Steffen Bender

Dr. Steffen Bender is an Adjunct Professor and Chair of the coasts, cities and regions department at the Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS), part of Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon. He holds a PhD from LMU Munich and completed his qualification as a university lecturer in applied geology at Ruhr-Universität Bochum.

• Education: Chemistry & Geology at Heidelberg/Kiel, PhD in geology at LMU Munich, lecturer qualification at Ruhr-Universität Bochum
• Affiliation: Climate Service Center Germany (GERICS), Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon
• Academic role: Adjunct Professor at Ruhr-University Bochum (since 2003)

His research focuses on:

• Climate change impacts on urban areas and critical infrastructure
• Climate impacts on terrestrial water systems
• Development of climate services for municipal adaptation

Recent research trends include:

• Digital twins for resilient cities
• Flood regulating ecosystem services under climate change
• Cascading effects in critical infrastructure networks
• Integration of water-energy-land nexus with climate services
• Climate modeling for entire city regions

Key projects involve the GERICS-Stadtbaukasten (urban climate adaptation toolkit) and co-development of the PALM-4U urban climate model. He has contributed to transboundary water management and climate risk governance frameworks.