Mercedes Bustamante is a Professor at the University of Brasilia, Brazil, and member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. She was co-coordinator of the chapter on Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses of the 5th Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), coordinating lead author of the chapter Direct and indirect drivers of change in biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people of the First Regional Assessment for the Americas of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), Latin America representative in the International Nitrogen Initiative, member of the Scientific Committee of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP), of the Biosphere-Atmosphere Program in the Amazon (LBA), and the Independent Steering Committee of the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS). In scientific and educational policy management, she has contributed as general coordinator of Ecosystem Management and Director of Policies and Thematic Programs in the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation, and as the Director of Brazilian Programs and Scholarships of Coordination of Personnel Development (CAPES, in Portuguese). She is currently a member of the Science Steering Committee of the Science Panel for the Amazon and lead author of the 6th Assessment Report of the IPCC (Working Group III).