Prior to joining Cornell University, Herrero served as the Chief Scientist of Sustainability at Australia's National Science Agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). He also accumulated 13 years of experience at the International Livestock Research Institute, where he held various leadership roles. He is a Co-Chair of the Global Food Systems Countdown initiative, Coordinating Lead Author of the
IPBES Nexus Assessment, EAT-Lancet Commissioner, he is in the steering group of the global True Cost of Food Coalition, and on the executive committee of the Global Burden of Animal Diseases programme. He was a member of the Scientific Group leading Action Track 2 - Shifts to Sustainable Food Consumption of the UN Food Systems Summit. He has held senior positions and was lead author of the IPCC Special Report on climate change, food security and land, the IPCC 5th and 6th Assessment Reports (lead and contributor author) in the area of agricultural greenhouse gas mitigation, a commissioner in the EAT-Lancet Commission on Sustainable Diets,
The Lancet Commission on Obesity, and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences high level panel on the Future of Agriculture and Food. He is an editor of Global Food Security, a guest editor for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (PNAS) since 2013, and is the editorial boards of
The Lancet Planetary Health,
Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, and
Tropical Grasslands. In 2019, he was awarded a Fellowship to the Royal Society of Edinburgh for his contributions to the sustainability of food systems. He is an editor of the Global Food Security journal and is also on numerous editorial boards. == Education ==