Matthias Mengel

Dr. Matthias Mengel is a Senior Scientist at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), leading the Inter-Sectoral Impact Attribution and Future Risks working group within the Transformation Pathways department. He holds a PhD in Climate Physics from PIK and the University of Potsdam, with postdoctoral training at NYU and PIK. His research focuses on climate change impacts, sea level rise, and interdisciplinary modeling of environmental risks.

Education:

• PhD in Climate Physics (2015), PIK/Potsdam University
• MSc in Physics (2009), Free University Berlin
• Studies at University of Nairobi (2004-2006)

Research Interests: Climate modeling, sea level projections, impact attribution, extreme event analysis, and interdisciplinary approaches to climate risk assessment. His work bridges physical climate science with societal impacts, emphasizing the development of tools for counterfactual climate analysis.

Key Trends in Articles: Recent work emphasizes attribution of climate impacts to human activities, including studies on fire PM2.5 mortality, tropical cyclone surge dynamics, and overconfidence in climate overshoot scenarios. His methods integrate high-resolution datasets and global model intercomparison projects (e.g., ISIMIP).

Awards:

• AXA Postdoctoral Fellowship (2011-2015)
• German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) Scholarship (2004-2006)

Grants & Advising: Leads the Data-Centric Modeling of Cross-Sectoral Impacts group (2018-2024). Co-developed the ATTRICI model for impact attribution and contributed to Python-based climate tools (pymagicc). Advises on global hydrological models and extreme event projections.

Labs/Teams: Core member of PIK’s Transformation Pathways team, collaborating with global networks like ISIMIP and PROCLIAS.