Associate Chief Louis Aspey
As Associate Chief, Louis ensures that the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) conservation mission is carried out in line with the Chief’s priorities and with an emphasis on doing what’s best for the agency’s customers.
He provides national leadership and coordination across the following NRCS deputy areas: Programs, Soil Science and Resource Assessment, Science and Technology, and Management and Strategy.
Louis has served in multiple leadership positions with NRCS and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during his 30-year career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Chief for Management and Strategy. In that position, he led the establishment of the Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production and oversaw workload analysis, budget formulation and execution, outreach and partnerships, strategic support services, and international programs.
Prior to arriving at NRCS’s National Headquarters, Louis served as the State Conservationist in West Virginia. During his tenure, he, along with his staff and partners, addressed broad-scale flooding, water supply, and food resiliency challenges. These issues are some of the greatest barriers to economic prosperity in Appalachia and often disproportionately impact underserved and disadvantaged communities.
Louis, a native of southwestern Pennsylvania, is proud to be the first in his family to attend college. He earned an undergraduate degree in civil engineering from Geneva College in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, and a graduate degree in public administration from American University in Washington, D.C. In his free time, Louis enjoys fishing, camping, traveling, and exploring the outdoors with his wife, Karen, and beloved rescue dog Oatie.