Luke Petersen
Regenerative Agriculture Specialist
Ann Arbor, MI
Luke Petersen Luke Petersen is The Nature Conservancy's Regenerative Agriculture Specialist for North America Agriculture. © Courtesy/Luke Petersen
Areas of Expertise
Regenerative Ag Systems, Ecology, Partnership Building
Biography
Luke Petersen is the North America Agriculture Program’s regenerative agriculture specialist. With over a decade of experience in conservation agriculture, he currently supports the program’s Farmer Advisor strategy. In this role, Luke works with trusted advisors and agribusinesses across the country to advance regenerative agriculture and improve the resiliency and productivity of working lands.
He also serves as the standards and incentives lead for TNC’s U.S. Dairy Program, working with colleagues and partners to implement regenerative practices and deliver their benefits to dairy operations across multiple states.
Prior to joining TNC, Luke worked at the National Wildlife Federation, where he led a national program focused on using behavior change principles and social science to drive broader adoption of conservation practices through tools and messaging.
He also worked as a partner biologist in California through a joint position with Point Blue Conservation Science and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. As a certified conservation planner, he provided on-the-ground technical assistance to farmers and ranchers and conducted long-term ecological monitoring to evaluate the impacts of management changes over time.
Luke holds a M.S. in ecology from University of California, Davis, and a B.A. in biology from Kalamazoo College. He also regeneratively manages his family’s farm in southwest Michigan, which primarily direct markets grass-fed beef.