Dr. Dagmar Schröter Relationship Coaching

I studied biology and then spent 20 years researching and teaching about networks of relationships networks in nature. Gradually, humans – whom I initially saw only as a disturbance – began to play an increasingly central role in my research. People were everywhere, influencing everything, and everything depended on them for my beloved ecosystems.

As an environmental scientist, I began to seek more and more contact with the users of nature. With limited knowledge, but huge idealism and ample self-righteousness I jumped into discussions about values with colleagues from many disciplines, and stakeholders such as company owners, politicians and ski resort managers. What initially made me indignant never let me go: How are people's deep values and ideals formed? How can solutions be found when stakeholders are entrenched behind armour? At the end of a long conversation with an ‘opponent’, I often found a person full of dignity, driven by a sincere desire for sustainability. Now things started to get really exciting. And I was already in the middle of the science and practice of psychology....

During my exciting time at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, I met my husband: Tony, a professor of environmental sciences and policy from Boston. A skiing adventure together, including a rescue mission for a close friend, ended in our first kiss. Two years later, a thunderstorm at 3 a.m. crowned our dream wedding at the Holy Lake in Potsdam. Our happiness was perfect at first.

Tony had to go back to Boston, and I left my favourite German city behind to move to the USA for the second time in my life. I became a Visiting Research Scholar at Harvard University, and we began a new adventure: our first child was born.

Homesickness (also from my American husband!) for Europe led to a continental jump and a country move (AT-CH). Finally, we landed here in Switzerland, in the land of our dreams and at my husband's favourite institution, the ETH. It was pure paradise. Contrary to all prophecies, we found our now 306-year-old dream house in the Züri Oberland, became part of a lively, open neighbourhood on the day we moved in and, with our son, daughter and two cats, were now complete.

But the many feats of strength, cultural leaps, farewells and moving boxes had crumbled our bond. I was living in paradise, in the fulfilment of all our dreams. I was grateful and wholeheartedly in love with my children and my surroundings. Yet I was ashamed to admit to myself that my marriage felt like hell. I was lonelier than I had ever been in my life.

The rest is easy to tell. As a scientist, I spent my nights researching attachment theory and interpersonal psychology. I crocheted one woollen blanket after another as I feverishly searched for a way out of this hell. And I found what I was looking for!

I found a family therapist and relationship coach who combined the best of many approaches into a hybrid approach. After initial contact, he invited me to train as a coach. Life returned to my marriage. Hell gave way to a lasting enthusiasm for the complexity of the couple relationship and a deeper love for my husband. And I now needed him to help me juggle family and a new start. For four years, I spent many nights a week at the computer, coached my first clients, wrote theses and flew to Boulder, Colorado, three times a year for one-week intensive trainings. In 2016, I gave up my old job, stopped teaching at ETH and became a relationship coach.

2024 Certified RLT-Couples-Therapist. As far as I know the first in Switzerland.

Since 2018 I practice Relational Life Therapy (RLT), Terry Real, Relational Life Institute, MA, USA.

2023 Embodied Meditation Teacher, Karin van Maanen and Mark Walsh, UK.

2022 Embodied Trauma Coaching, Mark Walsh, UK.

2022 Embodied Toolkit – Embodied Yoga Principles, Karin van Maanen and Mark Walsh, UK.

2021 Embodiment Coach and Group Facilitator, Mark Walsh UK.

since 2017 additional training in Trauma-Work, Communication, Sexuality and other central themes, e.g. at NICABM, USA, and School of Speaking, Vienna, Austria.

2016-2019 trained in Presence-Centered Coaching, The Relationship School®, Boulder, CO, USA.

2001 Doctorate, "summa cum laude", University of Giessen, Germany.

1996 Diploma Biology, RWTH Aachen, Germany.

Prior to my career shift I worked as researcher and lecturer, e.g. at the Potsdam Institut for Climate Impact Research, Harvard University and ETH Zürich. I have published over 40 articles, including one in Science magazine on Ecosystem Services and Global Change which has been cited well over 1000 times.

