Inaugural Lectures

Wednesdays from 2.15-3.00 pm in lecture hall 5 as well as via

Zoom: Meeting ID: 932 0673 2182, Password: 031305

Inaugural Lectures:

The lecture content of past dates can be found as a PDF file after the short descriptions.

Dr. Tina Heger 
23.04.2025,  2.15-3.00 pm, Lecture Hall 5

Dr. Tina Heger is an honorary professor at Leuphana Universität Lüneburg and lecturer at School of Life Sciences at the Department of Biology at the Technical University of Munich and project leader at the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB). Her research focuses on biological invasions, ecological novelty, theory and methods of ecology as well as biodiversity conservation and future natural conditions.

Title: Interdisciplinary Approaches for a Nature-Positive Future: Towards an Atlas of Knowledge and Renewed Human-Nature Relationships

Prof. Dr. Daniela Jacob 
07.05.2025, 3.30-4.15 pm, Lecture Hall 5

Prof. Dr. Daniela Jacob is an honorary professor at Leuphana University Lüneburg and heads the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS) at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. She is also head of the Climate Advisory Board of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, the German Committee for Sustainability Research in Future Earth (DKN) and co-head of WPN2030.
Her research focuses on regional climate modeling, climate services, adaptation to climate change and climate-resilient development. As coordinating lead author, she played a key role in the IPCC special report on global warming of 1.5 °C.

Dr. Maraja Riechers 
04.06.2025,  2.15-3.00 pm, Lecture Hall  5

Dr. Maraja Riechers is an honorary professor and heads the working group "Fisheries and Society". She is active in committees of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and contributes her expertise as a contributing author to the IPBES Assessment Report on Transformative Change. Among other things, she heads the working group "Ocean Equity for Sustainable Futures" and is involved in the "Pacific Ocean Pathways" project. Her research focuses on sustainability transformation, social justice, human-environment interactions, human-wildlife coexistence, and the co-production of knowledge.

Title: Making Waves: how can marine social science impact policy making?

Prof. Dr. Ulf Hahnel (Chair of Psychology, in particular Collective Action for Sustainability)
25.06.2025, 2.15-3.00 pm, Lecture Hall 4

Prof. Dr. Ulf Hahnel has been Professor of Psychology with a focus on collective action for sustainability at Leuphana University Lüneburg since 2025. He investigates individual and collective decision-making processes in the context of climate change and the energy transition as well as the underlying psychological mechanisms.
One focus of his work is the development of evidence-based behavioral interventions and interdisciplinary methods for integrating psychological insights into energy and climate models. Previously, he worked at the Universities of Freiburg, Geneva and Basel as well as at Fraunhofer ISE, among others.

Prof. Dr. Ines Dombrowsky
05.06.2024, 14:15-15:00, Lecture Hall 5

Prof. Dr. Ines Dombrowsky is an honorary professor at the Institute for Sustainability Management at the Faculty of Sustainability. She heads the Governance-Environment department at the German Institute for Development and Sustainability, specializing in institutional economics. She works on various topics, including the use of natural resources, integrated water resource management and the transformation of water governance.

Title: The water-energy-food-ecosystems nexus as governance challenge – insights from research in low- and middle-income countries

Prof. Dr. Daniel Fischer
08.05.2024, 14:15-15:00, Lecture Hall 5

Prof.Dr. Daniel Fischer  is Professor of Education for Sustainable Development and Sachunterricht at the Institute for Sustainability Education and Psychology in the Faculty of Sustainability. He researches how consumption patterns develop over time and in different cultural contexts and how more sustainable ways of living and consuming can be promoted through communication and learning.

Title: A New Hope: Learning to Live Well within Limits

Prof. Dr. Tanja Mölders
25.06.2019, 17:30, HS 2

After a successful habilitation process at the Faculty of Sustainability, the Venia Legendi is awarded to Prof. Dr. Tanja Mölders. In her teaching and research she deals with topics of environmental planning, specifically with a focus on sustainable spatial development and spatial gender studies. Her habilitation thesis is entitled "The Nature of the Rural. On the conception of social nature relations in rural areas" . Concluding her habilitation process, she will give a lecture on "Space Matters! On the Importance of the Category Space for Sustainability Transformation".

