National Farm Medicine Center Outreach Specialist Elected to International Society for Agricultural Safety and Health Board

Monday, July 10th, 2023 -- 8:05 AM

Melissa Ploeckelman, outreach specialist with the National Farm Medicine Center, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, has been elected to the International Society for Agricultural Safety and Health (ISASH) Board of Directors by a vote of membership.

ISASH, incorporated in 1962, is a network of more than 200 engineers, educators, insurers, physicians, nurses, veterinarians, statisticians, communicators, social scientists, business leaders and others who play influential roles in agricultural safety and health.

Ploeckelman’s term is for three years. “This is a great show of support from agricultural safety professionals for the valuable role Melissa has played in ISASH and in promoting agricultural safety and health,” said Cap Bendixsen, Ph.D., director of Farm Medicine.

Ploeckelman is a former agricultural educator and classroom teacher who grew up on her family’s dairy farm in Stetsonville, Wis. She was selected 2009 State Fairest of the Fairs, a state-funded position in which she represented Wisconsin agriculture.

Ploeckelman joined Farm Medicine in 2017. Her work includes projects with the National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety, and the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center, both funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

She is responsible for all social media within Farm Medicine, assists with multiple websites, serves as co-lead for media relations and represented Farm Medicine on the executive committee of Wisconsin Farm Technology Days in 2022. Ploeckelman serves multiple roles in ISASH, co-chairing the Public Relations Committee and participating in the Conference Planning Committee.

Ploeckelman joins eight other agricultural safety/health leaders on the ISASH board:

• Board President Brian Kuhl, president and chief executive officer of Progressive Agriculture Foundation;
• President-Elect Gloria Brock, John Deere;
• Wendy Bennett, AgSafe BC;
• Josie Rudolphi, University of Illinois;
• Steve Freeman, Iowa State University;
• Carolyn Sheridan, Ag Health and Safety Alliance;
• Athena Ramos, Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health;
• And Briana Hagen, University of Guelph.

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