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State Office Contacts

Tennessee State Office

Location
801 Broadway, 675 US Courthouse
Nashville, TN 37203
Phone
Fax
855-591-1284
Mailing Address
801 Broadway, 675 US Courthouse
Nashville, TN 37203
Location Home Page

With the mission of “Helping people help the land,” the Natural Resources Conservation Service provides products and services that enable people to be good stewards of the Nation’s soil, water, and related natural resources on private lands.

Nashville

Welcome to NRCS Tennessee

stc tn sheldon hightower

Sheldon Hightower 

Sheldon Hightower has served as the NRCS Tennessee state conservationist, headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee since August 2018.  

 A native of Ada, Oklahoma, Hightower earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture Business, with a minor in Crop and Soil Science in 1999 from Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma. He was raised on a farm in Ada where he and his family grew vegetable crops and managed a cow/calf operation. 

He began his NRCS career in 1996 as a student trainee in Oklahoma and Minnesota. He worked as a soil conservationist in Minnesota for two years before being selected as a district conservationist in Ulysses, Kansas. Hightower served as acting director for the Financial Assistance Programs Division in Washington, D.C., and as acting assistant state conservationist for field operations in Pennsylvania, New York, and Kansas. Hightower recently completed an extended congressional detail on Capitol Hill and served as acting Southeast Regional Conservationist in 2025.  

He also served as the acting state conservationist in Nevada and Kansas and as a member of the National Civil Rights Advisory Committee to the Chief. He is a board advisor to the Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee Southeast Leadership Development Program, an 18-month program he spearheaded in 2019. He serves on the Hiring Strategy Task Force team and as the Southeast representative on the National Field Office Technical Guide Committee.  

During his NRCS tenure, Hightower has served 15 years in leadership positions while actively promoting mentorship and career development within the workforce.  Hightower has earned numerous honors and awards that recognizes significant contributions towards achieving NRCS’s mission.  

In his spare time, Hightower enjoys hunting, fishing, walking, reading, and spending time on his family farm. 

USDA NRCS • Southeast Region 


 

Tennessee Leadership Team

State Office
Name Position Phone Number Email
Sheldon Hightower
State Conservationist
Vacant
Executive Assistant to the State Conservationist
Vacant
Assistant State Conservationist - Management and Strategy
Garrett E. Morris
Assistant State Conservationist - Programs
Trevor Hunt
Assistant State Conservationist - Partnership Coordinator
Linda Ortiz
State Resource Conservationist
Vacant
State Conservation Engineer
Vacant
State Soil Scientist
Denise (Rossi) Pedroza-Bertrand
State Public Affairs Officer
Harold Pettigrew III
State Outreach Coordinator
Fredrick D. Walker
State Outreach Coordinator
Jamie Quarfeld
State Urban Conservationist
Area 1 - Jackson Area (West Tennessee)
Name Position Phone Number Email
Joshua Richardson
Assistant State Conservationist - Field Operations
Area 2 - Murfreesboro Area (Middle Tennessee)
Name Position Phone Number Email
Chris Wolkonowski
Assistant State Conservationist - Field Operations
Area 3 - Cookeville Area (Cumberland Plateau)
Name Position Phone Number Email
Arthur "A.J." Hawkins III
Assistant State Conservationist - Field Operations
Area 4 - Knoxville Area (East Tennessee)
Name Position Phone Number Email
Matt Feno
Assistant State Conservationist - Field Operations
NRCS - National Wild Turkey Federation Liaison
Name Position Phone Number Email
Vacant
NRCS - National Wild Turkey Federation Liaison