Dr. Leonard Burtscher

About

Dr. Leonard Burtscher, born 1982, married, three children. Studied physics in Würzburg and Edinburgh; doctorate in astronomy at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Heidelberg on "Mid-infrared interferometry of AGN cores" (2011); postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics / Infrared Group, Garching near Munich; 2017-2022 staff scientist at Leiden University Observatory, Netherlands; co-founder of "Astronomers for Planet Earth" (2019); since September 2022 consultant for environmental and energy policy at the Umweltinstitut München e.V.

About Umweltinstitut

The Umweltinstitut München e.V. is a registered association with the aim of "researching and reducing environmental pollution". The Environmental Institute was founded in 1986 after the reactor disaster in Chernobyl. A group of scientists and committed citizens from Munich and the surrounding area founded the association at that time in order to be able to carry out independent measurements of radioactive contamination and provide the unsettled population with independent and reliable information. The local initiative from back then has long since become a professional environmental organization that is successfully involved in German and European environmental policy. In addition to the founding topic of radioactivity, today the Environmental Institute deals with the topics of climate protection and energy transition and is committed to organic farming and consumer protection. It pursues its goals through research and monitoring, public relations work, environmental education and campaigns aimed at influencing political decisions in the environmental field. The Environmental Institute is independent of political parties and is recognized as a non-profit organization. The association is mainly financed by donations and the contributions of around 12,000 supporting members.