Dr Mariam Akhtar-Schuster is a geographer and currently the senior scientific advisor and coordinator of the German IPBES coordination office at the Project Management Agency PT-DLR in Berlin, Germany

Mariam Akhtar-Schuster is senior scientific advisor and coordinator of the German IPBES coordination office at the Project Management Agency PT-DLR, Berlin, Germany. As Geographer, Dr. Akhtar-Schuster holds a PhD from the Faculty of Mathematics and Sciences, University of Goettingen, Germany. Since 1988, she conducted extensive field research on desertification/land degradation and drought in northeast and southern Africa. Her key expertise includes morphodynamics and biodiversity in semiarid/arid regions; land use systems with special emphasis on mobile animal husbandry and science-policy communication on DLDD. She is co-founder of the international independent scientific network on desertification, which she chaired from 2010 to 2012. She was member of the Steering Committee of the Dryland Science for Development Consortium (DSD) that organized UNCCD´s 1st scientific conference (2008-2009). She was Chair of UNCCD´s ad hoc working group to further discuss the options for the provision of scientific advice focusing on desertification/land degradation and drought issues (AGSA) (2012-2013). From early 2013 to March 2015, she was member of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) that provided advice in the preparation of UNCCD´s 3rd scientific conference. Mariam Akhtar-Schuster is currently member and co-chair of the Science-Policy Interface of the UNCCD.