Tom has 46 years of professional experience at the field, state, regional, and national levels in support of public-private partnership efforts to assist farmers, ranchers, and forest stewards with their voluntary conservation needs.  He joined Ecosystem Services Exchange (ESE) in early 2020 after retiring from a 40-year career with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).  Tom’s USDA experience was gained while working for three different agencies, including 37 years with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).   During his USDA career, Tom held 16 different positions in nine separate locations in four states and National Headquarters.  He was USDA Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) Mission Area Deputy Chief Operating Officer, NRCS Associate Chief for Operations (Chief Operating Officer), NRCS Regional Conservationist for the 12-state Central U.S. Region, and also held five other national-level NRCS Senior Executive Service positions, including leading all conservation programs, clean water and animal husbandry programs, financial assistance programs, conservation technical assistance and operations, and information technology.  Prior to these positions, he was the NRCS State Conservationist for Illinois.

Tom has traveled extensively throughout the U.S. on private lands conservation issues and opportunities.   He is experienced in all aspects of the development, delivery, and leadership of efforts to support voluntary conservation including conservation and watershed planning and implementation, science and technology development and transfer, technical assistance quality assurance and optimization, and supporting information technology tools.  Tom has a B.S. in forest management from Rutgers University, an M.S. in renewable natural resources conservation from the University of Connecticut and attended Duke University’s Public Policy Program for one year through a competitive selection under NRCS’s graduate school program offering.