Tara Littlefield is a botanist, ecologist, and conservation leader who connects biodiversity science with practical, on-the-ground stewardship. She manages the Biological Assessment and Conservation Branch at the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves, where she leads a statewide team conducting biological surveys, assessing rare species and natural communities, identifying conservation priorities, and advancing monitoring, restoration, and species recovery.
During her 20-year career in Kentucky’s natural heritage and natural areas programs, Tara has helped build statewide programs for plant conservation, rare-plant recovery, natural-community assessment, and native pollinator documentation. She also initiated and coordinated the Kentucky Plant Conservation Alliance, bringing partners together to strengthen collaboration between in situ and ex situ plant conservation efforts. Tara is a PhD candidate at the University of Kentucky, where her research examines how management, climate, and ecological interactions influence orchids, rare plants, and plant communities. She serves on the board of the Kentucky Native Plant Society and as a scientific advisor to the Kentucky Natural Lands Trust.
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