Elle Benson

Elle Benson serves as the External Affairs Associate at TNC New Mexico, where she supports the team by tracking and implementing state and federal policy. Born and raised in southwestern New Mexico, Elle calls the Gila National Forest and Gila River home. Elle holds an MS in environmental science and policy, for which she used sociohydrology to better understand the ways that people and water systems shape each other in the Cliff/Gila Valley. She then served New Mexico as a staff member in both the U.S. House and Senate before coming back to the state to work with communities to leverage federal funding through technical assistance and policy reform.