Fred Boltz joined the Rockefeller Foundation in 2013. As Managing Director for Ecosystems, Dr. Boltz brought to the Foundation scientific expertise in economics and ecology, combined with practical knowledge of climate change, freshwater and food security issues. His work enhanced the Foundation’s global portfolio as we expand our investments in revaluing ecosystems as an underpinning of human well-being, resilience and equitable growth.
Dr. Boltz has deep experience implementing programs in Africa, Asia and South America. For much of the last decade, Dr. Boltz served as Conservation International’s lead technical advisor on conservation strategy and practice, providing guidance to staff and partners in over 30 countries on marine and terrestrial conservation, community based conservation, ecotourism, enterprise development. In 2002, Dr. Boltz worked on a post-genocide recovery effort in Rwanda, where he designed a program of economic revitalization in communities buffering the Nyungwe National Park. His immersion in development practice traces to 1992, when Dr. Boltz established Conservation International’s first protected area conservation and rural development project in the eastern rainforest of Madagascar.
Dr. Boltz holds a Ph.D. in Natural Resources Economics from the University of Florida, and earned his B.A. in East Asian Studies from Duke University. He has published actively in leading economic and environmental journals and has co-edited current books on climate change and ecosystem services. A native English speaker, Dr. Boltz is fluent in both French and Spanish, and conversant in Portuguese, Malagasy and Mandarin.
Authored Content
Apr 24 2017 Blog Post Natural Capital and Its Role in Investment Risk and Return As we approached The Rockefeller Foundation’s Centennial in 2013, we asked the question—what must we do for the next 100 years to fulfill our enduring mission of improving the well-being of humanity? Our inescapable conclusion was that preserving the planetary conditions—the climate, ecosystem functions and services, and vital natural resources that provide the environment in […]
Sep 21 2016 Blog Post Freshwater Resilience and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development This post is part of a series on Advancing the Global Goals. Fresh water is life for humankind and for all living creatures. Water’s fundamental contribution to human well-being and to any prospect of sustainable development is highlighted across the 2030 Agenda, which recognizes water as indispensable to achieving most—and arguably all—of the sustainable development goals. […]
Aug 30 2016 Blog Post Take a Fluid Approach to Build Fresh Water Resilience A version of this post originally appeared on devex. Water is a dynamic and variable resource, with shifting and changing states and flows. In one of our more foolish endeavors, however, rather than embrace this dynamism, humans have continually tried—and failed—to control water. We succeed—for a time. Sometimes even for decades. But these are pyrrhic […]
Aug 29 2016 Blog Post The Promise Of Freshwater Resilience A version of this post originally appeared on Forbes. From flooding in Louisiana and Shaanxi, China to droughts in Brazil and southern Africa, just the past week has been full of headlines about water. Crisis seems the new normal, and whether too much or too little, a water crisis is occurring somewhere in the world […]
Dec 08 2015 Report Incentive-Based Instruments for Water Management Human transformation of freshwater ecosystems is rapidly exceeding capacity required to sustain the conditions we need to survive and thrive. Water crises are already impacting people around the globe—from river basins in California and China, to the cities of São Palo and Bangkok. Under current population and growth trends, the 2030 Water Resources Group predicts […]