KatrIn grew up on her grandmothers' small dairy farm where working with animals and on the field from childhood on shaped her passion for nature and environment. She used her practical talent to become a cabinet maker by trade and to work in different parts of the world as bull catcher, bread baker, cheese maker, roof tiler and tour guide. Her practical skills have been enhance by her passion and later combined with academic knowledge.

She graduated from the University of Koblenz in Ecological Impact Assessment (B.Sc.) and holds an M.Sc. in Agricultural Engineering from University of Hohenheim. She is an alumni of the German Academic Scholarship Foundation. As PhD candidate at Hohenheim University she develop the concept of mobile biogas and implemented the research together with Addis Abeba University, HoA-REC.

Katrin founded the only international Biogas Company that works in Africa and has stayed independent of Western funding. (B)energy is now based in Germany with independent branches in a growing number of countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Her unique entrepreneurial approach is based on values like dignity and independence and it is characterised by simple and impactful innovations such as the biogas backpack and modular burner.

Katrin is on a mission to see an aid-free biogas sector thrive. She leads several initiatives that create awareness about the negative effects of aid and collaborates with African biogas entrepreneurs to fight against further market distortion through foreign aid in #BiogasUnite. She shares her experience and passion with organisations and individuals interested in taking innovative and honest approaches to solve global issues.