Andrea Beste is an agricultural scientist, graduate geographer and soil expert. She studied Geography Studies at the University of Mainz, with focus on “Site-specific agriculture in the tropics and mid-latitudes” and received her PhD in agricultural sciences (organic and conventional crop production) at the Giessen University in 2002. Founder of the Institute for Soil Conservation & Sustainable Agriculture. Since 2008 she has worked as a free political advisor to the European Parliament, the German Bundestag and various German Federal State Parliaments on environmental, agricultural and food policy. Since 2017 Beste has been a permanent member of the Advisory Expert Group for Technical Advice on Organic Farming Practice of the EU Commission. Starting from 2020, she is also a member of Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative.