Beate Jessel at the Federal Institute for Forest Research

On September 1, 2021, the 59-year-old manager, currently President of the German Agency for Nature Conservation, will take up her post between Lausanne and Zurich.

On June 4, 2021, the Federal Council appointed Beate Jessel as the new director of the Federal Research Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape (WSL).
Fifty-nine years old, she currently chairs the German Federal Office for Nature Conservation, based in Bonn. She will take office on September 1, 2021.
The new director will succeed Konrad Steffen, who died in an accident in Greenland in August 2020.
Professor Jessel studied landscape protection at the Technical University of Munich, where she also received her doctorate.
From 1999 to 2006, she taught landscape planning at the Institute of Geoecology at the University of Potsdam, and since 2006 she has held the chair of Landscape Development Strategy and Management at the Technische Universität München.

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From the German Federal Office for Nature Conservation

In 2007, she was appointed president of the German Federal Office for Nature Conservation, which is located in Bonn.
Beate Jessel was selected at the suggestion of the Federal Polytechnic Council, as required by the ETH Act.
The international call for applications launched by the ETH Board to succeed Konrad Steffen was attended by 30 candidates, including six women.
The multi-stage selection process was conducted by a committee headed by Michael Hengartner, President of the ETH Board.
In addition to nature conservation, Professor Jessel’s main fields of study are landscape development and landscape management.
In particular, she is concerned with methods and procedures for environmentally sound planning and with the effects of new technologies and land-use forms on cultural landscapes, as well as with nature conservation strategies, river basin management, and landscape aesthetics.
The position of WSL director also includes a professorship at the ETH Zurich and one at the ETH Lausanne.
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) study environmental changes as well as the use and protection of natural habitats and cultural landscapes. They also monitor the status and evolution of landscapes, forests, biodiversity, natural hazards, snow and ice.

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WSL employs more than 550 people in five cantons.

In these areas the institute is an international leader in providing approaches to finding sustainable environmental solutions.
WSL employs more than 550 people at its locations in Birmensdorf, Davos (Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research SLF), Cadenazzo, Lausanne and Sion.
It is a federal research center and belongs to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology.

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