtenberg, northern Germany
Michael Hein (Author) , Thomas Kasper (Author) , Alexis Badai Samudra (Author) , Martin Theuerkauf (Author) , Markus Lothar Fischer (Author) , Neda Rahimzadeh (Author) , Maria Sekar Proborukmi (Author) , Sonja Rigterink (Author) , Agnieszka Gruszczyńska (Author) , Christian Zeeden (Author) , Simon Parfitt (Author) , David John Horne (Author) , Lucy Roberts (Author) , Dustin White (Author) , Lisa Brogmus (Author) , Hans von Suchodoletz (Author) , Tobias Lauer (Author) , Marcel Weiss (Author) , David Colin Tanner (Author) , Brigitte Urban (Author) , 20.05.2026 , in: Boreas , 32 p.
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Chironomid-based summer temperature reconstruction of the Eemian–Weichselian transition at Lichtenberg, northern Germany
Sonja Rigterink (Author) , Bartosz Kotrys (Author) , Michael Hein (Author) , Xuan Li (Author) , Neda Rahimzadeh (Author) , Agnieszka Gruszczyńska (Author) , Marcel Weiss (Author) , Brigitte Urban (Author) , David Colin Tanner (Author) , Tobias Lauer (Author) , Antje Schwalb (Author) , 01.01.2026 , in: Boreas
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review
Quaternary aminostratigraphies for the eastern North European Plain.
Ellie Nelson (Author) , Dustin White (Author) , Lucy Wheeler (Author) , Stefan Meng (Author) , Marcin Szymanek (Author) , Jaqueline Strahl (Author) , Michael Hein (Author) , Witold P. Alexandrowicz (Author) , Brigitte Urban (Author) , Samantha Greeves (Author) , Mareike Stahlschmidt (Author) , Ralf Dietrich Kahlke (Author) , Tobias Lauer (Author) , David Colin Tanner (Author) , Kirsty E.H. Penkman (Author) , 01.01.2025 , in: Open Research Europe, 5
Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

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Contributions to collected editions/anthologies

Pollen und Sporen – Schlüssel zur Vegetation des Eiszeitalters
Brigitte Urban (Author) , 01.01.2018 Darmstadt , p. 48-52 , 5 p.
Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review
Hydrologische Auswirkungen des Klimawandels: Fallbeispiel Wasserbauliche Maßnahmen zur Sicherung des ökologisch notwendigen Mindestabflusses kleiner Fließgewässer.
Herbert Reusch (Author) , Helmut Heuer-Jungemann (Author) , Brigitte Urban (Author) , 01.01.2015 München , p. 355-376 , 22 p.
Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review
Contaminated sediment in Ramsar wetlands; A challenge towards sustainable management of sensitive ecosystems
S.F. Materu (Author) , Brigitte Urban (Author) , S. Heise (Author) , 01.01.2015 , p. 37 , 1 p.
Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Published abstract in conference proceedings › Research › peer-review
Erdsystem, Klima und globale Stoffkreisläufe
Brigitte Urban (Author) , Wolf-Ulrich Palm (Author) , 01.03.2014 Berlin , p. 213-257 , 45 p.
Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Education
LAND: Klimaangepasste Kulturlandschaft - Leistungsfähiger Naturhaushalt und umweltschonende Landbewirtschaftung.
Brigitte Urban (Author) , Diana Rechid (Author) , Imke Mersch (Author) , 01.01.2014 Hamburg , p. 52-55 , 4 p.
Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Contributions to scientific reports › Research

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Activities

The Implementation of Urban Nature-Based Solutions for Water Retention in the Delta Cities Hamburg and Rotterdam
Teresa Spantzel (Speaker) , Hendrike Clouting (Speaker) , Brigitte Urban (Coauthor)
11/17/21
Activity: Conference Presentations › Research
Sedimentological and high-resolution pollen and aquatic microfossil analysis of Middle Pleistocene lakeshore deposits of paleolithic site Schöningen 13 II-4, Germany
Kim J. Krahn (Coauthor) , Brigitte Urban (Speaker) , Antje Schwalb (Coauthor) , Mario Tucci (Speaker)
7/25/19
Activity: Presentations (poster etc.) › Research
A radical reassessment of the stratigraphy, palaeoenvironmental processes and dating of the Middle Pleistocene deposits at Schöningen, northern Germany
Charles Turner (Coauthor) , Brigitte Urban (Speaker) , Thijs van Kolfschoten (Coauthor)
7/25/19 → 7/31/19
Activity: Presentations (poster etc.) › Research
Middle Pleistocene interglacial environmental changes inferred from aquatic microfossils at the paleolithic site of Schöningen, Germany
Kim Jasmin Krahn (Coauthor) , Julien Pilgrim (Coauthor) , Brigitte Urban (Speaker) , Antje Schwalb (Coauthor) , Mario Tucci (Speaker)
7/25/19 → 7/31/19
Activity: Presentations (poster etc.) › Research
Differentiating forest types using Terrasar-X spotlight images based on factor analysis
Emad Elba (Coauthor) , Brigitte Urban (Coauthor) , Dalia Farghaly (Speaker)
3/16/16
Activity: Presentations (poster etc.) › Research

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Press / Media

Wechselwarm – das Wendland vor 80 000 Jahren
2/1/22
1 Media contribution

Press/Media: Press/Media
Erprobung eines Verfahrens zur praxisnahen Bestimmung wasserbaulicher Maßnahmen zur Sicherung des ökologisch notwendigen Mindestabflusses kleiner Fließgewässer (TP 3.5 AP3).
12/1/12
1 Media contribution

Press/Media: Press/Media
Moorforschung und Klimawandel
5/3/10
1 Media contribution

Press/Media: Press/Media

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