Joris de Vente is a researcher of the Soil Erosion and Conservation Research group, Spanish National Research Council (CEBAS-CSIC). His research advances interdisciplinary topics related to the impacts of changes in land use, land management and climate on soil and water resources and related ecosystem services from local to regional scales. As he strongly believes in implementation of academic research, he participated in various applied research projects looking for Sustainable Land Management (SLM) solutions to DLDD in collaboration with stakeholders. Working for the Spanish National Research Council in Murcia (CEBAS-CSIC), he currently researches the potential of SLM for climate change adaptation and mitigation and protect ecosystem services in semiarid agro-ecosystems of Africa and southern-Europe. He participated in over 22 (inter)national research projects and is (co)author of over 35 high-impact scientific papers. Through these experiences, he learned that meticulous trans-disciplinary science, well‐designed stakeholder engagement, and tailor-made dissemination of results are required to effectively protect ecosystem services. This combination is the source of inspiration for his present research.