Rachel Golden-Kroner
Director of Nature Positive for Oceans
Dr. Rachel Golden Kroner is the Director of Nature Positive for Oceans at WWF-US.
Rachel is an interdisciplinary conservation scientist with science, policy, and practice experience in marine, terrestrial, and fresh water, and across natural and social science disciplines. In her role at WWF-US, Rachel provides thought leadership to inform the emerging concept of Nature Positive, especially in its application to the ocean. This includes efforts to develop evidence-based frameworks for businesses and engage with seascapes – integrated place-based approaches for durable, equitable, and effective ocean conservation. Rachel has published in leading scientific journals including Science and PNAS, and is an avid communicator, with earned media coverage in outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, and Rolling Stone.
Prior to joining WWF-US, Rachel completed a AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship at the US Agency for International Development (USAID). Her research has included a focus on examining legal rollbacks to protected areas with Conservation International and seafood fraud and mislabeling with Oceana. Rachel also recently co-led a World Commission on Protected Areas Task Force examining the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on conservation efforts.
Dr. Golden Kroner holds a BA in Biology from Boston University, an MS in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology from the University of Maryland College Park, and a PhD in Environmental Science and Policy from George Mason University, where she was advised by the late Tom Lovejoy. She is currently a Fellow with the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Transformative Change Assessment, and an active member of the World Commission on Protected Areas and Society for Conservation Biology.