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Ben Dair Rothfuss

Program Manager, Impact Management, NatureVest

Portland, Oregon

Program Manager

Ben Rothfuss Ben Rothfuss © Paul Ruffolo

Areas of Expertise

Conservation finance, forestry, renewables,

Media Contact

Andrew Tingley
ph. +1 917-270-1313
Email:

Biography

Ben joined the Conservancy in 2022 in the role of Program Manager for NatureVest's Impact Management team. He supports the implementation the Sustainable Water Impact Fund and collaboration with BTG Pactual Timber Investment Group.

Ben is part of the NatureVest Impact Management team. The team is working towards the following key objectives:

  • Establishing minimum standards for investments to avoid negative environmental impacts
  • Identifying opportunities for investments to deliver impact alongside returns
  • Advising on best practices for land and water management
  • Measuring climate and biodiversity outcomes

    • Ben is currently focused on the following:

  • Bringing an economic lens to restoration and stewardship goals
  • Connecting projects with sources of conservation finance and funding
  • Evaluating supply chain sustainability certifications

    • Ben’s professional highlights include guiding a water utility during a five-year property acquisition funded by Forest Legacy Program. He also worked on piloting soil carbon sampling protocols for a new regenerative grazing program that will be launched by Country Natural Beef.

    Ben won the National Renewable Energy Laboratory “SunShot” prize for team work on crowdfunding solar for community facilities.

    Prior to joining TNC, Ben spent seven years working across the Forest, Rangelands, and Energy Programs for a Portland-based conservation nonprofit, Sustainable Northwest. Prior to this, Ben consulted on various projects for Earth Economics, Greenwood Resources, and spent a year in Ho Chi Minh City with WWF Vietnam and the WWF Asia Pacific Growth Strategy team.

    Ben lives in Portland and volunteers as a Nordic skiing instructor with Oregon’s mountaineering club The Mazamas. He enjoys walking his dog Percy and cat Xena, maintains a small vegetable garden, and especially likes cello pieces written by impressionist period composers when he is not playing covers of pop songs. As a bilingual German and English speaker, Ben first went to a German-language elementary school in Tübingen before attending a Waldorf school in Oregon.

    Education and Designations:

  • MEM in Economics at the Yale School of the Environment, Connecticut
  • BA in Biology at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania


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