New Professors

Prof. Dr.

Melanie
Braun

Soil Protection and Ecosystem Health

Since April 2025, Melanie Braun has held the newly established Professorship for Soil Protection and Ecosystem Health.

Ms. Braun studied Geography at the University of Cologne and completed her doctorate in General Soil Science and Soil Ecology at the University of Bonn. She served as an academic advisor at the University of Bonn from 2021, following her role as coordinator of the nationwide BONARES project "Soil3".

Her academic career has included international research stays in countries such as Vietnam (in cooperation with UNU-EHS), Zambia, Mozambique, and Mexico, among others.

Ms. Braun’s research focuses on the behavior of environmental pollutants in soils. This includes residues of pesticides and antibiotics, combustion by-products, and plastics. She is particularly interested in the detection of nanoplastics in soils and the question of whether these particles are taken up by plants, potentially entering the human food chain.

In her practice-oriented teaching, Ms. Braun equips students with the fundamentals of pollutant assessment and guides them in conducting independent research projects—from proposal writing to publication.

Prof. Dr.

Holger
Pagel

Soil Systems Modeling

Holger Pagel heads the Soil System Modeling group at the Agricultural Faculty of the University of Bonn and at the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences of the Forschungszentrum Jülich (IGB-3/ Agrosphere). After completing a diploma in environmental technology at the Technical University of Berlin and a PhD in agricultural science at the University of Hohenheim, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Hohenheim, where he led a junior research group on the microbial regulation of soil functions in agroecosystems.

The Soil System Modeling group is part of the DFG Cluster of Excellence PhenoRob. The team develops and uses process-based modeling as a powerful tool for a quantitative understanding of soil systems and for predicting biogeochemical processes. Their research contributes to a better understanding of the response of agroecosystems to climate change and other environmental threats such as pesticides, microplastics, and emerging pathogens. Core topics of the group are: (i) resilience of soil systems and agroecosystems, (ii) data fusion and knowledge integration for improved prediction of processes in soil, and (iii) digital soil twinning of soil systems by combining machine learning with process-based models for efficient prediction of biogeochemical processes.

Prof. Dr.

Denise
Fischer-Kreer

Entrepreneurial Behaviour

Denise Fischer-Kreer took over the new professorship for Entrepreneurial Behaviour in October 2023. Ms Fischer-Kreer studied industrial engineering at RWTH Aachen University and completed her doctorate in the field of sustainable entrepreneurship. She has been an Assistant Professor in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Group (WIN) at RWTH Aachen University since 2018. After her doctorate, she gained experience in business and industry in the strategy department of a leading specialty chemicals company. International research stays have taken her to the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India and Tsinghua University, China, among others.

In her research, Ms Fischer-Kreer focuses on mechanisms that enable entrepreneurs and managers to combine economic, social and ecological values in their companies. She is fascinated to explore how founders develop sustainable business models and how they can be change agents and drivers of innovation for the great challenges of our time. In practice-oriented courses, Ms Fischer-Kreer teaches students tools for developing their own business ideas and business models based on them. The courses offered by the Chair of Entrepreneurial Behaviour aim to empower students to develop a desire for entrepreneurship and to start their own business.