University of Lausanne
Institute of geography and sustainability
Mouline - Géopolis
CH-1015 Lausanne
Graden Z.L. Froese
Graden Z.L. Froese works to span science, policy, and action to support Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and grassroots civil society in the conservation of biocultural diversity. He is currently the CEO of Freshwater Life, a young organization saving freshwater species from extinction by restoring relationships in rivers and lakes suffering from invasive species.
Graden has mostly worked in tropical forests, in the endemic hotspot of Sulawesi, the Colombian Andes, the Karen's Indigenous Protected Areas of Kawthoolei, and, for the last decade, in the ancestral forests of Gabon (where he the was co-founder of the Nsombou Abalghe-Dzal Association, NADA, a local NGO that catalyzed a national movement to recognize and secure community conserved areas).
Graden grew up and currently lives in Coast Salish territories on Vancouver Island, Canada. He did his undergraduate studies in conservation biology at the University of British Columbia and received a PhD in the environment from Duke University in 2023.
Graden's 2023 dissertation, Paraecology for Community Bushmeat Hunting Monitoring, Modelling, and Management, led to his current collaboration with mentor Gretchen Walters at UNIL, on the community governance and management (and mapping!) of biocultural diversity in Gabon. His scientific work today is centered on supporting and mentoring conservation scientists in Gabon and beyond.
