Our People

Ben Wickerham

Program Director, Agriculture, Michigan

Lansing, MI

Staff member Ben Wickerham in a row of interseeded corn in the Saginaw Bay watershed.

Areas of Expertise

Agriculture, Soil Health, Water Conservation

Resources

Biography

Ben joined The Nature Conservancy (TNC) in 2015 and currently serves as the Michigan agriculture program director. In this role, Ben (along with a talented team of resource professionals) works to find innovative solutions to conservation adoption barriers; perennially delivering a host of projects to increase awareness, acceptance and adoption of soil health and nutrient reduction practices in Michigan’s Saginaw and Western Lake Erie Basins. Prior to joining TNC, he spent two years as a watershed technician for the Gratiot Conservation District, piloting an early sediment-reduction pay-for-performance project in the upper Saginaw Bay watershed.

Ben has over 15 years of experience delivering agricultural conservation programs throughout the state of Michigan. His background as a resource professional has included roles with Pheasants Forever, Michigan Natural Features Inventory, the Michigan DNR and several soil conservation districts across the Lower Peninsula. Ben has also been an independent contractor for field and stream monitoring assignments and served on Saginaw Bay R, C & D’s executive council from 2018 to 2020. Ben received his bachelor of science degree in zoology from Michigan State University in 2006.

Outside of TNC’s ag conservation work, Ben spends his time coaching youth baseball, serving in youth ministry and gardening. A native Michigander, Ben currently lives in the Flint River Watershed with his wife Elizabeth and their two children, Gus and Wren.

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