The New River Conservancy (NRC) is incredibly pleased to announce their new Director of Conservation, Kat Diersen, who began her tenure with the non-profit in mid-October. The Director of Conservation will be based in West Jefferson, N.C. and will work with a broad range of partners and the public to develop, fund and implement stream and floodplain restoration, land protection and other conservation projects. Diersen will serve the watershed-wide role as lead for the NRC internal “River Ecology” team, ensuring that projects throughout the watershed bear the NRC hallmarks of quality, community engagement, efficiency and transparency.
Conserving biodiversity and wild places is Diersen’s personal and professional passion, and she loves pursuing it here in the oldest mountain range in the world. Kat brings 20 years of experience in environmental policy and partner-driven habitat conservation to her role of Director of Conservation at New River Conservancy. “Good science and sound policy are foundational to any large scale conservation effort, however, in my experience, the most enduring conservation outcomes are those that support, and are supported by, the communities that they affect.”
Andrew Downs, Executive Director of the NRC, says “Through her experience, professionalism and dedication to the resource, Kat has the ability to bring an increased value to all the work we do. We are incredibly happy to welcome her to the high country and the NRC team”.
Her early career was spent as a conservation planner at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, where she guided the development of landscape-scale habitat conservation initiatives and facilitated stakeholder engagement in wildlife conservation efforts throughout the state.
After pursuing graduate studies in environmental policy, Diersen joined Defenders of Wildlife, where she focused on conserving imperiled aquatic species across Southern Appalachia through coalition-building, policy advocacy, and the development of novel, incentive-based initiatives to restore habitat on agricultural lands. At the Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy, she was responsible for advancing the organization’s mission to protect herpetofauna and their habitats on private lands throughout the U.S.
Kat is delighted to bring her background and experience home to her beloved Southern Appalachia, and to focus on collaborating with partners and landowners to build healthy and resilient ecosystems across the New River watershed. Diersen says “I deeply admire NRC’s origin story and roots in the fight for a free flowing river, and its ongoing efforts to support local communities by protecting the health of the river and its watershed. It’s one of the reasons I knew right away that NRC would be a great fit for me.”
Of the New River, Diersen says, “This is among the oldest, most biodiverse, and most beautiful places anyone could hope to live and work. I’m so lucky to be in a role that lets me be close to it every day, and I’ll try to do it justice!”
New River Conservancy is a 501(c)3 non-profit whose mission for over 50 years has been to protect the woods, waters and wildlife of the New River watershed. Their primary programs include riverbank and riparian restoration, land protection, advocacy, volunteer-based river clean-ups, water quality monitoring, and community engagement. For more information please visit www.newriverconservancy.org or contact info@newriverconservancy.org
