Laura Dierksmeier (Coordinator ‒ Early Modern History) is a postdoctoral researcher in the project: A Comparative Study of Late Medieval and Early Modern Island Communities. Within this project, Dierksmeier carries out a comparative study of how limited freshwater on islands under the  Spanish Empire affected the respective island cultures. Focusing especially on Tenerife and Mallorca, Dierksmeier employs archive sources, such as records about emergency planning, environmental police, public works, sanitation and epidemic control, natural histories, and ecclesiastical records, including rogation ceremonies to beseech God for water. Dierksmeier contextualizes local archive sources within a framework of geographical and cultural descriptions of islands produced during the late medieval and early modern era, found in island atlases (islarios). Dierksmeier contributes her research findings to demonstrate how historical island records can contribute to current academic and public debates on climate-related migrations, civil strife due to resource shortages, and local initiatives to protect and increase water supplies through inexpensive means.