Maria Magdalena Warter
Müggelseedamm 310, 12587 Berlin
Profile
Research Interests:
Isotope Hydrology
Ecohydrological Modeling in drought prone and urban environments across the soil-water-atmosphere continuum
Urban Water and Resource Management (Groundwater and Surface Water Management, Drinking water abstraction and agricultural usage)
Freshwater Ecohydrology & Biodiversity (planktonic bacteria, diatoms/algae, macrophytes)
Nature-Based Solutions and Blue-Green Infrastructure (Interactions and effects on water quality, hydrology, and biodiversity, and delivery of ecosystem services)
Linking science and society - Transfer of research into actionable items through participatory exchanges with stakeholders
Development of sustainable concepts for the management and use of urban blue-green infrastructure
Methods:
Environmental DNA (eDNA): Microbial Diversity (planktonic bacteria, diatoms/algae)
Stable water isotopes in precipitation, surface water, groundwater, soil water, vegetation: Estimation of mean transit times, age, water sources and flowpaths
Hydrochemistry and water quality: nutrient cycles, physicochemical parameters
Data Assimilation and Analysis (Climate, Remote Sensing, Streamflow, Groundwater etc.)
Vegetation and Water Balance Modeling: Soil moisture balance models, Dryland Water Partitioning (DRYP), Phenology Models
Since 2026: Junior Research Group Leader - Ecohydrological Processes in Urban Ecosystems
2022 - 2025: PostDoc at Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin, Dept 1., Research Group: Landscape Ecohydrology
2018-2022: PhD in Earth and Environmental Sciences (Cardiff University, UK)
Dissertation: Detection of forest water stress and future climate change in drought-prone ecosystems of the Southwestern United States
Funded by the Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP)
2015-2017: MSc in International Land and Water Management (Wageningen University, The Netherlands)
- Major: Irrigation Water Management
- Thesis: Influence of water stress on the water use efficiency and biological nitrogen fixation of soybean by means of stable isotopes (in cooperation with Joint IAEA/FAO Programme)
- Minor: Catchment Hydrology
- Thesis: Influence of moss, litter and soil on forest evaporation by means of stable water isotopes (in cooperation with TU Delft)
2009-2015: BSc in Environmental Engineering (University of Natural Resources and Applied Sciences, Vienna, Austria)
Memberships
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
- European Geosciences Union (EGU)
- Deutsche Hydrologische Gesellschaft
- German Hydrological Society (DHG)
- International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS)
- HELPING working group: Urban Water
- Water Science Alliance (WSA)
Publications
Conferences
2025
- EGU General Assembly, Vienna (Talk)
- Invited Representative at Technical Meeting on Stable and Radioactive Isotopes for Modeling Applications in Hydrological Systems, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Vienna Austria
- Water Research Horizon Conference (Invited Talk), Bochum
2024
- AGU Fall Meeting, Washington DC (Invited Talk + Poster)
- Kolloquium Wasserwesen at TU Berlin (Invited Talk)
- Climate Change Days, Berlin (Invited Talk)
- International Workshop on Urbanization and Sustainable Water Management in the Global South, Munich (Keynote)
- Water Research Horizons Conference, Leipzig (Talk)
- Tag der Hydrologie, Berlin (Talk)
- EGU General Assembly, Vienna (Talk)
- 2nd International Conference on Urban Water Interfaces, Berlin (Talk)
2023
- International Symposium on Isotope Hydrology at the International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (Poster)
- EGU General Assembly, Vienna (Talk)
- Tag der Hydrologie, Bochum (Poster )
2021
- AGU Fall Meeting, New Orleans (Talk)
2019
- AGU Fall Meeting, San Francisco (Talk)
2017
- EGU General Assembly, Vienna (Poster)
Additional Publications
Warter, M.M., Singer, M.B., Cuthbert, M.O., Roberts D., Caylor, K.K., Sabathier, R., Stella, J.C.(2023). Modeling seasonal vegetation phenology from hydroclimatic drivers for contrasting plant functional groups within drylands of the Southwestern USA. Environmental Research: Ecology, 2 025001. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2752-664X/acb9a0/meta
Warter, M.M., Singer, M.B., Cuthbert, M.O., Roberts D., Caylor, K.K., Sabathier, R., Stella, J.C. (2021). Drought onset and propagation into soil moisture and grassland vegetation responses during the 2012-2019 major drought in Southern California. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 25,3713-3729. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-3713-2021