Terry Cook has been named State Director for The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee, following a six-month national search.
Terry Cook
Cook comes to The Nature Conservancy’s Tennessee Chapter from The Trustees of Reservations, the oldest land trust in the United States, where he served as the Northeast Regional Director. There Cook managed a staff of more than 40 full-time employees and a $6.5 million budget.
“Terry is coming to Tennessee with a tremendous background and leadership skills which we strongly believe will vigorously continue to expand our conservation efforts in the state,” said Edgar Faust, chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Nature Conservancy’s Tennessee Chapter. “Since our beginnings in Tennessee in the 1970s, the Conservancy has a long list of conservation successes, including protecting 318,000 acres across the state for people and nature. We look forward to Terry and the staff expanding on those successes in the years ahead.”
Cook’s appointment as the Tennessee Chapter’s chief executive marks a return to the Nature Conservancy fold. A veteran ecologist and conservation leader, Cook had previously worked for more than 20 years in a variety of capacities for The Nature Conservancy, ranging from staff ecologist in Texas, to Director of Science for the Eastern U.S. Region of the Conservancy, to State Director of the Kentucky Chapter in his last post with the nonprofit.
“Terry is a very experienced conservationist well suited to lead our work in Tennessee,” said Rob McKim, Director of the Central Division of The Nature Conservancy’s U.S. Program. “He has a terrific blend of passion and commitment rooted in his experience as an ecologist and pragmatic commitment to building effective partnerships.”