Women and forestry work - especially in the Global South countries, this is a challenging constellation: women often work without a contract or social security and for a lower wage. At the Thünen Institute of Forestry in Hamburg-Bergedorf, Dr Rattiya Lippe is developing methods that can be used to estimate the number of employed persons in the global forestry sector. Her research further focuses on analyzing the decent working conditions of the forestry workforce.

The fact that the forestry sector has become her field of research also has to do with the time-limited position of scientific contract. Born in Thailand, she completed her doctoral degree in agricultural economics in Bangkok. The associated project focused on consumer preferences for fruit and vegetables and the household consumption expenditure. It was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) through the University of Hohenheim. After completion of her doctorate, she lived in Germany and worked as  postdoctoral researcher at Leibniz University Hannover. "For four years, my husband and I commuted between Stuttgart and Hanover. It was very exhausting," she says. The only thing that made the situation easier was mutual understanding.

After the postdoc phase, the time of fixed-term employment contracts in academia came to an end. Rattiya Lippe made a brief stay into the private sector before finding a position at the Thünen Institute of Forestry in 2020. "I'm an economist and I want to continue with research. That's what I like to do, she says." Making a career in science is challenging for women in some places even more so than for men. For example, conducting field research in some countries may require women to prepare more for safety reasons. But: you grow into these careers - if you like what you do.