Institute
Mario Šiljeg is an Associate Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering of the University North.
He graduated in 2000 from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology at the University of Zagreb, earning the title of Master of Chemical Engineering.
In 2000, he started working as a research assistant at the Department of Analytical Chemistry of the same faculty.
In 2003, he was awarded a scholarship by the Slovenian Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, allowing him to further his studies at the National Institute of Chemistry in Ljubljana.
In 2006, he defended his master’s thesis titled “Binding of Metal Complexes to Natural Zeolite”, and in 2008, he obtained his doctorate in the field of chemistry with his dissertation “Sorption of Arsenic from Groundwater onto Modified Natural Zeolite”.
The results of his scientific work have been published in numerous research papers featured in thematic journals, as well as in an authored book and book chapters. He has actively participated in a large number of international conferences.
In 2005, he began his career in the water management sector at Vodotehnika d.d., where he spent six years as a project manager in the engineering department, primarily focusing on technologies for drinking water treatment.
In 2011, he was appointed Director of the Environmental Protection Agency and continued his scientific career at the Hrvoje Požar Energy Institute, more specifically, in the Department of Renewable Energy Sources and Energy Efficiency as a senior researcher.
Following his appointment as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering of the University of Zagreb, he continued his research in environmental engineering, with a primary focus on industrial wastewater treatment, drinking water preparation, and waste management.
In 2012, he was appointed a member of the Environment and Nature Conservation Committee of the Croatian Parliament, where he contributed to monitoring the implementation of policies in the legislative and regulatory processes within the environmental protection sector.
In 2016, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Environment and Nature Protection within the Government of the Republic of Croatia. He also held the positions of State Secretary at the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Energy and at the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development.
Since 2017, he has served as President of the Governing Council of the Nature Park Biokovo, as well as the Governing Council of the Regional Activity Centre on Priority Actions Programme. From 2017 to 2024, he also served as President of the Board of Directors of the Environmental Protection and Energy Efficiency Fund.