Hansmann R. & Schröter, D. 2018. Equal Opportunities in Academic Careers? How Mid-Career Scientists at ETH Zurich Evaluate the Impact of Their Gender and Age. Sustainability, 10, 3343, 17pp.

Schröter D. & Hansmann, R. 2017. Mittelbaustudie 2015–2016 – An Analysis of the situation of mid-career scientists at D-USYS. ETH Zürich, pp 188.

Schröter D. since July 2016: Café international – A monthly 1-page column in our community magazine äxgüsi, about our work with local refugees.

Scolobig A., Prior T., Schröter D., Jörin J., Patt A. 2015. Towards people-centred approaches for effective disaster risk management: balancing rhetoric with reality. International Journal for Disaster Risk Reduction 12: 202-212.

Malek Ž., A. Scolobig and D. Schröter 2014. Understanding land cover changes in the Italian Alps and Romanian Carpathians combining remote sensing and stakeholder interviews. Land, 3(1), 52-73.

Scolobig A., R. Mechler, N. Komendantova, W. Liu, D. Schröter, A. Patt 2014. The co-production of scientific advice and decision making under uncertainty: lessons from the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake, Italy. Planet@Risk, 2 (2), 71-76.

Embleton-Hamann, C., C. Samimi, D. Schröter 2014. Dienstleistungen der Reliefsphärensysteme. In: Formayer, H., Prettenthaler, F. & H. Stötter (eds.), Austrian Assessement Report, Volume 2 – Impacts of Climate Change in Austria and Key Vulnerabilities – Austrian Panel on Climate Change. Klima- und Energiefonds Österreich.

Acosta L.A., R.J. Klein, P. Reidsma, M.J. Metzger, M.D. Rounsevell, R. Leemans, D. Schröter 2013. A Spatially Explicit Scenario-Driven Model of Adaptive Capacity to Global Change in Europe. Global Environmental Change, 23, 1211-1224.

Ciurean, R., D. Schröter, T. Glade 2013. Conceptual Frameworks of Vulnerability Assessments for Natural Disaster Reduction. In: Approaches to Disaster Management – Examining the Implications of Hazards, Emergencies and Disasters, ISBN 980-953-307-513-1 (http://www.intechopen.com/articles/show/title/conceptual-frameworks-of-vulnerability-assessments-for-natural-disasters-reduction).

Taylor A.R., A. Pflug, D. Schröter, V. Wolters. 2010. Impact of microarthropod biomass on the composition of the soil fauna community and ecosystem processes. European Journal of Soil Biology, 46 (2), 80-86.

Schröter D. 2009. Socioecological Transitions and Global Change – Trajectories of Social Metabolism and Land Use (Fischer-Kowalski & Haberl, eds.). A book Review. Regional Environmental Change 9, 59-60.

Patt A.G., D. Schröter, A.C. De la Vega-Leinert, R.J.T. Klein 2009. An Introduction to the Diversity of Approaches to Vulnerability Research and Assessment: Common Features and Lessons Learned. In: Assessing Vulnerability to Global Environmental Change – Making Research Useful for Adaptation Decision Making and Policy, Patt, Schröter, Klein, and De la Vega-Leinert (eds.), chapter 1, p. 1-25.

Schröter D. 2009. Vulnerability to changes in ecosystem services. In: Assessing Vulnerability to Global Environmental Change – Making Research Useful for Adaptation Decision Making and Policy, Patt, Schröter, Klein, and De la Vega-Leinert (eds.), chapter 6, p. 97-114.

De la Vega-Leinert A.C. and D. Schröter 2009. Evaluation of a Stakeholder Dialogue on European Vulnerability to Global Change. In: Assessing Vulnerability to Global Environmental Change – Making Research Useful for Adaptation Decision Making and Policy, Patt, Schröter, Klein, and De la Vega-Leinert (eds.), chapter 11, p. 195-214.

Patt A.G. and D.Schröter 2008. Climate risk perception and challenges for policy implementation: evidence from stakeholders in Mozambique. Global Environmental Change, 18, 458-467.

