Anne Lyche Solheim has been working as a researcher at NIVA since 1996, and as research manager for the Section for biodiversity and eutrophication in freshwater from 2000-2005. She worked as a visiting scientist at the EU Commission Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy from 2006-2007, and since then as a senior researcher and research coordinator for the EU Water Framework Directive at NIVAs Section for Integrated Water Resources Management, Center for Inland Water Research. She has a PhD degree (Dr. philos from 1996 from the University of Oslo) in plankton-ecology and their response to eutrophication. Since 2000 she has worked primarily with R&D projects related to the implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive, including development and intercalibration of methods for assessing good ecological status in rivers and lakes, with a focus on phytoplankton. She is also responsible for acquisition and management of large national and international projects (e.g. BIOCLASS, REBECCA, WISER). Furthermore, she works as a consultant for the EU Commission on project related to WFD implementation. Another important part of her work is as a freshwater quality team leader in the EEA Topic Center for Inland and Marine Waters with a special responsibility for reporting ecological status of rivers and lakes across Europe, based on data reported from all European countries.