Biography
Christine Bratrich accepted the position of Vice Dean at the HSLU School of Engineering and Architecture in September 2021. As part of the university’s senior management team, she is very excited to lead the school’s program on Continuing and Executive Education and to develop it further in the spirit of sustainability. Interdisciplinary research and applied projects on the topic of sustainability as well as interactions with interest groups in business, politics, and NGOs have characterized her career.
Between 2008-2021, Christine served as Director of ETH Sustainability, the sustainability office at ETH Zurich. Christine and her team supported various projects and initiatives, projects, and individuals who contribute to enhancing sustainability at the university in its four core areas of activity – research, teaching, campus, and dialogue with society. As a lecturer at the Department of Environmental Systems Science, she was responsible for the development and implementation of new and innovative courses, such as the ETH Week or the ETH Sustainability Summer und Winter School Program.
As Head of the Danube/Freshwater Programme at WWF International from 2004-2008 Christine was responsible for coordinating more than 20 conservation and restoration projects in Central and Eastern Europe and managing a team of staff members based in Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, and the Ukraine. She was also in charge of WWF's successful lobby work on integrated river basin management with the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), with national governments in the Danube river basin, as well as vis-à-vis EU institutions. Her team led activities for sustainable shipping, climate and flood protection, restoration of wetlands and sustainable agriculture.
In her Ph.D. thesis at ETH Zurich and the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology Eawag from 2000-2004, she worked on key elements for successful river restoration projects in Europe and the USA. This research required a strong interplay between the natural and social sciences.
From 1997-2001, Christine was part of the project management of the Eawag project on «greenhydro». Together with a transdisciplinary research group, she took on the exciting task of developing green criteria for hydropower use. In close cooperation with hydropower operators, public authorities, and environmental alliances, this project lead to the development of the Swiss eco-labelling system for green electricity.
Between 1994-1997 Christine worked at the Department of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management in a group of hydraulic engineers who developed simulation models for ecologically sound instream flow regimes.