Metzger M.J., D. Schröter, R. Leemans , W. Cramer 2008. A spatially explicit and quantitative vulnerability assessment of ecosystem service change in Europe. Regional Environmental Change, 8 (3 – Special Issue on Advanced Terrestrial Ecosystem Analysis and Modelling), 91-107.

De la Vega-Leinert A.C., D. Schröter, R. Leemans, U. Fritsch, J. Pluimers 2008. A stakeholder dialogue on European vulnerability. Regional Environmental Change, 8 (3 – Special Issue on Advanced Terrestrial Ecosystem Analysis and Modelling), 109-124.

Cramer, W., U. Fritsch, R. Leemans, S. Lütkemeier, D. Schröter, A. Watts 2008. Training future experts in “biodiversity and ecosystem services”: a progress report. Regional Environmental Change, 8 (3 – Special Issue on Advanced Terrestrial Ecosystem Analysis and Modelling), 125-134.

Metzger M. and D. Schröter 2006. Towards a spatially explicit and quantitative vulnerability assessment of environmental change in Europe. Regional Environmental Change 6, 201-216.

Schröter D., M. Zebisch and T. Grothmann 2006. Climate Change in Germany—Vulnerability and Adaptation of Climate-Sensitive Sectors. Contribution to the Klimastatusbericht 2005 (Report on the State of the Climate 2005), Deutscher Wetterdienst (German Meteorological Service), Offenbach, Germany, http://www.ksb.dwd.de, p. 44-56.

Metzger M. J., M. D. A. Rounsevell, L. Acosta-Michlik, R. Leemans, and D. Schröter 2006. The vulnerability of ecosystem services to land use change. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 114, 69-85.

Schröter D., W. Cramer, R. Leemans, I.C. Prentice, M.B. Araújo, N.W. Arnell, A. Bondeau, H. Bugmann, T.R. Carter, C.A. Gracia, A.C. de la Vega-Leinert, M. Erhard, F. Ewert, M. Glendining, J.I. House, S. Kankaanpää, R.J.T. Klein, S. Lavorel, M. Lindner, M.J. Metzger, J. Meyer, T.D. Mitchell, I. Reginster, M. Rounsevell, S. Sabaté, S. Sitch, B. Smith, J. Smith, P. Smith, M.T. Sykes, K. Thonicke, W. Thuiller, G. Tuck, S. Zaehle, B. Zierl 2005. Ecosystem Service Supply and Vulnerability to Global Change in Europe. Science 310 (5752), 1333-1337.
(Published online first 27 Oct. 2005; 10.1126/science.1115233 Science Express).

Schröter D. and S. Dekker 2005. Stability and interaction strength within soil food webs of a European forest transect: the impact of N deposition. In: Dynamic Food Webs: Multispecies assemblages, ecosystem development, and environmental change, edited by Peter C. De Ruiter, Volkmar Wolters, John Moore, Academic Press, p. 223-234.

Dekker S.C., S. Scheu, D. Schröter, H. Setälä, M. Szanser and T.P. Traas 2005. Towards a new generation of dynamic soil decomposer food web models. In: Dynamic Food Webs: Multispecies assemblages, ecosystem development, and environmental change, edited by Peter C. De Ruiter, Volkmar Wolters, John Moore, Academic Press, p. 258-266 .

Schröter D., C. Polsky, and A.G. Patt 2005. Assessing vulnerabilities to the effects of global change: an eight step approach. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change 10 (4) 573-595.

Metzger M., R. Leemans and D. Schröter 2005. A multidisciplinary multi-scale framework for assessing vulnerabilities to global change. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation, 7, 253-267.

Schröter D. 2005. Vulnerability to changes in ecosystem services. CID Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Fellow Working Paper No. 10, July 2005. Center for International Development (CID), Harvard University, Cambridge, USA. Available at www.cid.harvard.edu/cidwp/grad/010.htm.

