Research Interests

• Climate change adaptation
• Spatial Epidemiology
• Vulnerability & Risk Assessment

Education

• Ph.D., Geographical Remote Sensing and Spatial Epidemiology, University of Würzburg, Department of Remote Sensing, Germany, in close collaboration with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in Basel, Switzerland
• MSc., Geographical Information Science & Systems (UNIGIS), University of Salzburg, Department of Geoinformatics
• Diploma, Geography, Geology and Botany, University of Würzburg

Appointments

• 2017 to Present: Member of the International Advisory Board of the Master program on Climate Change and Human Security (CCHS) of the West African Science Service Center for Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL)
• 2016 to present: Member of the Working Group on Natural Hazards and Risks in the German Society for Geography
• 2015 to present: Member of the Joint Academic Board, Joint Master of Science ’Geography of Environmental Risks and Human Security’, University of Bonn, Department of Geography (GIUB) and United Nations University (UNU-EHS)
• 2014 to present: International Society for Geospatial Health (GnosisGIS)
• 2010 to Present: Member of the Working Group on Remote Sensing in the German Society for Geography2007 to Present: Member of the Working Group on Medical Geography in the German Society for Geography

Biographical Statement

Dr. Yvonne Walz holds a Ph.D.in the interdisciplinary field of geographical remote sensing and spatial epidemiology from the University of Würzburg, Germany, which she conducted in close collaboration with the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (STP) in Basel. Thereby, she specialized in spatial risk profiling of human diseases, exemplified for the case of schistosomiasis in West Africa. Her research focus at UNU-EHS is on vulnerability and risk assessment, developing methodological approaches to support the monitoring of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, multi-sectoral perspective on climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction and public health.

Her background in geography, remote sensing and GIS stems from studies in Geography (“Diplom”) at the University Würzburg, Germany, and a correspondence course on Geographical Information Systems and Science (MSc GIS) at the University of Salzburg, Austria. During her work at the University of Würzburg and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Health Promoting Water Management and Risk Communication in Bonn, Dr. Walz has gained seven years of work experience in analyzing socio-ecological systems of environment and human health. At the Centre for Satellite Based Crisis Information (ZKI) at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), she led the health mapping activities within the GMES RESPOND Service Elements of the European Space Agency (ESA), and was involved in crisis intervention and spatial damage assessment. During her work at the Department of Land Information (DLI) in Australia, Dr. Walz researched the monitoring of burn severity and the impact of fire management practices in temperate forests of South-Western Australia.

Currently, Dr. Walz is working as Associate Academic Officer in the Environmental Vulnerability & Ecosystem Services section (EVES), the Vulnerability Assessment, Risk Management & Adaptive Planning section (VARMAP) and the EduSphere section, where she is coordinating UNU-EHS activities in several projects, such as EvIDENz, WASCAL, TelePAtH and the ONE HEALTH Fortschrittskolleg. In addition, she supports the section heads in the application for new research grants, supervises visiting scientists, research/student assistants and interns, and is actively involved in teaching activities of the joint MSc program on Geography of Environmental Risk and Human Security of UNU-EHS and University of Bonn and at the WASCAL MSc program on Climate Change and Human Security in Lomé, Togo.