At the chair we supervise Bachelor's and Master's theses, mainly in the fields of climate research and climate impact research, biogeography, geoecology and landscape ecology, geographic development research, food systems, agricultural geography, and generally human-environment relations.
If you are interested, contact us at an early stage to discuss your proposed topic and develop a concept, or apply for thesis topic offers.

Bachelor's Theses (as of April 2025)

1. Stability or productivity? Insights on yield stabilizing management strategies from long-term agronomic trials.
2. Analysis of national adaptation and monitoring systems and objectives and motivations of different stakeholders in Uganda and Ethiopia.
3. Reason for hope? Recent development of food security indicators in countries of the Global South.
4. A Systematic Review of GeoAI Applications in Land Use and Crop Segmentation for Farmers and Local Agriculture
5. Comparison of Classification Models for Oil Palm and Smallholder Crops Using Different Spatial Resolutions
6. Development of a Catalogue of Public Geospatial and Environmental Data for Indonesia

Master's Theses (as of April 2025)

1. Uncertainty in onset and duration of crop growing periods globally.
2. Phenology trends in sub-Saharan Africa.
3. Effects of drought on food production, land use and household livelihood (co-supervision with Prof. Dr. Gernot Müller, Institute of Mathematics)
4. “Hawai’ian Food Systems Resilience” (co-supervision with Dr. Andrea Thorenz, Institute of Materials Resource Management)
5. Comparison of Deep Learning Models for Detecting Oil Palm and Smallholder Crops Using High-Resolution Images and Data Augmentation
6. Modeling Malaria Risk in Indonesia Using Remote Sensing and Machine Learning
7. Modelling climatic drivers of yield variability in Kenya
8. Modeling crop suitability and production under climate change and the potential of climate change adaptation strategies

Currently supervised final theses - Bachelor

• Auswirkungen des Klimawandels auf die Morbidität und Mortalität - sind naturbelassene Wälder weniger anfällig für Auswirkungen des Klimawandels als Monokulturen
• Produktivität oder Stabilität? Erkenntnisse über Ertragsstabilisierende Managementstrategien aus agronomischen Langzeitversuchen
• Anpassungsstrategien und Landnutzung im Mekong Delta unter dem Einfluss des Klimawandels

Currently supervised final theses - Master

• Auswirkungen von Blühstreifen auf die Biodiversität in Abhängigkeit von relevanten Landschaftsfaktoren.
• Phenology trends of the three major crops in the Middle and lower Yangtze Basin (China) based on MODIS data

Currently supervised PhD-Theses Prof. Dr. Waha

• Fabio Josue Alvarez Avila, PhD student, Adaptation and networking of primary care and specialist care with regard to the health effects of climate change, 2023-ongoing. Member of the advisory team (primary supervisor Elke Hertig)
• Miriam Rodriguez, PhD student since 2024: "Stabilizing natural and managed land systems against climate disturbances and extreme events". Primary supervisor (Co-supervisor: Wolfgang Buermann)

• Adriana Bilar Chaquime dos Santos (2023 - 2027): "Carbon Neutral Subsidized by Ecological-economic Zoning in Forest and Savanic Formations in the Municipalities of Mato Grosso Sul Brazil”, Co-supervisor (primary supervisor: Professor Reginaldo Brito da Costa, Dom Bosco Catholic University - UCDB

Final theses - Bachelor

• Planetary Health Diet in der schulischen Umweltbildung 

Final theses - teaching

• Enhancing Consumer Acceptance of Sorghum-Based Foods: A Systematic Review of Solutions and Approaches

PhD Theses

• Dr Anna Schlingmann, "Local indicators of climate change impacts and adaptation". Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. Member of advisory team (primary supervisor: Victoria Reyes-Garcia). Anna is now an Alumni of the Social-Ecological Systems Research group at UAB.
• Dr Francesco Tacconi, "The benefits and limits of diversity in agricultural systems". University of Tasmania. Primary supervisor (advisory team: Jonathan Ojeda, Peat Leith, Caroline Mohammed). Francesco is now a CERC Postdoctoral Fellow with CSIRO`s Trusted Agrifood Export Mission. 
• Dr Cecile Godde, "Global rangelands and climate change", University of Queensland. Member of advisory team (primary supervisor: Mario Herrero). Cecile is now a Senior Research Scientist with CSIRO`s Food Systems and Global Change group.