Schröter D., L. Brussaard, G. De Deyn, K. Poveda, V.K. Brown, M.P. Berg, D.A. Wardle, J. Moore, D.H. Wall 2004. Trophic interactions in a changing world: modelling aboveground-belowground interactions. Special issue on Above and Belowground Interactions, edited by W. Van Der Putten, P.C. De Ruiter, M. Bezemer and J. Harvey. Basic and Applied Ecology, 5 (6), 515-528.

Schröter D., M.J. Metzger, W. Cramer, R. Leemans 2004. Vulnerability assessment – analysing the human-environment system in the face of global environmental change. Environmental Science Section Bulletin, Kalmar University, Sweden, 2, 11-17.

Taylor A.R., D. Schröter, A. Pflug and V. Wolters 2004. Responses of different decomposer communities to the manipulation of moisture availability: potential effects of changing precipitation patterns. Global Change Biology, 10, 1313-1324.

Schröter D., V. Wolters, P.C. De Ruiter 2003. C and N mineralisation in the decomposer food webs of a European forest transect. Oikos, 102, 294-308.

Polsky C., D. Schröter, A. Patt, S. Gaffin, M. L. Martello, R. Neff, A. Pulsipher, and H. Selin 2003. Assessing Vulnerabilities to the Effects of Global Change: An Eight-Step Approach. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Working Paper 2003-05, Environment and Natural Resources Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. pp. 17.

Dauber J., D. Schröter and V. Wolters 2001. Species specific effects of ants on microbial activity and N-availability in the soil of an old-field. European Journal of Soil Biology, 37, 259-261.

Schröter D. 2001. Structure and function of the decomposer food webs of forests along a European North-South-transect with special focus on Testate Amoebae (Protozoa). Shaker Verlag, Aachen, Germany, 138 pp.

Wolters V., A. Pflug, A.R. Taylor and D. Schröter 2000. Diversity and role of the decomposer food web. In E.-D. Schulze (ed.), Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling in Forest Ecosystems. Ecological Studies, Springer, Heidelberg, 142, 366-381.

Ekschmitt K., R. Baxter, C.D. Campbell, R. Ceulemans, K.P. Günther, W.O. Heal, A. Hector, F. Henning, A. Kjøller, S. Matouch, U. Molau, P.I. Nagy, A. Otte, J.G. Pausas, A. Pflug, D. Schröter, G. Sillence, N.C. Steiner, S. Struwe, V. Wolters and P.A. Wookey 2000. Ecosystem functioning and management under multiple stresses and extreme events. In M.A. Sutton, J.M. Moreno, W.H. Van der Putten, and S. Struwe (ed.), Terrestrial Ecosystem Research in Europe: Successes, Challenges and Policy. European Commission, Luxembourg, 28-34.

Schröter D., A. Hülsmann, A. Pflug and V. Wolters 1998. Climate effects on soil biota of coniferous forests: a transect approach. The Earth’s Changing Land – GCTE-LUCC Open Science Conference on Global Change, March 14-18, Barcelona, Spain, pp. 208-209.

Pflug A., A. Hülsmann, D. Schröter and V. Wolters 1998. Microarthropoden als Steuergröße im Lebensraum Boden. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Bodenkundlichen Gesellschaft, 89: 119-121.

Schröter D., A. Hülsmann, A. Pflug and V. Wolters 1997. Die Bodenfauna in der organischen Auflage entlang eines europäischen Transekts. Mitteilungen der Deutschen Bodenkundlichen Gesellschaft, 85, 599-602.

Hülsmann A., D. Schröter, A. Pflug and V. Wolters 1997. Response of the decomposer community to experimental alterations in spruce litter humidity. In S.C. van de Geijn and P.J. Kuikman (eds.) Prospects for Co-ordinated Activities in Core Projects of GCTE, BAHC and LUCC. CCB-Wageningen, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 152-153.

Hülsmann A., D. Schröter, A. Pflug and V. Wolters 1997. Struktur und Leistung von Zersetzergemeinschaften in Fichtenforstböden unter Feuchtestress. Verhandlungen der Deutschen Zoologischen Gesellschaft, 90, 1, 362.