Ulrike Grau has a master’s degree in Horticulture from Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany. Prior to moving to Mexico, she participated in the design of experimental green roofs and the setup of plant trials in Spain and Puerto Rico. Her work included the selection, cultivation, transplantation and evaluation of plants on green roofs.
In Mexico she was involved in the organization of an international interdisciplinary course on green roofs and sustainable development of big cities with participants from a wide range of disciplines, both Europeans and Latin Americans. She is currently working at Chapingo University, the most important agricultural university in Mexico, where she continues experimental work on green roofs under tropical highland conditions.Her research focuses on the selection of native plants for extensive green roofs in Mexico.
She presented results of this research at Green Roof Congresses in Washington D.C., Mexico City,Sydney and Bangalore and was part of the organizing committee of the first World Green Roof Congress held in Latin America.
Since 2017 she has been a board member of the World Green Infrastructure Network (WGIN) on behalf of the Mexican Green Roof Association AMENA.