Research Focus

• Health geography: social determinants of health, environmental health, health inequities, health monitoring systems, non-communicable diseases, health policies
• Urban geography: sustainability, governance, urban health, transnational city networks, urban policy mobilities, informality,  global change, climate change
• Development geography: global development agenda, postcolonialism, cities in the Global South, marginal settlements, vulnerability
• Regional focus: South and South East Asia, Germany, British Columbia/Canada
• Methods: qualitative methods (e.g. in-depth interviews, focus group discussions), quantitative methods (e.g. household surveys, secondary data analysis), mixed methods approaches, systematic literature reviews 

Academic Education

• 09/08–06/12: Doctoral Studies at the Department of Geography, University of Cologne, Chair of Urban and Social Geography, Prof. Dr. Frauke Kraas Topic: Health Disparities in the Emerging Megacity Pune, India
• 05/01–06/07: Studies in Geography (diploma) with minor subjects Cultural Anthropology and Political Sciences  Diploma thesis: „Sustainable Steering of Emerging Megacities? Waste Management in Pune, India"

Professional Experience

• 11/16-03/19 Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Cologne
• 01/2015–10/16 Research analyst, German Advisory Council on Global Change to the Federal Government (WBGU) for Council Member Prof. Dr. Frauke Kraas
• 09/12–08/16  Postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Cologne in the knowledge transfer project “Blueprint for an effective urban health monitoring system for the city of Pune, India” (funded by DFG)
• 09/10–12/12 Research fellow at the University of Cologne in the research project “Health disparities in the emerging megacity of Pune“ (funded by DFG)
• 04/08–09/10 Research associate at the University of Cologne: Teaching in the field of cultural geography and empirical social research
• Since 03/08 Development of teaching material on urban sustainability and evaluation of student assignments for the graduate course "Sustainable Development Cooperation", Distance and Independent Study Center, Technical University Kaiserslautern
• 12/06–2/07 Internship at the Pune Municipal Corporation, Health Department in Pune/India
• 10/06–12/06 Internship at USER (Unit for Social and Environmental Research), Chiang Mai/Thailand
• 02/06–09/06 Intern and student assistant at IHDP (International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change), Bonn/Germany

Publications

Peer-reviewed journals

• Kroll, M., 2018. Wie können Städte voneinander lernen? Der Beitrag von Städtenetzwerken für die globale urbane Transformation [How can cities learn from each other? The contribution of city networks to the global urban transformation]. Geographische Rundschau 6: 16–21.
• Kraas, F., Bork-Hueffer, T., Kroll, M., 2018. Stadtmodelle, neue Hauptstädte und Städte der Zukunft in Asien [City models, new capitals and cities of the future in Asia]. Geographische Rundschau 6: 22–26.
• Kroll, M., Phalkey, R., Dutta, S., Bharucha, E., Butsch, C., Kraas, F., 2017. Urban health challenges in India – lessons learned from a surveillance study in Pune. Die Erde 148 (1): 75–88.
• Phalkey, R., Butsch, C., Belesova, K., Kroll, M., Kraas, F., 2017. From habits of attrition to modes of inclusion: enhancing the role of private practitioners in routine disease surveillance. BMC Health Services Research 17:599. 
• Butsch, C., Kumar, S., Wagner, P., Kroll, M., Kantakumar, L., Bharucha, E., Kraas, F., 2017. Growing ‘Smart’? Urbanization Processes in the Pune Urban Agglomeration. Sustainability 9 (12): 2335.
• Kroll, M., Phalkey, R., Dutta, S., Shukla, S., Butsch, C., Bharucha, E., Kraas, F., 2016. Involving private healthcare practitioners in an urban NCD sentinel surveillance system: lessons learned from Pune, India. Global Health Action 9: 32635.
• Keck, M., Butsch, C., Kroll. M. 2016. Geographical South Asian Studies: Current Conceptions. Editorial. Internationales Asienforum 47 (3-4): 171–178.
• Kroll, M., Phalkey, R., Kraas, F., 2015. Challenges to the surveillance of non-communicable diseases – a review of selected approaches. BMC Public Health 15: 1243.
• Phalkey, R.*, Kroll, M.*, Dutta, S., Shukla, S., Butsch, C., Bharucha, E., Kraas, F., 2015. Knowledge, attitude, and practices with respect to disease surveillance among urban private practitioners in Pune, India. Global Health Action 8: 28413. (*both authors contributed equally to this article)
• Butsch, C., Kroll, M., Kraas, F., Bharucha, E., 2015. How does rapid urbanization in India affect human health? Findings from a case study in Pune. Asien 134: 73–93.
• Butsch, C., Franz, M., Kroll, M., 2015. Editorial: The evolution of Geography-based South Asia Studies. Asien 134: 5–8.
• Kroll, M., Bharucha, E., Kraas, F., 2014. Does rapid urbanization aggravate health disparities? Reflections on the epidemiological transition in Pune, India. Global Health Action 7: 23447.
• Butsch, C., Kraas, F., Kroll, M., 2012. Gesundheit für alle? MDGs am Beispiel von Mumbai [Health for all? MDGs using the example of Mumbai]. Geographische Rundschau 64 (11): 36–42.
• Butsch, C., Kroll, M., Bork, T., 2010. Health Challenges in Megacities – Examples from India and China. Geographische Rundschau International Edition 6 (2): 20–25.
• Kraas, F., Kroll, M., 2008. Steuerungsprobleme aufsteigender Megastädte – Zur Reorganisation der Abfallwirtschaft von Pune/Indien [Steering problems of emerging megacities – the reorganization of the waste management system in Pune/India]. Geographische Rundschau 60 (11): 56–61.

