Gretchen Walters

Gretchen Walters is an Assistant Professor at the University of Lausanne's Institute of Geography and Sustainability. She is cross-trained in both biology and anthropology. She holds a PhD from the University College London in Anthropology and Masters and Bachelor’s degree in botany from Arizona State University and Ohio University respectively. For many years, she lived and worked in Central and West Africa, first coordinating the Gabon program of the Missouri Botanical Garden and later the Regional (subnational) forest program of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and later in their Global Forest Program based in Switzerland. During this time, she co-led several initiatives, which aimed to bring social science thinking into nature conservation, including the Responsive Forest Governance Initiative, in collaboration with the University of Illinois and the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa. She works at the interface of science and practice; and social and biological sciences. Her research focuses on the practice and politics of conservation, and the cultural and historical context of landscapes. She is an honorary staff member of the University College London's Department of Anthropology, and a member of three of IUCN’s Commissions. As part of her university mandate to link research and practice, she regularly engages in conservation projects and the private sector, bringing a social science perceptive.