06.01.2025
On December 13, 2024, Frauke Geppert successfully completed her doctorate titled “Implementation and Evaluation of Nature Conservation Measures by Digital Farming Tools” at Humboldt University of Berlin. In her research, conducted in collaboration with the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), she explored how digital technologies can contribute to promoting biodiversity in agricultural landscapes.
At ZALF, Frauke Geppert was supervised by Prof. Sonoko Bellingrath-Kimura. At ZALF and HU Berlin, Frauke Geppert was supervised by Prof. Sonoko Bellingrath-Kimura. Prof. Ioanna Mouratiadou (ZALF and ISARA) was her second supervisor.
In her dissertation, Geppert examined the potentials and challenges of digital technologies in agriculture, focusing particularly on their contributions to biodiversity conservation. Her comprehensive analysis included a literature review, a stakeholder survey, and the evaluation of a digital tool. As a case study, Geppert analyzed the NatApp.
The NatApp is designed to help agricultural enterprises integrate biodiversity-promoting measures more easily into their daily operations and document them in a legally compliant manner. The application was developed by ZALF, the Thünen Institute, the German Farmers' Association, Harz University of Applied Sciences, Landwirtschaftliche Rentenbank, and the FLYer Communications Company (Flynet).
Geppert’s analysis revealed that digital technologies, like the NatApp, are fundamentally suitable for integrating biodiversity-promoting measures into agricultural practices. However, structural and technical barriers remain to be addressed. One key conclusion she draws is that these digital tools could reach their full potential if the existing knowledge about them were consolidated and made more accessible to practitioners. She emphasizes the role of legislators in establishing legal frameworks for standardized access to these technologies and the knowledge associated with them.
Further Information:
Paper: Digital and smart technologies to enhance biodiversity in agricultural landscapes: An analysis of stakeholders’ perceptions of opportunities and challenges for broader adoption
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665972724001120
