Mindi Rambo

Mindi Rambo is the State Public Affairs Specialist for the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, a position she has held since 2015.

She had a somewhat unusual path to her position.

After receiving her Master’s degree in English Literature with a specialization in Medieval Poetry and Prose from Ohio University, she decided academia wasn’t for her and went looking for a job that would need her writing and editing skills. She never thought it would a be as the Society Editor for a small-town newspaper in Eastern Oregon. She advanced to larger papers, first in South Carolina and then North Cackalacky, before she was ultimately caught in the industry’s downsizing.

Mindi decided to go looking for work that tapped into her love of history, nature and writing. No – she did not end up working for National Geographic, although she wanted to.

She did, however, land a position with the National Parks of New York Harbor, which is a unit of the National Park Service with responsibility for the Statue of Liberty, Grant’s Tomb and 10 other sites. She was there for 8 ½ years before she turned to attention back to the Western United States. While she was looking for a new position she found the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which would allow her to move closer to family as well as blend her agriculture-adjacent background and her love of conservation.

A proud Quacker Backer (U of Oregon Bachelor’s degree), Mindi is the fun aunt to her 11-year-old niece and the cool aunt to her 14-year-old nephew. She travels internationally and domestically whenever she can.