Since the beginning of October, Anneli Guthke has been strengthening the Stuttgart Cluster of Excellence SimTech as a junior research group leader in the field of statistical model-data integration. “I have been loosely associated to SimTech for quite a while now through my work with Wolfgang Nowak who is a PI in SimTech. It’s always been very interesting to see SimTech’s interdisciplinary approach to simulation science and it’s a great opportunity to now promote my research in this environment.” Her research topic will help bridging the gap between data-driven and physics-based modelling, which is perfectly aligned with the Cluster’s goal and vision.
After graduating as an environmental engineer from the University of Stuttgart, Anneli Guthke obtained her PhD with her thesis on “Bayesian Assessment of Conceptual Uncertainty in Hydrosystem Modelling” from the University of Tübingen in Geoscience.
In January 2018, Anneli Guthke joined the University of Stuttgart as a Postdoc at the Department of Stochastic Simulation and Safety Research for Hydrosystems. Her research focuses on extending Bayesian and information-theoretic methods to address conceptual uncertainty and model-structural errors. Knowing the scientific environment at the University of Stuttgart quite well, Anneli Guthke also knows first-hand that SimTech offers a well-established infrastructure and network. “I could not imagine a better organization for developing and promoting cutting-edge methods for model evaluation. My goal is to strategically extend the Cluster’s research agenda by a fundamental fusion of model evaluation standards that apply to any degree of data-integration into physics-based simulation models. I am convinced that such a strong “model evaluation backbone” for data-integrated simulation science is a promising strategy for a successful future of the Cluster.”
Her track record shows 16 published papers (and several more currently submitted or in preparation) of high international visibility, with mostly fundamental methodological contributions and three review/opinion papers that have impacted the hydrological community’s discussion of model choice and model complexity. She has further co-edited two special issues to stimulate research along those lines. Due to her expertise in Bayesian hydrosystem modeling, she has been invited to give keynote lectures at the International Conference on Integrated Hydrosystem Modelling (University of Tübingen, Germany), at the Workshop on Model Selection (KU Leuven, Belgium) and at the 10th EGU Leonardo Conference: Global change, landscape aging and the pulse of catchments (Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology).
In parallel to her academic career, Anneli Guthke has ten years of practical experience as an environmental consultant. Being responsible for the success of various groundwater and soil remediation projects, she has mined lots of environmental data, has developed numerous simulation models with scientific standards, and has promoted an integrated approach to combine all gathered data and results into deepest possible system understanding. Building bridges between science and practice has always been an important commitment in her professional life, which is evident for her engagement as lecturer for the “Fortbildungsverbund Boden und Altlasten Baden-Württemberg” and the FH-DGGV (Hydrogeology Section of the German Geological Society – Geological Association).
We warmly welcome Anneli in the SimTech team!