Native Texan and ACES Enrollee, Nathan McCaleb has spent his entire career with the Natural Resources Conservation Service.  Originally from Dumas, Texas, Nathan’s preoccupation with soils began with some farming work he did after his high school graduation.  After obtaining a B.S. in Agronomy with a minor in Soils from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Nathan began his career as a fresh grad way back when the Natural Resources Conservation Service was called the Soil Conservation Service. 

From 1974 to 1988 Nathan worked as Soil Survey Party Leader and was ultimately responsible for all aspects of soil surveys for two counties working out of the Gatesville and Kennedy, Texas offices.  He also provided soil interpretation assistance to Fort Hood Military Reservation on a wide variety of interesting topics, including rangeland improvement, controlled burning, site locations for shelters and bunkers, and archeological sites. 

In 1988, Nathan sought broader horizons by making a move to Phoenix, Arizona, as Soil Correlator and then on to the Midwest National Technical Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, where he served as Soil Scientist from 1990 to 1994 and as State Soil Scientist from 1994 to 2001.

By 2001, Nathan and soils science had come a long way.  He became the Soils Support Branch Leader for the National Cartography and Geospatial Center in Fort Worth, Texas, where he supervised 34 soil scientists, cartographers, cartographic technicians and a publication specialist as they brought the science of soils fully into the digital era.

A stellar performer, Nathan’s honors have included an award for Excellence in Training from the U.S. Army, Corps of Engineers; one for Excellence in Training from NRCS; and an award for Excellence in Leading QIT for Electronic Soil Surveys and Web Application, also from NRCS.

Nathan’s last assignment before retiring in 2008 was with the Operations Management and Oversight Division, Oversight and Evaluation Staff in Fort Worth.  With the fortuitous development of the ACES Program, Nathan is today able to carry on some of this same work for NRCS as a Performance Evaluator in the ACES Program in Fort Worth.