Interdisciplinary conservation scientist, science-policy practitioner, communicator, and change-maker
Dr. Rachel Golden Kroner’s interdisciplinary scientific background, PhD training with the late Dr. Tom Lovejoy (the “Godfather of Biodiversity”), and experiences in government and non-profit organizations have shaped her into an effective, empathetic, evidence-informed, results-oriented, and optimistic conservation leader.
Current roles:
Director, Nature Positive for Oceans, World Wildlife Fund US
Co-chair, International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s World Commission on Protected Areas (IUCN-WCPA) Task Force on Protected Area Downgrading, Downsizing, and Degazettement (PADDD)
Affiliate Faculty, Department of Environmental Science and Policy, George Mason University
(Image credit: Josh Dela Cruz)
Welcome to my page!
I believe that knowledge is fundamental to humanity’s ability to make effective decisions. As an interdisciplinary scientist, I weave approaches from the natural and social sciences and Indigenous and local knowledge, favoring holistic approaches to conserve biodiversity.
“Biodiversity” is the wondrous variety of life on Earth
Posing with a magnificent ceiba tree in the buffer zone of the Tambopata Nature Reserve, Peru. Peru is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world.
Although it is critical, scientific evidence and knowledge cannot change the world on its own. To begin to bridge the gap between evidence and decision-making, I communicate scientific insights to shed light on emerging challenges and evidence-based solutions.
Biodiversity is in crisis. Solutions exist to conserve it for a just and sustainable future.
Figure from IPBES 2024: Evidence-based response options of strategies with transformative potential.
Addressing the biodiversity and climate crises and realizing a just and sustainable future requires transformative change. I contribute to advocating for and implementing change by leading and engaging in diverse coalitions, sharing and integrating knowledges (including Western, Indigenous, and local knowledge), shaping policy, learning from successes and failures, and informing solutions. Although most of my work to-date has contributed to incremental change, limited by existing systems, I aspire to inspire transformative change through everything I do, including through values-based leadership and recognizing that self-transformation can be the first step to inspire system change.
“Transformative change is defined as fundamental, system-wide shifts in views, structures and practices. Deliberate transformative change for a just and sustainable world shifts views, structures and practices in ways that address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and nature's decline.
At the same time, it remains important to recognize and strengthen views, structures and practices that are aligned with generating a just and sustainable world, such as those of many Indigenous Peoples and local communities a fundamental, system-wide reorganization across technological, economic and social factors, including paradigms, goals and values.” - IPBES 2024
Contact
If you would like to get in touch regarding:
Media inquiries;
Opportunities to collaborate on research or other works relevant to my expertise;
Access to full text articles of my publications;
Interest in engaging with the IUCN WCPA Task Force on PADDD;
Examples of how you’ve used my work;
Constructive feedback, as I am always interested in learning and adapting;
then please send me a message through this form. Thank you!