Welcome to NRCS Tennessee

Sheldon Hightower 

Sheldon Hightower has served as the NRCS Tennessee state conservationist, headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee since August 2018.  

 A native of Ada, Oklahoma, Hightower earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture Business, with a minor in Crop and Soil Science in 1999 from Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma. He was raised on a farm in Ada where he and his family grew vegetable crops and managed a cow/calf operation. 

He began his NRCS career in 1996 as a student trainee in Oklahoma and Minnesota. He worked as a soil conservationist in Minnesota for two years before being selected as a district conservationist in Ulysses, Kansas. Hightower served as acting director for the Financial Assistance Programs Division in Washington, D.C., and as acting assistant state conservationist for field operations in Pennsylvania, New York, and Kansas. Hightower recently completed an extended congressional detail on Capitol Hill and served as acting Southeast Regional Conservationist in 2025.  

He also served as the acting state conservationist in Nevada and Kansas and as a member of the National Civil Rights Advisory Committee to the Chief. He is a board advisor to the Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee Southeast Leadership Development Program, an 18-month program he spearheaded in 2019. He serves on the Hiring Strategy Task Force team and as the Southeast representative on the National Field Office Technical Guide Committee.  

During his NRCS tenure, Hightower has served 15 years in leadership positions while actively promoting mentorship and career development within the workforce.  Hightower has earned numerous honors and awards that recognizes significant contributions towards achieving NRCS’s mission.  

In his spare time, Hightower enjoys hunting, fishing, walking, reading, and spending time on his family farm. 

USDA NRCS • Southeast Region