Sophia Schmid

Sophia Schmid is a Researcher at the Department for Conservation Biology and Social-Ecological Systems, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ (since 2024). Previously, she worked as a Student Assistant at UFZ (2022-2024) and contributed to sustainability projects at the University of Hamburg (2019-2020) and Research Institute for Sustainability (2018-2019).

• Education: MSc in International Area Studies - Global Change Geography (2021-2024) from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, BSc in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences (2015-2019) from Leuphana University Lüneburg.

Research Interests: Focus on environmental policy and governance, floodplain restoration, social-ecological transformation, and inter/transdisciplinary approaches. Her work addresses integrating biodiversity strategies into policy frameworks, resolving land-use conflicts in Natura 2000 sites, and advancing sustainable land management practices.

• Projects: Key involvement in SpongeBoost (2024-2027), BioClim-Wetlands (2022-2025), and NBS Post-2020 (2020-2023).
• Collaborations: Participated in Dynamic Platform Projects (DPPs) related to ecosystem restoration, policy operationalization, and transformative change frameworks.

Application: Her research directly informs policy tools for sustainable land use and biodiversity conservation, with a focus on bridging societal and ecological systems through practical governance solutions.