Daniela Kleinschmit is Professor and head of the chair for Forest and Environmental Policy at the University of Freiburg, Germany, and since 2024 the first female President of the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO). 

She has been active in IUFRO since 2000, holding different positions such as Deputy Coordinator and Coordinator of various IUFRO Task Forces, Coordinator of IUFRO Division 9 - Forest Policy and Economics (2010 to 2019), and IUFRO Vice-President for Divisions (2019-2024). She has been involved in IUFRO's Global Forest Expert Panel (GFEP) on International Forest Regimes and on Food Security and Nutrition, and served as the scientific coordinator of a GFEP rapid response assessment on Illegal Logging and Timber Trade. 

She has research projects on national, EU and international levels and published a number of peer reviewed articles, book chapters, edited volumes and conference papers on a variety of forest and agricultural policy topics. Her research interests comprise land use policies with a focus on forest as well as agricultural policy, bioeconomy, international forest governance, policy integration and communication. 

Daniela Kleinschmit is actively engaged in several science-policy interactions at different political levels and has facilitated research management in different roles, amongst others as Dean of the Faculty for Environment and Natural Resources and as Vice-President of University Freiburg.