Mariana de Brito

Dr. Mariana de Brito is a Group Leader at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) in Leipzig, Germany, within the Department of Urban and Environmental Sociology. She coordinates the Thirsty Cities Graduate School and the Text in Natural Hazards Research Network, focusing on interdisciplinary research at the intersection of natural and social sciences.

• Education: PhD in Geography (University of Bonn, 2018), MSc in Environmental Engineering (UFRGS, Brazil, 2014), BSc in Environmental Engineering (Lutheran University of Brazil, 2011)

Research Interests: Her work centers on hydro-climatic extremes, synthesizing knowledge via quantitative methods, computational social sciences, and machine learning to analyze drought and flood impacts. She explores human-water interactions and social inequalities using natural language processing and system dynamics modeling. Key projects include Thirsty Cities and GoMo - Governance Monitor.

Publications & Projects: Over 2021-2025, her articles address multi-criteria flood risk assessment, maladaptation in water policies, and drought impact cascades. She applies text mining to newspaper archives and stakeholder meetings for real-time risk evaluation.

Awards:

• Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Early Career Scientists (2025)
• Early Career Short Term Scientific Mission Grant (COST, 2019)
• Best Oral Presentation Award (Volkswagen Stiftung, 2017)
• Multiple Postdoc Travel Awards (IAHS, COST, 2018-2023)

Advising: Mentors students like J. Sodoge and T.M. Nunes Carvalho on flood vulnerability, drought policy, and computational social methods.