Daniel Murdiyarso, is currently a Senior Associate after serving Center for International Forestry Research – World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) for more than 22 years. Up until 31 December 2025 he held a position of Principal Scientist at the institute. His first degree in Forestry was obtained from Bogor Agricultural University (IPB University), Indonesia in 1977, and his PhD from the Department of Meteorology, University of Reading, UK was awarded in 1985. Since 1997 he was a full Professor of Atmospheric Science at the Department of Geophysics and Meteorology, IPB University until he retired in October 2025.

Dr Murdiyarso received several prestigious awards/prizes, including Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Helsinki, Finland, in 2022; The Habibie Prize from the foundation of the 3rd President of the Republic of Indonesia, 2020; The Sarwono Award, dedicated to the founder of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences, in 2088; The Achmad Bakrie Award of Science Category for Scientific Achievement and Promotion on Science-Policy Dialogues, in 2010; and part of the Nobel Peace Prize Winning IPCC in 2007 as Convening Lead Author of IPCC Reports.

His research works are related to land-use change and biogeochemical cycles, climate change mitigation and adaptation, and wetland science. He has published more than 150 articles in high impact peer-reviewed journals with more than 30,000 citations, resulting in h-index of 79 in 2025. Among other tools he contributed to developing are (i) Protocol for the MRV of Carbon Stocks and GHG Emissions in Tropical Peatlands, (ii) Protocol for the MRV of Carbon Stocks and GHG Emissions in Mangrove Forests, (iii) Field and Laboratory Manual for Unsupported 210Pb Analyses. Dr Murdiyarso played key roles in the establishment of the International Tropical Peatland Center, and World Mangrove Center. He is the founder of Blue Carbon Deck, a Transformative Partnership Platform established at CIFOR-ICRAF.

He served the Government of Indonesia as Deputy Minister of Environment for 2 years, during which he was also the national focal point of the UNFCCC and CBD. Since 2002 Professor Murdiyarso has been a member of the Indonesian Academy of Sciences (AIPI) and elected as the President of AIPI in 2023 to take the office until 2028.