"Figuratively speaking, we let historical natural catastrophes loose on today's civilizations."
Before Meike Müller applied for the advertised vacancy, the graduate geo-ecologist knew neither what reinsurance companies are nor that they can offer geo-scientists quite fascinating fields of work. Now – together with another geo-ecologist, a meteorologist and a geologist – she is responsible for the full range of natural catastrophes: windstorms, earthquakes, floods, thunderstorms, hail, and whatever else the weather gods may have in store. The subjects processed are correspondingly varied. One focus is on natural-catastrophe modelling. So what's that all about?
Figuratively speaking, Müller takes historical or synthetic storms, earthquakes or floods and lets them loose on today's insurance portfolios, and then calculates the loss levels to be expected. For this, statistical expertise is indispensable – in addition to geological, meteorological and hydrological knowledge. The most important tools for analysing data with a spatial reference are geographic information systems. Another central key word: knowledge transfer. New scientific findings, e.g. on climate changes, are of great interest for Deutsche Rück and its customers, so that such data are channelled directly into their day-to-day work. Overall, Müller's experience of working in the overlap between natural science and the insurance sector and between practice and research is incredibly exciting, multi-faceted and varied.
And, by now, she doesn't mind a spot of rain in her personal life either. In fact, she even likes to spend her vacation in high-water regions.