Doris Knoblauch joined Ecologic Institute in January 2006 and works as a Senior Fellow and Coordinator for Urban & Spatial Governance, as well as Co-Coordinator for the topic "Plastics". Thematically, she focuses on plastics in the environment, green urban environments, local climate protection as well as evaluations and assessments, sustainability, sustainable development strategies in Germany and Europe, public participation and the analysis of networks and network processes. Her other interests include environmental policy in so-called developing countries, as well as environmental policy within development cooperation. Doris Knoblauch works in German and English and has good knowledge of Spanish and French.

Doris Knoblauch focuses on the following research questions: (1) what role does plastic play in the environment, (2) which sources contribute to plastic in the environment, (3) which sinks have an impact on plastic in the environment and how and (4) which solutions could help to reduce plastic in the environment. Furthermore, since 2008 Doris Knoblauch has contributed to Eurostat Monitoring – first for the European Sustainable Development Strategy and now for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

She is part of the following projects:

Plastic Pirates – German coast: In this project, school classes and youth groups search for plastic waste on the coasts and the river system of the Elbe – including its tributaries such as the Havel, Mulde or Saale. In doing so, they are making an important contribution to research. The collected research data is uploaded to a central web platform and then analyzed by scientists from the Kiel Science Factory and Ecologic Institute.

International Cooperation to Restore and Connect Urban Environments in Latin America and Europe (INTERLACE): As part of the 4-year EU project, Doris Knoblauch accompanies the city of Chemnitz in the development and implementation of policies to promote nature-based solutions in the city. She is also working on other projects focusing on nature-based solutions, such as CLEVER Cities.

Capacity Development for Long-term Climate Neutrality Strategies in Towns and Cities (Ready4NetZero): Ready4NetZero aims to support small- and medium-sized cities in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Croatia in the development and implementation of local strategies to reach climate neutrality. To do so, the project creates knowledge resources (written guidance) and provides training and capacity building activities (webinars, workshops, a study visit, an international conference) to equip municipal staff with capacities, knowledge, and networks to develop and implement local long-term climate strategies.

Monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Europe 2020 Strategy: Doris Knoblauch is part of the team at Ecologic Institute monitoring the SDGs under the coordination of the Institute for Managing Sustainability. Thematically, she is responsible for SDG 17, "Partnerships for the goals".

Evaluation, Monitoring and Adaptation of Existing Funding Programmes and Further Development of the National Climate Initiative (NKI) 2019-2023: Doris Knoblauch is part of the team that evaluates the NKI and supports the ministry in developing it further.

Doris Knoblauch is an active member of the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastics Treaty, an international network of diverse, independent scientific and technical experts seeking to contribute with summaries and interpretations of scientific knowledge to decision makers and the public involved in the negotiations towards a global agreement to end plastic pollution.

Since 2012, Doris Knoblauch has also worked intensively with cities and municipalities. Thereby, she has not only built up a network of different cities and municipalities as well as relevant actors, but also gathered a deep understanding of the functioning and needs of communities. In her work, she appreciates when science can be of practical use for communities and results are directly implemented to solving on-the-ground problems.

Furthermore, Doris Knoblauch is an experienced and passionate moderator. Within the last twelve years she has facilitated a variety of different events, including small working groups via larger international project meetings as well as stakeholder events to conferences.