Mountain & Prairie Podcast

Nichole Barger is an ecologist, former university professor, and the current deputy chief scientist and lead global scientist for The Nature Conservancy. She earned her master’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley and her PhD from Colorado State University, and her career has included extensive time researching, teaching, and practicing on-the-ground, frontline conservation on issues including land degradation, restoration, and more. Prior to assuming her current position at TNC, she was the research director of the Canyonlands Research Center located at the Dugout Ranch, which you may remember as the subject of a Mountain & Prairie episode back in August of 2024.  Given her distinguished career as a scientist, you might be surprised to learn that Nichole never considered pursuing science as a vocation until the second half of her time in college. She grew up in small-town Indiana, and, although she was extremely curious, a great student, and a voracious reader, she was not particularly e