Featured Employee - James Gillespie

James Gillespie has spent more than 34 years helping conserve natural resources through his work as an NRCS employee and in his own personal agricultural interests.

Throughout his career, Gillespie has embraced the importance of conservation planning on the land and has incorporated the measure into program planning.

“It seems as if in some years past our agency became more programs driven, and I have used conservation planning to reverse that trend in our field office,” Gillespie said. “My objective is to develop good sound conservation plans and use Farm Bill programs to assist producers in carrying out their conservation plans.”

He uses planning procedures in all aspects of technical assistance delivery to landowners and managers.

Gillespie has been recognized at the zone, state, and national levels for his knowledge, enthusiasm, and leadership in providing conservation planning and training. He has also been asked to serve many times on national and state committees in the development, design, and implementation of computer programs and software used by NRCS.

“Having served on many development teams, the project I am most excited about is one that I am currently working on for the development of a web service called Customer Self Service,” Gillespie said. “It will open a whole new array of services for our producers that will assist them in carrying out their conservation planning needs and allow employees to provide more efficient service to the producers.”