Liesl Eichler Clark has served as Director of the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) since January 2019. She oversees a $500 million budget that supports a 1,200-person team dedicated to protecting Michigan’s environment and public health. 

Nestled in the heart of the world’s greatest freshwater ecosystem, Michigan EGLE has a unique regulatory role in ensuring the Great Lakes and their connecting waters remain the vital cultural, recreational, and economic engines of the region. The agency also regulates air quality, waste management, drinking water, groundwater, oil and gas extraction, and contaminated site remediation.  

Clark led a reorganization which elevated Michigan’s commitment to Environmental Justice, climate mitigation and resilience, clean drinking water, and the Great Lakes. The newly-created offices of Environmental Justice Public Advocate, Clean Water Public Advocate, and Climate and Energy—as well as the longstanding Office of the Great Lakes—are now housed in the EGLE executive office with Clark and her deputies. 

Expanding and improving EGLE’s internal and external communications is a major focus for Clark as she strives to support and inspire the EGLE team, engage stakeholders, meet communities where they are, and better share EGLE’s work with Michigan’s 10 million residents – whom she refers to as her “10 million bosses.” 

Clark chairs the UP Energy Task Force and the Council on Climate Solutions and serves on the Council on Future Mobility, the Michigan Advisory Council on Environmental Justice, the Michigan Dam Safety Task Force, and the Michigan Poverty Task Force, among others. 

Clark received a B.A. in Political Economy and International Relations from James Madison College at Michigan State University and a Master of Public Administration from Michigan State University. 

She lives in Livingston County with her husband, their two sons, and Bella the Polish Lowland Sheepdog who is fond of interrupting video meetings. She is working to hike every trail within a 50-mile radius of home, to see more of Michigan’s natural treasures and to spend more time “in the field” with her 1,200 colleagues when circumstances allow.