Four questions for Mathis Tommek, who joined corsus in april 2024 as working student:

What did you do before you joined corsus?

Before I started at corsus as a working student, I was studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Bioresource Management at the University of Hamburg. Last year, I wrote my bachelor’s thesis on “Tree ring analysis of Japanese larch”. This involved analysing tree rings to measure climate endrology, i.e. tracing the climatic conditions of recent years. I was then able to complete an exciting internship at a sawmill in Oregon in the autumn. There I gained interesting insights into forestry in the USA, which differs considerably from that in Germany, and learnt a lot about wood as a raw material.

corsus advises on sustainability. What do you associate with sustainability?

I associate the term sustainability with ecology and environmental protection. This was the decisive reason for me to study Bioresource Management. This degree programme covers many topics such as all natural sciences, environmental technology, environmental assessment and sustainable forestry. For a long time, I couldn’t quite reconcile the economic modules on the programme with the concept of sustainability. However, during my studies and my work at corsus, I realised more and more that it is important to see the areas of ecology, economy and, of course, social issues in conjunction with each other.

Is there a topic that is particularly close to your heart?

Due to my studies, the protection of forests and the biodiversity they contain is particularly close to my heart. It is very alarming to see how quickly the condition of the forests in Germany has deteriorated noticeably over the last 10 years. Due to my enthusiasm for sailing, I am also very interested in protecting the oceans! Although I try to make my everyday life more environmentally friendly as an individual, I feel pretty powerless. Now, at corsus, I can see how companies and municipalities can be involved, which can achieve significantly more positive than negative effects, is very exciting and an area that I can well imagine for my future working life.

What are you currently working on at corsus?

To date, I have provided support in the areas of “companies” and “sustainable municipalities”, working on specific content on sustainability topics and creating presentations and graphics for workshops. I am also working on literature research on legal texts that are relevant to sustainability consulting for companies.