Ermias Betemariam is a land health scientist with research interest in land degradation, landscape ecology, restoration ecology, soil carbon dynamics and spatial sciences. He holds B.Sc. degree in Forestry from Alemaya University, Ethiopia; MSc. Degree in Geo-information Sciences and Earth Observation from ITC, The Netherlands; and PhD in Ecology and Natural Resources from University of Bonn, Germany. He worked as a watershed management expert in small and medium scale irrigation projects in Ethiopia. He served as a lecturer in Mekelle University, Ethiopia. Currently he is a land health scientist in the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) with major responsibilities of leading the land health surveillance the Land Health Decisions Theme. He is involved in the development of land health measurement and monitoring protocols, lead research projects across Africa, resource mobilization and capacity development. He is also a focal point for the UNCCD at ICRAF. He has published more than thirty articles in peer reviewed journals mainly in areas of ecology, land use cover dynamics, land degradation and restoration.