Dr. Walter Baethgen is a Senior Research Scientist at the Climate School, Columbia University in New York, USA. He has been leading research in climate risk assessment and management mainly in food systems and natural resources. Baethgen served as Director of the IRI (International Research Institute for Climate and Society) and as Director of the Center for Agriculture and Food Security at Columbia University. From 2020 to 2025, he was Vice President of the Board of Directors of Uruguay’s INIA (National Institute of Agricultural Research). Baethgen has served as a consultant/adviser for the IADB, the World Bank, CGIAR, and several United Nations agencies. He has also acted as a consultant for governments and private companies in several countries in the Americas. He authored the Second, Third, and Fourth Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). He is a member of the IPCC group that received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. Baethgen earned his PhD and MSc degrees in Environmental Sciences from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA. He holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Uruguay. He has published more than 150 scientific and technical articles.