Prof. Dr. Lilian Busse

Lilian Busse studied Biology at the Technical University Munich and completed her PhD at the Technical University Berlin in the department of Environmental Engineering in 2000. During her two-year postdoctoral fellowship from the German Academic Exchange Service she worked at the University of California Santa Barbara. From 2002 to 2006, Lilian Busse served as a research associate at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego.

Her professional career took her to the California Environmental Protection Agency from 2006 to 2015, where she worked at the interface of science and policy. In particular, she managed the water monitoring programs for the State of California.

From 2015 to 2021, Lilian Busse was leading the Division II "Environmental Health and the Protection of Ecosystem" at the German Environment Agency. In this role, she developed strategies for the departments "Environmental Hygiene", "Water and Soil", "Drinking Water and Bathing Pool Water Hygiene" and "Air". In September 2021, she was appointed as Vice President for the German Environment Agency.

Lilian Busse represents the German Environment Agency on various scientific advisory boards, committees and executive boards on a national and European level. As a member of the Expert Commission on Fracking, which was appointed by the Federal Government, she demonstrates her commitment to environmental research. She has also headed the Baltic Sea Convention HELCOM from 2020 to 2022 and the bilateral expert group for the fish die off at the Odra River from 2022 to 2023. In September 2023, Lilian Busse was appointed an honorary professorship at the Technical University Munich.