Books

• WBGU – German Advisory Council on Global Change*. 2016. Humanity on the move: Unlocking the transformative power of cities. WBGU: Berlin. (*Co-author)
• WBGU – German Advisory Council on Global Change*. 2016. Development and justice through transformation: The Four Big ‘I’s. Special Report. WBGU: Berlin. (*Co-author)
• Kroll, M., 2013. Gesundheitliche Disparitäten im urbanen Indien. Auswirkungen des sozioökonomischen Status auf die Gesundheit in Pune [Health disparities in urban India. Effects of socioeconomic status on health in Pune]. Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart.

Book chapters

• Kroll, M, Kraas, F., 2018. Megacities and Global Change. In: Kraas, F., Hackenbroch, K. et al. (eds.): Megacities – Megachallenge: Informal dynamics of Global Change. Insights from Dhaka/Bangladesh and the Pearl River Delta/China. Borntraeger, Stuttgart: 134–137.
• Kroll, M, Kraas, F., 2018. Megacities as Places of Challenges and Potentials. In: Kraas, F., Hackenbroch, K. et al. (eds.): Megacities – Megachallenge: Informal Dynamics of Global Change. Insights from Dhaka/Bangladesh and the Pearl River Delta/China. Borntraeger, Stuttgart: 22–24.
• Kraas, F., Kroll, M. Sterly, H., 2018. Global Shifts and Dynamics in the Megacity Landscape. In: Kraas, F., Hackenbroch, K. et al. (eds.): Megacities – Megachallenge: Informal Dynamics of Global Change. Insights from Dhaka/Bangladesh and the Pearl River Delta/China. Borntraeger, Stuttgart: 14–22.
• Kraas, F., Kroll, M., 2018. Research on Megacities. In: Kraas, F., Hackenbroch, K. et al. (eds.): Megacities – Megachallenge: Informal Dynamics of Global Change. Insights from Dhaka/Bangladesh and the Pearl River Delta/China. Borntraeger, Stuttgart: 24–26.
• Kraas, F., Kroll, M., 2017. Urban Sustainability: Priorities for International Cooperation. In: Hauff, M., Kuhnke, C. (eds.): Sustainable Development Policy: A European Perspective. Routledge, London: 206–227.
• Kroll, M., Butsch, C., Kraas, F., 2011. Health inequities in the City of Pune, India. In: Krämer, A., Khan, M., Kraas, F. (eds.), Health in Megacities and Urban Areas. Springer, Heidelberg: 263–77.
• Butsch, C., Kroll, M., Bork-Hüffer, T., 2013. Megaurban Health in Developing and Newly Industrializing Countries. In: Michalos, A. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Dordrecht: 3981–85.

