Dr. Dagmar Schröter Relationship Coaching

I studied and taught about biology and environmental systems for 20 years. Over time, people – who I saw merely as "a disturbance" in the beginning – became a central focus of my research. People where everywhere, influenced everything, and everything in my beloved ecosystems depended on them.

As environmental scientist I began seeking contact to the users of nature, the "stakeholders". I dove head-first, and with ample idealism and self-righteousness into value-discussions with other disciplines, company owners, policy makers and ski area managers. What outraged me in the beginning soon became a question that took permanent hold on me: How do the deep values and passions of people form? How can we find solutions when lobbyists hide behind steel clad positions? Often, after long conversations with "the enemy" I found people full of dignity, driven by the honest wish for sustainability. Now it got exciting! And I was already deeply mired in psychology...

During my exciting years at the Postdam Institute for Climate Impact Research I met my husband: Tony, a professor for environmental sciences at Boston University. An alpine skiing adventure during which we teamed up to rescue a close friend from the mountain ended in our first kiss. Two years later a thunderstorm crowned our dream wedding at 3 am, right by the Heiliger Lake in Potsdam. Our happiness was complete for now.

Tony had to go back to Boston, and I left my favourite German city behind, to move to the US for the second time in my life. I became visiting research scholar at Harvard University, and we began our next adventure: Our first child was born.

Homesickness for Europe (Tony's and mine) added another continental leap, as we moved first to Austria and eventually to Switzerland. This had been Tony's dream since he was five. He also found his dream job: Professor for Climate Policy at the Technical University (ETH), Zürich. It was paradise. Against all odds we bought our now 306 years old farm house in the Zurich Highlands. From the day one we were now part of a lively and open neighbourhood. With a son, a daughter and two cats we were complete.

However, the exhaustion, the cultural shocks, the good-byes to dear friends and the many moving boxes had eroded our connection. Yes, I lived in paradise, in the fulfilment of our dreams. I was wholeheartedly grateful and loved my children with abandon. Everything around me was beautiful. Yet only to myself I admitted, shamefully, that my marriage felt like hell. I was as lonely as rarely before in my life.

The rest of the story is told quickly. True to my scientific passion I spent countless nights researching attachment theory and interpersonal neurobiology as well as psychology. I crocheted one blanket after another, listening and learning, as I searched for a path out of this hell. And I found it!

I stumbled upon a family therapist and relationship coach who used the best of many approaches in a hybrid method. After a while of studying his work, he invited me to be trained as a coach. Life returned to my marriage. Hell was replaced by a sustainable enthusiasm for the complexity of relationship and a deeper love for my husband. Now I needed him more than ever, in order to manage family life while starting a new career. For four years I spent most week nights at the computer, coached my first clients, wrote exam papers and flew to Boulder, Colorado (US) three times a year for week long intensive trainings. Finally, in 2016, I quit my job as a researcher and lecturer at the Technical University in Zürich (ETH) and became a relationship coach full time.

Since 2018 I am practicing Relational Life Therapy (RLT) by Terry Real.

2016-2019 I trained Presence Centered Coaching with Jayson Gaddis and Ellen Boeder at the Relationship School®.

Additional Training

2022 Embodied Trauma Coaching with Mark Walsh and Partricia Aguierre.

2022 Embodied Yoga Principles and Toolkit with Karin van Maanen and Mark Walsh.

2021 Embodiment Coach and Facilitator with Mark Walsh.

since 2017 I got a variety of extra trainings in trauma-work, communication, sexuality and other central topics. My training institutions include NICABM, USA, Schule des Sprechens, Vienna, and others.

Prior to my coaching career I studied biology at the Technical University in Aachen, Germans and obtained a PhD with highest honours from the University of Giessen. Among other places, I worked at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research and at Harvard University. I have published over 40 research articles. One of them on Ecosystem Services and Global Change in Science Magazine has been cited over a 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.