ISASH leadership: Dr. