Sustainable Grazing Gets Fresh Start in Wisconsin
Get to know Lexi Wellman, The Nature Conservancy’s new Grazing Specialist in the Upper Midwest.
Media Contacts
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Beth Schwingel
Media Relations Manager
Phone: 630-414-0901
Email: beth.schwingel@tnc.org
The Nature Conservancy in Wisconsin is pleased to announce that Lexi Wellman has joined the regenerative agriculture team in a newly created Grazing Specialist role as of summer of 2026. Her work will focus on the Upper Mississippi River Foodscape region, which includes the Driftless portions of Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota. She will be responsible for leading efforts to accelerate and scale the adoption of rotational grazing and pastured livestock, which have been shown to improve biodiversity and water quality in the region.
In her role, Lexi will work together with partners to scale grazing practices across the landscape by supporting farmer-to-farmer learning, leveraging new markets, connecting farmer networks, advancing technical and financial assistance, and informing policies related to grazing.
Lexi was raised on her family’s fourth generation dairy farm in Trempealeau County, where she developed an early passion for agriculture and land stewardship. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, double majoring in Plant Biology and Life Sciences Communication. She later returned to UW to complete a master’s degree in Environment and Resources, where her research focused on the impacts of managed grazing on water quality at the landscape scale.
Prior to joining TNC, Lexi served as a Research Specialist for the Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial (WICST), where she managed the agronomic and research needs of UW–Madison’s long-term agricultural experiment. Lexi also worked as an Outreach Specialist for the Grassland 2.0 project, facilitating collaborative conversations around sustainable agricultural transformations.
“We’re thrilled to have Lexi join our team at TNC,” said Emily Zimmerman, Wisconsin’s Director of Agricultural Strategies. “Lexi brings valuable experience and expertise to our team. Growing up on a dairy farm in southwestern Wisconsin, Lexi has long known the challenges and opportunities livestock farmers face in our region – and she’s dedicated her career to identifying solutions that increase the social, economic, and environmental resiliency of our agricultural communities. We’re excited to continue to deepen our investment in regenerative agriculture that works for nature and people.”
Lexi will be an impactful addition to the Foodscape team and our regenerative agriculture work in Wisconsin and the Mississippi River Basin. Her position is generously funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Learn more about our work in the Upper Mississippi River Foodscape.
The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world’s toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more resilient. The Nature Conservancy is working to make a lasting difference around the world in 86 countries and territories (41 by direct conservation impact and 45 through partners) through a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. For more news, visit our newsroom or follow The Nature Conservancy on LinkedIn.