Walter E. Baethgen is Senior Research Scientist, Director of the Regional and Sectoral Research program in the IRI and served as Acting Director of the Agriculture and Food Security Center, both at The Earth Institute, Columbia University. He has established regional programs that aim to improve climate risk assessment and risk management in agriculture, health, water resources, and natural ecosystems. In 2020 he became the Vice-president of the Board of Directors of INIA (Uruguayan National Agricultural Research Institute).