Geographer Prof. Dr. Beate Ratter from the University of Hamburg is Vice-President of the International Small Islands Studies Association. As the lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ‒ Special Report on Oceans and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate, Professor Ratter is one of the foremost climate change researchers worldwide. She is a member of the editorial board of Rethinking the Island and the Journal of Geographical Research and member of the Centerfor Earth System Research and Sustainability and The Wadden Sea Forum. She leads multiple projects relevant to the DFG network topic, including: “Handeln im Wandeln in SIDS: Gesellschaftlicher Umgang und politische Rahmung der Anpassung an einen Meeresspiegelanstieg in kleinen Inselstaaten.” Professor Ratter’s publications include: Geography of Small Islands Outposts of Globalisation. Cham: Springer, 2018 and “Caribbean Island States in a Social-Ecological Panarchy? Complexity Theory, Adaptability and Environmental Knowledge Systems.” Anthropocene 13 (2016): 80-93.