Astrid E. Neumann, M. Sc.
Research Department Life Science Systems
Technische Universität München
Hans-Carl-von-Carlowitz-Platz 2
D-85354 Freising-Weihenstephan
Room: 1.2.1.8
Phone: +49 (0) 8161 71-4581
Email: astrid.neumann@tum.de
ORCID: 0000-0002-1736-3946
Research interests
- Urban ecology
- Pollination ecology
- Functional ecology
- Ornithology
- Parasitology
My research focuses on the ecological impacts of urbanization on biodiversity, organismal fitness, and community composition.
My early work focused on the effects of urbanization on avian haemosporidian infections and their consequences for host fitness and reproductive success. At the same time, I developed a strong interest in pollinating insects.
During my PhD within the project Forschen für Wildbienen, I combined these interests by studying how urbanization affects pollinator communities in community gardens, an increasingly important type of urban green space. I investigated how floral and nesting resources influence pollinator diversity, fitness, and functional community composition, with a particular focus on wild bees.
As Scientific Project Manager of the EU Horizon project ProPollSoil, I currently work within an international consortium investigating the links between soil health and soil-dependent pollinators.
Curriculum Vitae
| 10/2025-present | Research Assistant/ Scientific Project Manager (EU Horizon Project ProPollSoil), Plant-Insect Interactions, Technical University of Munich (DE) |
| 04/2021-present | PhD candidate, Urban Productive Ecosystems, Technical University of Munich (DE) |
| 04/2021-08/2025 | Research Assistant, Urban Productive Ecosystems, Technical University of Munich (DE) |
| 01/2021-12/2021 | Scientific Project Staff, Österreich forscht (Austrian Citizen Science Platform), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (AT) |
| 04/2020-07/2020 | Field Research Assistant, Swiss Ornithological Institute, Sempach in Cooperation with Agroscope (CH) |
| 06/2019-11/2019 | FEMtech Intern, Department Beekeeping and Bee Protection, AGES (Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AT) |
| 03/2016-03/2019 | M. Sc. Zoology, University of Vienna (AT) |
| 01/2017-06/2017 | Erasmus+, University of Oulu (FI) |
| 10/2012-01/2016 | B. Sc. Biology (specialisation Zoology), University of Vienna (AT) |
Outreach
Member of the TUM Bee Paradise Project
Publications
Karlebowski, S., Egerer, M., Neumann, A. E., Schmack, J. M., Sexton, A. N., & Sturm, U. (2026). Citizen Science Provides Insights on Pollination Services in Urban Community Gardens. BMC Ecology and Evolution, 26, 26. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-026-02507-x
Casanelles Abella, J., Badini, J., Baldock, K., Calviño, A., Fenoglio, M., Leonhardt, S., Neumann, A., Moretti, M., Patterson, M., Rossi‐Rotondi, B., Sexton, A., Tavares, K., Torretta, J., Videla, M., Zamudio, F., Zenni, R., & Egerer, M. (2025). Examining Honeybee (Apis mellifera) Dominance Patterns Within Urban Bee Communities Worldwide. Ecology and Evolution, 15. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71979
Sexton, A. N., Conitz, F., Karlebowski, S., Neumann, A. E., Schmack, J. M., Sturm, U., & Egerer, M. (2025). Urban pollinator communities are structured by local-scale garden features, not landscape context. Landscape Ecology, 40(3), 50. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-025-02062-8
Neumann, A. E., Conitz, F., Karlebowski, S., Sturm, U., Schmack, J. M., & Egerer, M. (2024). Flower richness is key to pollinator abundance: The role of garden features in cities. Basic and Applied Ecology, 79, 102–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2024.06.004
Neumann, A. E., Suarez-Rubio, M., & Renner, S. C. (2024). Haemosporidian intensity and nestlings’ life-history along an urban-to-rural gradient. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 17018. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-67824-x
Karlebowski, S., Egerer, M., Neumann, A. E., Schmack, J. M., & Sturm, U. (2024). Co-creation for change: Engaging urban community gardeners in the development of insect conservation interventions. ARPHA Proceedings, 6, 55–59. https://doi.org/10.3897/ap.e126596
Egerer, M., Karlebowski, S., Conitz, F., Neumann, A. E., Schmack, J. M., & Sturm, U. (2024). In defence of urban community gardens. People and Nature, 6(2), 367–376. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10612
Schmack, J. M., Egerer, M., Karlebowski, S., Neumann, A. E., & Sturm, U. (2024). Overlooked and misunderstood: How urban community gardeners perceive social wasps and their ecosystem functions. Journal of Insect Conservation, 28(2), 283–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-024-00548-5
Karlebowski S., Egerer M., Neumann A.E., Schmack J. M. and Sturm U. (2023). Citizen Science and Pollination Research: Lessons Learned from a Research Collaboration in Community Gardens in Berlin and Munich. In Proceedings of Austrian Citizen Science Conference 2023—PoS(ACSC2023) (Vol. 442, p. 009). SISSA Medialab. https://doi.org/10.22323/1.442.0009