Rima Mekdaschi Studer is a Senior Research Scientist at the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE), University of Bern. As an agronomist she has wide experience and skills in plant production with a focus on drylands (soil – plant – water relations). In her 15 years with WOCAT she successfully linked research to practice, and was heavily involved in producing knowledge products on Sustainable Land Management (SLM), as well as networking and capacity building.