Werner Kutsch

Dr. Werner L. Kutsch is Director General of ICOS since March 2014. He is biologist, plant ecologist and ecosystem scientist by education and has worked on ecosystem carbon cycling for 25 years in Europe and Africa. The focus of his work has been for a long time in the comparison of ecosystems after land use change and integrating complex landscapes. He has edited a book on soil carbon dynamics.

ICOS is an ESFRI Landmark Research Infrastructure and a legal entity (ERIC) since November 2015. As Director General, Dr. Kutsch is the legal representative and overall coordinator of the Research Infrastructure and has coordinated the implementation of ICOS which is now fully operational. His current work comprises the administration and operations of the distributed observational networks and central facilities. Dr. Kutsch is also responsible for the external representation of ICOS and representing ICOS in European and global integration initiatives that that support the usage of in-situ observations for improving Global Stocktake, national inventories on greenhouse gases, and monitoring and verification support systems.