After an extensive search to fulfill the role of executive director for The Nature Conservancy in Indiana (TNC), Cassie Hauswald has been selected to lead the state’s largest conservation organization as it tackles the toughest environmental challenges of our time.
“Cassie brings more than 25 years of conservation and leadership experience to this role and has deep expertise in working with landowners, collaborating with partners and engaging donors,” said Michael Reuter, Midwest division director for TNC. “Indeed, relationships have driven Cassie’s conservation approach for more than two decades.”
Hauswald joined TNC in 2000 as the Blue River conservation coordinator. She went on to serve as a freshwater ecologist and, most recently, led the Indiana Conservation Program. Her leadership also includes a two-year tenure as director of freshwater programs at the Sam Shine Foundation, where she advanced strategic initiatives to protect rivers.
“This is an incredible opportunity and I’m humbled and honored to take this position,” Hauswald said. “Growing up along the Ohio River in southern Indiana instilled in me a love of the outdoors that has only deepened over my time spent working for TNC. I want every Hoosier to feel that same connection to nature.”
Hauswald’s recent work has included leading a team of more than 40 staff to restore nature to improve the health of land, rivers and streams in Indiana. She catalyzed river connectivity by initiating the removal of low-head dams in southern Indiana. Of note is the work she has done to restore Indiana’s freshwater mussel populations, including the repatriation of species to rivers with improved water quality. Connecting conservation actions to improved river health is important because our quality of life is intimately linked to water quality, she noted.
“Cassie is a freshwater ecologist by training and a conservationist at heart,” said Larry Clemens, TNC Indiana’s state director who is retiring after more than 30 years with TNC. “She appreciates that TNC operates in the win-win space of what is good for conservation tends to be what is good for people.”
Trustees and community leaders who heard the announcement praised the selection.
“This is a great choice at the right time,” said Will Ditzler, former chair of TNC Indiana’s Board of Trustees. “Cassie has the experience, connections and the passion to lead us into the next decade and beyond.”
The organization recently embarked on a five-year implementation plan to reach its ambitious 2030 conservation goals and an $80 million campaign to fund this important work.
“Now is the time for the next generation of leaders to take us to where we need to be,” said Jane Stautz, chair of TNC Indiana’s Board of Trustees. “We’re in the middle of a critical decade that will change the course of our planet forever. Cassie is someone who can help us make the best choices for people and nature moving forward.”
Hauswald was born and raised in Corydon, Indiana, where her passion for fencerows and forests was cultivated as the sidekick to her grandfather and his bird dogs, and later as a Girl Scout. When she isn’t working, she and her husband, Jeff, enjoy marathon running, travelling and hiking with their three flat-coated retrievers.
