Nadir Alvarez
An evolutionary biologist, born in Lausanne and raised in Chêne-Bourg (canton of Geneva), Nadir Alvarez studied in Neuchâtel and Montpellier (France). He began his career as an assistant professor at the University of Neuchâtel (2005–2010). He then moved to the University of Lausanne as an Ambizione FNS researcher and FNS Fellowship Professor (2010–2017), before returning to the museum of his childhood in Geneva, where he served as chief curator of the Muséum (2017–2022) and full professor at the University (2020–2024).
In August 2022, Nadir Alvarez returned to Lausanne to oversee the merger of the cantonal museums of zoology, botany, and geology. For a few months, he served as the last director of the first two museums and has since headed the Naturéum. He has also been a tenured professor at the University of Lausanne since 2024.
For him, natural history museums are places where we can rethink and share our relationship with the living world, at the intersection of scientific research, cultural outreach, and societal debate. He advocates for natural history collections as part of the national scientific infrastructure: he serves on the expert advisory board of SwissCollNet (the Swiss network of natural history collections, since 2021), the governance board of the Swiss Biobanking Platform (since 2023), and co-edits the SCNAT’s Biology Roadmap 2029–2032.
At the Naturéum, he curated the exhibition Spécimens 24 (2024–2025, in collaboration with the Cantonal Museum of Archaeology and History), which explored the role of scientific collections, the place of science museums, and how that place is shaped. Nadir Alvarez regularly appears in the media to discuss major issues related to biodiversity. He is also co-author of Bringing Extinct Species Back to Life? (2022, reprinted 2025) and chairs the Pont de Nant Alpine Garden Foundation.