Leonard Borchert

Dr. Leonard Borchert is a Substitute Professor (without Habilitation) and Research Associate in Climate Statistics and Climate Extremes at the University of Hamburg, affiliated with the Centre for Earth System Research and Sustainability (CEN). He holds a PhD in Earth System Modelling (2018) and advanced degrees from the University of Hamburg and University of Bremen. His research focuses on climate extremes, socio-economic system interactions, and decadal predictability. He teaches courses on climate predictions and socio-environmental systems at the MSc level. Key projects include METAscales (co-design of coastal adaptation strategies) and contributions to the Hamburg Climate Futures Outlook. His work integrates machine learning and causal analysis to improve climate forecasts, particularly for extreme events and their societal impacts.

Education

• PhD (Dr. rer. nat.), International Max Planck Research School on Earth System Modelling, Universität Hamburg (2018)
• M.Sc. Integrated Climate System Sciences, Universität Hamburg (2015)
• B.Sc. Geosciences, University of Bremen (2012)

Key Research Areas

His work bridges natural and socio-economic systems, emphasizing:

• Climate variability and decadal predictability
• Ocean-atmosphere teleconnections
• Risk assessment for compound climate extremes
• Machine learning applications in climate prediction

Grants & Collaborations

He leads or contributes to projects like METAscales (2024–2026) and CLICCS. His collaborations span institutions such as the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology and École Normale Supérieure, Paris.

Labs & Teams

Active in the Climate Statistics and Climate Extremes group (Prof. Sillmann) and the ABC-X Extremes research cluster. His work supports interdisciplinary initiatives like the Hamburg Climate Futures Outlook.