Graeme graduated from the VSF in 1968, completed his BSc in Forestry at the University of Melbourne in 1971 and graduated with a PhD in Zoology from Monash University in 1981. He spent the first thirteen years of his career working on various areas of flora and fauna ecological survey and research, including his PhD. The title of his PhD thesis was “The effects of fragmentation and disturbance of forest on mammals in a region of south Gippsland, Victoria”.

Upon completion of his PhD, Graeme was appointed to the role of Manager, Ecological Research Group for the FCV, and conducted various survey and research work from the Mountain Forest Research Station at Sherbrooke. Graeme moved to the role of Assistant Regional Manager, Resource Conservation in the Geelong Region of the Department of Conservation, Forests and Lands when it was formed during 1985. He continued to work in leadership roles associated with natural resource management, including seven years with the Fisheries Division of the Victorian Department responsible for natural resource management, until 1998, when he took early retirement from the Victorian Public Service.

A move to the Northern Territory in 1999 saw Graeme based in Darwin for the next 18 years, during which he led Greening Australia NT for a little over four years, spent five and a half years in the leadership role at Council on the Ageing NT and dedicated a further six and a half years in the part-time role as Chief Executive Officer, Urban Development Institute of Australia NT.