Jennifer Chastain, Resource Conservationist
Jennifer grew up in Clarksville, Tennessee and always loved the outdoors. She said, "From an early age, I was taught an appreciation for the land God gave us." Jennifer's appreciation of the land moved her get her degree in Agriculture Science (with concentration in soils) from Austin Peay State University.
In her sophomore year of college, Jennifer started working for the Soil Conservation Service (now Natural Resources Conservation Service) as a soil conservation aide and then as a soil conservation technician in Clarksville, working part-time during school and full-time during the summer break. Just before her senior year, Jennifer became a soil scientist student trainee in the Centerville, Tennessee field office, which helped her launch her career after college when she became the soil conservationist in Paris, Tennessee.
A year later, she transferred to Springfield, Tennessee where she served as the soil conservationist for the next ten years before joining the Kentucky NRCS staff as a resource conservationist in 2006. She was first introduced to the Kentucky staff when she assisted the state with a heavy Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) workload. When the resource conservationist position was advertised, Jennifer applied and was selected.
In her current position, Jennifer assists with contract administration and other Farm Bill program implementation efforts for Christian, Trigg, Hopkins, Muhlenberg and Butler Counties. There is a lot of travel involved, but Jennifer said, "I enjoy traveling to different counties and seeing the diversity of each place; the people, the land, and the differences in farming operations."
Jennifer is proud of the work that NRCS does to assist landowners with making sound natural resource conservation decisions on their land. She recalls interviewing a farmer one day for a success story and feeling so proud when he talked about the difference NRCS assistance through conservation programs had made for his family and his farming operation. Knowing that the work she does day in and day out makes a positive impact on the lives of others is what has kept her career going for over 20 years.
Married to a 3rd generation farmer and having a 4 year old (Logan), keeps Jennifer busy, but she still finds time to enjoy fishing, playing volleyball, and shopping for antiques (collecting old tobacco tins).