Ben Fryer

In his role as Project Manager, Ben develops conservation acquisitions in partnership with public agencies, tribes, land trusts and the private sector. With a focus on working forests, farmland and ranchland, Ben structures and negotiates transactions, manages due diligence and secures public and private sources of conservation funding. He also supports The Conservation Fund’s work to enhance the role of California’s carbon market in funding land protection and ecological restoration.

Prior to joining The Conservation Fund, Ben was a real estate and finance attorney in the San Francisco office of a large international law firm where he represented institutional lenders, borrowers, buyers and sellers in transactions across a range of industries.

Ben is also a long-term collaborator of Pilot Projects Design Collective, a Montreal-based design and sustainability consultancy whose initiatives engage cities in protecting and restoring natural areas. His volunteer experience includes two years as a Peace Corps volunteer in Nicaragua, as well as work for Paso Pacifico, a nonprofit focused on wildlife corridors and community economic development in rural Central America.

Ben was raised in Northern California and now lives with his family in Fresno. He holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley; a Master of Forestry from Yale School of the Environment; and a J.D. from Yale Law School.