Further publications

• Kroll, M., 2018. Entwicklung in Städten nachhaltig gestalten - Die urbane Transormation [Sustainable development in cities - the urban transformation]. Studienbrief im Fernstudiengang Nachhaltige Entwicklungszusammenarbeit [course book for the graduate distance course Sustainable Development Cooperation]. Kaiserslautern (3^rd edition).
• Kroll, M., Kraas. F., 2017. Globale urbane Transformation zur Nachhaltigkeit: Der Beitrag der New Urban Agenda [Global urban transformation towards sustainability: the contribution of the New Urban Agenda]. Informationen zur Raumentwicklung 3: 80–89.
• Kroll, M., Kraas, F., 2017. Arenen des Globalen Wandels. Die wachsende Bedeutung transnationaler Governance und die Rolle von Städtenetzwerken für die urbane Transformation [Arenas of global change: the increasing significance of transnational governance and the role of city networks for the urban transformation]. Universitas 72 (856): 29–41.
• Kroll, M., 2017. Leitlinien für die Stadt von morgen [Guidelines for the city of tomorrow]. Südzeit 75: 7-9.
• Kroll, M., Kraas, F., 2016. Non-communicable diseases in urban India – Challenges for public health. UGEC Viewpoints July 19, 2016.
• Kroll, M., 2015. Evidenzbasierte Daten zur Kontrolle nicht-übertragbarer Erkrankungen in Indien – eine Pilotstudie zu Gesundheitsberichterstattung im privaten Gesundheitssektor in Pune [Evidence-based data for controlling non-communicable diseases in India – a pilot study on disease surveillance in the private healthcare sector in Pune]. In: Poerting, J, Keck, M. (eds.): Aktuelle Forschungsbeiträge zu Südasien. Band 3. Heidelberg: 17–20.
• Kraas, F., Kroll, M., 2015. Urbane Transformation zur Nachhaltigkeit [Urban transformation towards sustainability]. Universitas 70 (834): 4–29.
• Butsch, C., Bork-Hüffer, T., Kroll, M., 2014. Menschliche Gesundheit in den Megastädten Indiens und Chinas [Human health in megacities in India and China]. Universitas 69 (815): 40–58.
• Kroll, M., Butsch, C., Phalkey, R., Bharucha, E., 2013. Challenges for urban disease surveillance in India - case study of Pune. In: Lennartz, T. et al. (eds.): Aktuelle Forschungsbeiträge zu Südasien. Heidelberg: 41–44.
• Bork, T., Butsch, C., Kraas, F., Kroll, M., 2009. Gesundheit in Megastädten [Health in megacities]. Deutsches Ärzteblatt 106 (39): 187–81.

Conference presentations

• 09/2017     Surveillance of non-communicable diseases in urban India. International Conference on Urban Health. Coimbra/Portugal
• 09/2017     Sharing knowledge about successful urban health initiatives – the role of transnational city networks. International Conference on Urban Health. Coimbra/Portugal
• 07/2017     The contribution of transnational city networks for the urban transformation towards sustainability. Conference of the working group Urban Research in the Development Context, Cologne/Germany
• 06/2015     Challenges and opportunities for the integration of private health care providers into non-communicable disease surveillance in Pune, India. International Medical Geography Symposium, Vancouver/Canada
• 06/2015      Treatment patterns of allopathic and alternate medicine practitioners in primary health care in Pune, India. International Medical Geography Symposium, Vancouver/Canada
• 02/2015     “Some doctors will be lazy, or not wanting to reveal their diagnostic skills” – Evaluation of a pilot study on surveillance of non-communicable diseases in Pune, India. Annual Meeting of the working group on South Asia, Göttingen/Germany
• 11/2014     Challenges for monitoring non-communicable diseases in Pune, India. 2nd International UGEC Conference Urban Transitions and Transformations, Teipei/Taiwan
• 10/2013     Reluctant partners? The role of private health care in disease surveillance in India.  German Geographical Congress 2013, Passau/Germany
• 10/2013     Challenges for disease surveillance in urban India - a pilot study from Pune. German Geographical Congress 2013, Passau/Germany
• 01/2013     Blueprint for an effective urban health monitoring system for the city of Pune. Annual Meeting of the working group on South Asia, Heidelberg/Germany
• 08/2012     Urban health disparities in newly industrializing countries: perspectives from Pune, India. International Geographic Congress, Cologne/Germany
• 08/2012     Changing urban living environments in the context of megaurbanization – perspectives from Pune, India. International Geographic Congress, Cologne/Germany
• 2/2012        Socioeconomic disparities and health in a mega-urban setting: perspectives from Pune, India. Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers (AAG), New York/USA
• 2/2012        Changing urban living environments – qualitative analysis of health determining factors in the emerging megacity Pune, India. Annual Meeting of the working group on South Asia, Marburg/Germany
• 11/2011     Changing urban living environments – qualitative analysis of health determining factors in the emerging megacity Pune, India. Annual Meeting of the working group on Medical Geography, Berlin/Germany
• 07/2011     Socioeconomic disparities and health in a megaurban setting: perspectives from Pune, India. International Medical Geography Symposium, Durham/UK
• 04/2011     Socioeconomic disparities and health. Workshop on “Health Challenges in the Emerging Megacity of Pune”, Pune/India
• 02/2011     Health disparities in the emerging megacity Pune, India. Congress on Geographies of South Asia, Cologne/Germany
• 10/2010     Health disparities in the emerging megacity Pune, India. Annual Meeting of the working group on Medical Geography, Remagen/Germany.
• 07/2010     Health disparities in the emerging megacity Pune, India. European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies, Bonn/Germany
• 09/2009     Health disparities in the emerging megacity Pune, India. DAAD Expert Seminar “Urbanization and Global Change in India”, New Delhi/India
• 09/2009      Health disparities in Pune, India. Annual Meeting of the working group on Medical Geography, Vienna/Austria.
• 06/2009     Health in India’s emerging megacities: the case of Pune. Workshop at the University of Bonn, Bonn/Germany
• 11/2007     Sustainable steering of emerging megacities? The waste management system in Pune, India. Conference of the working group Urban Research in the Development Context, Cologne/Germany
• 02/2007     Sustainable steering of emerging megacities? The waste management system in Pune, India. 4th Megacities Workshop, Pune/India 

