Katharina Messerer

Katharina Messerer is Professor of Forest Economics at Eberswalde University of Sustainable Development (HNEE) since 2024. She holds a dedicated professorship focused on forest economics and management within the university's forestry programs.

Academic Background:

• PhD in Forest Science (2021) from Technical University of Munich on 'Effects of considering uncertainties and growth responses on the economically optimal management of spruce-beech and spruce pure stands'
• M.Sc. in Forest and Wood Science (2011-2015) from Technical University of Munich
• B.Sc. in Forestry and Resource Management (2008-2011) from Technical University of Munich

Research Focus:

Professor Messerer specializes in economic optimization of forest enterprises under risk influence. Her groundbreaking work develops non-stochastic portfolio models for forest management when statistical data is incomplete, providing viable alternatives to traditional stochastic approaches. She has made significant contributions to understanding how forest managers can optimize rotation age cohorts and species composition under uncertainty, particularly in the context of climate change impacts on forest ecosystems.

Teaching Responsibilities:

• Basics of (Forest) Economics
• Enterprise Management in Forestry
• Forest Enterprise Management
• Municipal and Private Forest Management

Research Impact:

Her publications demonstrate how robust optimization can be applied to forest management decisions, showing that non-stochastic approaches achieve results with only 1-3% economic loss compared to stochastic optimization while requiring significantly less data. This work is particularly relevant for addressing climate change uncertainties in forest planning where historical data may not reliably predict future conditions.