Nichole Barger
Executive Vice President for Science
Boulder, CO
Nichole Barger Nichole serves as the Executive Vice President for Science for The Nature Conservancy (TNC). © Garrett Herndon
Areas of Expertise
Ecology, sustainable land management and restoration
Biography
Nichole Barger serves as Executive Vice President for Science at The Nature Conservancy (TNC), where she oversees TNC's Global Science function as a member of the Executive Leadership Team. In this role, she ensures science supports conservation, policy and operational decision-making across the organization, and leads a globally distributed team of scientists worldwide.
Her scientific background is in land degradation and restoration ecology, with fieldwork spanning dryland, forest and grassland systems across multiple continents. Over the course of her career, Nichole has worked in close partnership with governments, land managers and local communities to understand the ecological dimensions of land degradation and develop science-based pathways for restoration. She is a Professor Emerita in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Nichole has been active at the science-policy interface throughout her career. She served as a Coordinating Lead Author for the IPBES Global Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment and as Co-Chair of the UNCCD Science-Policy Interface, working with scientists and policymakers to translate evidence into practical guidance for land management and restoration. She also served as Special Advisor to UNCCD.
Prior to her current role, Nichole directed research at the Canyonlands Research Center at the historic Dugout Ranch in southeast Utah and led science for TNC's Utah chapter, including a summer field program for Indigenous students from the Four Corners region. She holds a master's degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and a PhD from Colorado State University.