Teaching experience

Teaching activities at the University of Cologne/Germany (graduate courses taught in English)

• Urban environments - periurban developments in Asia (graduate seminar, 2017): 3 classes
• Urban development in Asia (lecture, 2017): 1 class on urban health in the city of Pune, India
• Development and transformation (graduate seminar, 2016): 3 classes on postcolonialism
• Settlement and economic geography of North India (excursion of 14 days, 2011)
• India between tradition and modernity (course for senior students, 2011): 3 classes  
• Natural and social environments in India (graduate seminar, 2010/2011): 8 classes 
• Cultural geography (undergraduate seminar, 2010): 12 classes and 2 one-day field trips (covering e.g. rural development, agriculture, tourism and development theories)
• Qualitative and quantitative research methods (undergraduate field course, 2009/10): 5 days (topic: current development processes in the city of Bonn/Germany)
• Cultural geography (undergraduate seminar, 2009): 12 classes and 2 one-day field trips (covering e.g. rural development, agriculture, tourism and development theories)
• Qualitative and quantitative research methods (undergraduate field course, 2008/09): 5 days (topic: current development processes in the city of Bonn/Germany)
• Qualitative and quantitative research methods (undergraduate field course, 2008): 5 days (topic: tourism in the national park Eifel/Germany)

Guest lectures and other teaching activities (all courses taught in English)

• Development of a course book on urban sustainability (190 pages) for the graduate distance course "Sustainable Development Cooperation" at the University of Kaiserslautern/Germany (first published in 2008, third edition 2018), development of three send-in exercises (2018) related to urban sustainability (waste management, slum development, urban health)
• Intensive graduate course on urban sustainability (10 days, 2016); Institute for Environment Education and Research, Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune/India
• Graduate seminar on qualitative research methods (1 day, 2013); Institute for Environment Education and Research, Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune/India
• Graduate seminar on urban sustainability (1 day, 2013); Institute for Environment Education and Research, Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune/India
• Graduate colloquium on urban health (4 hours, 2013); Institute for Environment Education and Research, Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune/India
• Short course “Climate change and health: urbanization, climate change and health” for medical practitioners; Institute of Public Health, University Heidelberg/Germany (1 day, 2012)
• Graduate seminar “Sustainability assessment of the solid waste management system in Pune” within the MSc course Human Environments of Tropical Countries; University of Applied Sciences, Cologne/Germany (1 day, 2011)
• Open lecture on the burden of disease in urban India, Center for Health Management Studies and Reseach, Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune/India (1 class, 2011)
• Short course “Climate change and health: megaurbanization and health” for medical practitioners; Institute of Public Health, University Heidelberg/Germany (1 day, 2011)
• Open lecture on urban environments: open spaces and urban fringe development in Asia; Institute for Environment Education and Research, Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune/India (1 class, 2011)
• Open lecture on health disparities in Pune/India: methodological approach; Bharati Vidyapeeth University, Pune/India (1 class, 2010)