Dr. Venus is head of the Bioeconomy Economics research group. She is an applied microeconomist, with a focus on empirical analysis in agricultural and ecological economics. She examines how resource governance influences sustainability transformations (i.e. renewable energy transition, bioeconomy transition, etc.), specifically through incentives, informal institutions, and the management of externalities.
She works with both quantitative and qualitative empirical methods, including surveys, stated preference methods, and behavioral economic games, to explore individual and collective decision-making processes related to resource governance.
She received her doctorate (Dr. rer. pol) in Economics from the Technical University of Munich, Germany. After completing her PhD, she worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Technical University of Munich (2022-2023). In March 2023, she assumed the role of Research Group Leader of Bioeconomy Economics at the University of Passau.
Current Project
Previous Projects
Santiago, N. D. J., Braun, H., Rilling, B., Herbes, C., & Venus, T. E. (2026). Sustainability signals: The role of heuristics in consumer preferences for peat alternatives. Journal of Environmental Management, 402, 128980. 10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.128980
Ramirez, J. E., Santiago, N. D., & Venus, T. E. (2026). Cultural values in disaster discourse: Behavioral propositions from the Philippines. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 145, Article 106420. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2026.106420
Ptacek, M., Venus, T.E., Frick, F., Sauer, J. (2026) Accounting for the risk of restoration failure in ecosystem service valuation. Ecological Economics.
Bipa, N. J., Pisaturo, G. R., & Venus, T. E. (2026). The Economics of Mitigating Flexible Hydropower: A Systematic Review. Environmental Management, 76(6), 185.
Braun, H., Venus, T., Rilling, B., & Herbes, C. (2026). Is the garden green? The paradox of consumer motivations for gardening and substrate preferences. Ecological Economics, 249, 109090.
Straubinger, F. B., Venus, T. E., Benjamin, E. O., & Sauer, J. (2026). New synthetic or biological pest control? Winegrower R&D preferences in the context of invasive species infestation. Agricultural and Food Economics, 14(1), 2.
Santiago, N. D. J., Braun, H., Rilling, B., Herbes, C., & Venus, T. E. (2026). Sustainability signals: The role of heuristics in consumer preferences for peat alternatives. Journal of Environmental Management, 402, 128980. 10.1016/j.jenvman.2026.128980
Ramirez, J. E., Santiago, N. D., & Venus, T. E. (2026). Cultural values in disaster discourse: Behavioral propositions from the Philippines. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 145, Article 106420. doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2026.106420
Aza-Mengoa, G. A., Bajos-Arguello, K., & Venus, T. E. (2025). The role of social innovation in the bioeconomy: The case of Costa Rica's pineapple value web. Journal of Environmental Management, 393, 126748.
Temperton, V. M., Pătru-Dușe, I. A., Twerski, A., Laeseke, P., Neudert, R., Cebrián-Piqueras, M. A., Pacheco Romero, M., Bauer, M., T.E. Venus.... (2025). Proposing a social-ecological framework for successful grassland restoration in Germany—An overview and insights from the Grassworks project. Restoration Ecology.
Venus, T. E., Ola, O., ..., Halleraker, J. H., Noack, M., Tonolla, D., Vanzo, D., Hayes, D. S. (2025). The power of hydropeaking: Trade-offs between flexible hydropower and river ecosystem services in Europe, Ecological Economics.
Reis, G. G., da Silva, B. D. F. M., Hartmann, A. L., & Venus, T. E.* (2025). Promises and uncertainties in the cultivated proteins market: Perspectives from Germany and Brazil. Food Policy.
Villalba, R., Joshi, G., Daum, T., Venus, T.E (2024). Financing Climate-Smart Agriculture: A Case Study from the Indo-Gangetic Plains. Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change.
Venus, T.E., Beale, C., Villalba, R. (2024). Innovation and networks in the bioeconomy: A case study from the German coffee sector. Circular Economy and Sustainability.
Canessa, C., Venus, T.E., Wiesmeier, M., Mennig, P., Sauer, J. Incentives, rewards or both for payments for ecosystem services: Drawing a link between farmer preferences and biodiversity levels. Ecological Economics.
Hayes, D. S., Bruno, M. C.,...., & Venus, T. E.* (2023). 100 key questions to guide hydropeaking research and policy. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 187, 113729.
Villalba, R., Venus, T.E., Sauer, J. (2023). The Ecosystem Approach to Agricultural Value Chain Finance: A Framework for Sustainable Rural Credit. World Development, 164, 106177.
Venus, T. E., & Sauer, J. (2022). Certainty pays off: The public’s value of environmental monitoring. Ecological Economics, 191, 107220.
Alp M, Batalla RJ, Bejarano MD, … Venus, T.E., et al (2022). Introducing HyPeak: An international network on hydropeaking research, practice, and policy. River Research Applications.
Venus, T. E., Strauss, F., Venus, T. J., & Sauer, J. (2021). Understanding stakeholder preferences for future biogas development in Germany. Land Use Policy, 109, 105704.
Venus, T. E., Bilgram, S., Sauer, J., & Khatri-Chettri, A. (2021). Livelihood vulnerability and climate change: a comparative analysis of smallholders in the Indo-Gangetic plains. Environment, Development and Sustainability.
Venus, T. E., Smialek, N., Pander, J., Harby, A., & Geist, J. (2020). Evaluating Cost Trade-Offs between Hydropower and Fish Passage Mitigation. Sustainability, 12(20), 8520.
Venus, T. E., Hinzmann, M., Bakken, T. H., Gerdes, H., Godinho, F. N., Hansen, B., … Sauer, J. (2020). The public’s perception of run-of-the-river hydropower across Europe. Energy Policy, 140, 111422.
