Join us in giving Sustainable Conservation’s newest staff members, Wendy Rash and Kristen Murphy, a warm welcome!
Wendy Rash is the organization’s new Project Director of the Water for the Future program. She has been working at the intersection of agriculture and conservation for more than 20 years in California. Prior to joining Sustainable Conservation, she served as a Soil Conservationist, District Conservationist, and State Water Quality Specialist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Throughout her career, she has built partnerships with agencies, agricultural groups, researchers, and non-governmental organizations at local, regional, and state levels to promote, implement, and innovate conservation solutions for private lands.
With Sustainable Conservation, Wendy continues to link agricultural systems, natural resources, and people through collaborative partnerships that integrate scientific understanding into real-world implementation. Her focus is on groundwater sustainability and water quality protection through conservation practices on working lands.
Wendy is a graduate of UC Davis with Master’s degrees in both International Agricultural Development and Soil Science. Wendy has been a Certified Crop Adviser since 2010. In her free time she likes to enjoy the still waters of California on her paddleboard.
Kristen Murphy joined Sustainable Conservation’s Solutions in Our Soil team as a Project Manager, Soil Health + Water. Kristen holds a degree in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems from UC Davis and has worked to advance agroecosystems, just food systems, and and Native-led stewardship for the last 10 years.
She is a co-founding partner of JAIDE Conservation Collective, a BIPOC and women-led conservation organization. Through JAIDE, Kristen assisted organizations to achieve their missions through organizational strategy and development, program management, facilitation and advocacy, while weaving justice and equity principles throughout. Prior to JAIDE, Kristen worked for the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts (CARCD) as the Agriculture Program Manager. She is an Independent Advisory Council member of the Better Food Policy Fund and sits on the Board of Ag Innovations Network.
We hope you’ll get to know Wendy and Kristen as they help our teams tackle some of California’s most challenging and pressing natural resource conservation issues!