Prof.in Dr. Maja Göpel
06.03.2019, 15:45, C40.704

Honorary Professor Dr. Maja Göpel will give her inaugural lecture on 06.03.2019.

Title of her inaugural lecture:
Education and the Great Transformation - challenges and opportunities

Prof. Dr. Felix May
07.11.2018, 14:00, HS 5

Felix May has been an assistant professor for Quantitative Methods in the Natural Sciences at Leuphana since March 2018. His research focuses on biodiversity and ecosystem dynamics using experimental data collection and simulation model building.

Title of his inaugural lecture:
Integrating models and data for predictive biodiversity and sustainability science.

Prof.in Dr. Jacqueline Loos
23.01.2019, 14:00, HS 5

Jaqueline Loos holds the junior professorship for "Sustainable Use of Natural Resources" at the Institute of Ecology since April 2018. Her research focuses on social-ecological research including land use conflicts in countries of the global south (e.g. South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia). Data collection is done in parts of the projects via drone technology. Prof.in Loos is funded by the Robert Bosch Foundation. Prof.in Loos is supported by the Robert-Bosch Foundation.

Title of inaugural lecture:
Sustainability in protected areas: Integrating conservation and development through a justice lens.

Dr. Matthias Bergmann
02.05.2018, 14:00, HS 5
(Appointment as Honorary Professor)

Matthias Bergmann will be ceremoniously presented with the certificate of appointment as Honorary Professor on this day. This will be followed by a 30-minute lecture.
From 2011 to 2016, he was already a visiting scholar at Leuphana University at IETSR in the field of transdisciplinary university teaching.

Title of the inaugural lecture:
In Search of Impact - Promoting transdisciplinary research for society and science.

Prof. Dr. David Abson
24.01.2018, 14:00, HS 5

David Abson is a professor of sustainability economics and valuation at the Center for Sustainability Management. His research focuses on the economics of ecosystem services, socio-ecological systems, and sustainability valuation.

His inaugural lecture is titled:
Sustainability economics: A puzzling piece in the sustainability science jigsaw.

Prof. Dr. Jacob Hörisch
29.11.2017, 14:00, HS 5

Jacob Hörisch is Professor of Sustainability Economics and Management at the Center for Sustainability Management. His research focuses on sustainability management, stakeholder theory, and sustainable entrepreneurship. His research focuses on sustainability management, sustainable entrepreneurship, and stakeholder theory.

His inaugural lecture is titled:
Why economic actors act unsustainably - and how to fix it.

apl-Prof. Dr. Maik Adomßent
June 28, 2017, 2:30 pm, HS5

Maik Adomßent is part of the Institute for Environmental Communication and further coordinates the UNESCO Chair Higher Education for Sustainable Development and the College Complementary Studies. He completed his habilitation at Leuphana University Lüneburg in sustainability science.

His inaugural lecture is entitled: 
Research and Teaching for Sustainability: from the Global to the Local and Back.

Prof.in Dr. Simone Abels
07 June 2017, 14:30, HS5

Simone Abels has been Professor for the Didactics of Science at the Institute for Sustainable Chemistry and Environmental Chemistry since February 2017.

Her inaugural lecture is titled:
Learning Workshop as an Inclusive Space for Science Learning.

Prof.in Dr. Julia Leventon
April 26, 2017, 2:30 pm, HS5

Julia Leventon has been working at Leuphana University since 2015 in the field of Sustainability and Governance in several projects including Leverage Points for Sustainability Transformation. Since 2016 she holds the junior professorship Sustainability Science.

Her inaugural lecture is titled:
Why do we need to think about governance of place for sustainability?