Newman, Ben
Ben Newman is a Marine and Estuarine Resilience Project Manager and Habitat Restoration Ecologist with the Pacific Conservation District, where he supports nature-based strategies to address climate-related risks in coastal Washington. His work spans habitat restoration, ecological monitoring, and nature-based solutions implementation for projects across Willapa Bay and the lower Columbia River.
Ben has over 7 years of experience in ecological monitoring, conservation biology, applied ecology, and environmental planning across Oregon, Washington, California, North Carolina, and New Zealand. Prior to joining the Conservation District, he worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Willapa National Wildlife Refuge, where he led technical analyses on climate change adaptation, assessed habitat vulnerability for many species, conducted species and habitat monitoring, and contributed to long-term planning efforts. Ben’s background includes fieldwork on threatened and endangered species in the Oregon Coast Range, mercury exposure research in the Peruvian Amazon, ecological research in Aotearoa New Zealand, and long-term monitoring of coastal habitats in Southern California. He is an active member of the scientific community, participating in volunteer pollinator surveys with the Bee Atlas, native plant society meetings, and restoration activities along the Columbia River Basin.
Originally from Ventura, California, Ben fell in love with the coastal forests, estuaries, and rolling hills of the North Coast and Willapa Hills in Washington and Oregon. Outside of work, he enjoys birding, surfing, plant identification, zine-making, poetry, and spending time in the field looking at pollinators.