The Marin Agricultural Land Trust has a new executive director. Lily Verdone, a Marin native who spent a decade working with the Nature Conservancy in California and Texas, will lead MALT as it recovers from a tumultuous few years of staff turnover. Ms. Verdone said she sees agriculture as a “natural partner” of conservation. “Coming back to work for a local land trust is really exciting, especially one that’s nimble and connected to the work on the ground,” she said. “I’m really excited to strengthen our core mission at MALT and work with farmers and ranchers who are really vital to the way of life.” Ms. Verdone, who holds a master’s degree in biology from Sonoma State University, worked for a Texas environmental consulting firm before becoming the director of conservation for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Land Conservancy, which maintains a string of nature preserves in a wealthy enclave of Los Angeles County. From 2010 to 2020, she worked for the Nature Conservancy, directing projects in Southern California and on the Gulf Coast. She led an initiative to purchase farmland in the citrus-growing Santa Clara River Valley and lease it back to farmers, and a program of easements that barred the construction of levees that separate the river from its natural floodplain. After Hurricane Harvey struck the Texas coast, she led a program that harnessed federal emergency funds to help oyster fisheries recover by restoring coastal reefs. “I’ve dedicated my career to preserving working lands,” Ms. Verdone said. MALT’s most recent leader, Thane Kreiner, a former biotech entrepreneur who used the title C.E.O., resigned last December after less than a year on the job. He arrived soon after the trust faced conflict-of-interest accusations and returned taxpayer funds to Marin for failing to disclose an initial appraisal for an easement. While Mr. Kreiner headed MALT, the trust’s director of conservation resigned. More recently, MALT survived the threat of funding cuts from the county’s Measure A sales tax. Last month, MALT finalized a $3.6 million easement on the McDowell Ranch east of Tomales, half of which came from Measure A. Ms. Verdone said the trust has plans for easements on 4,000 acres of land in the coming months. Ms. Verdone, who lives in Petaluma, is the first woman to officially head MALT since it was founded in 1980 by Ellen Straus and Phyllis Faber. Jennifer Carlin, who served as the trust’s interim director since Mr. Kreiner’s departure, will now become its deputy director. “Lily has the leadership expertise, people skills, and the conservation and land trust experience to further build on MALT’s successful work,” Ms. Carlin said in a press release.