Full of energy and up for a good laugh, but with one topic she understands no fun: aid for Africa. She dedicates more than her professional life to prove that Africa needs no aid.
Passion and profession
The practitioner
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.
The scientist
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.
The social entrepreneur
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.
The activist
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.
Katrin at her grandmothers's farm bringing coal briquets for the stove
Bull Catching in Western Australia
Bike tour guiding for Butterfield & Robinson
cheese making in the Swiss alps
Castration of male calves on Australian cattle stations
Lasso catching of wild horses in Australia
Meeting AU chairperson Dlamini-Zuma
meeting Prof. Muhammed Yunus at the Global Social Business Summit in Mexico
her passion - chainsaw carving
Katrin picking potatoes on the field
Learning bush mechanics in the Australian Outback
roof tiling in Switzerland - tough job!
Cutting apart a big old fallen oak tree
traveling Mongolia on horses
herding goats in Switzerland
Bull catching with helicopter and bull buggy in WA
International Awards
Presenting oneself in the best light is not her thing. Katrin does not apply for awards. She is convinced that her hard work will be recognized when it has a significant impact on the world. She works to earn rather than chase awards. Each one of the awards she is receiving is a true honor as she has always been nominated by somebody.
Book Katrin
to speak at your event about (B)energy, biogas, the problem with aid in Africa, social entrepreneurship, energy, climate change or women in business
key note speech or presentation
that people don't easily forget
panelist in public discussions
for vivid and passionate discussions
lectures
teaching at schools and universities online or physically