Nathan Hilbert is the Private Land Conservation Manager at TennGreen Land Conservancy, where he works with landowners to find win-win outcomes for nature, communities, and landowners alike. Nathan’s non-linear career path has taken him from academia, where he researched local food systems, to Bangladesh, where he developed monitoring and evaluation systems for USAID, to a farmers’ market booth selling his own bean-to-bar chocolate. The common thread across his career has always been improving the lives of the communities he works with and leaving a place better than he found it. His master’s degree in community development, along with many mentors to learn from, put a fine point on the potential for thoughtful planning, local partnerships, and data-driven strategies to create lasting impact. Prior to joining TennGreen, Nathan served as a Community Planner with the National Park Service, providing technical assistance to rural Appalachian organizations. His work in community-based conservation and partnership development laid the foundation for his current role. At home on his Grainger County homestead, Nathan usually has several projects underway. He can often be found turning compost, milling timbers, tinkering with a tractor, tending mushroom logs, or watching for the first sprouts of a new cover crop.
Nathan’s Favorite Hiking Spot:
Savage Gulf State Park
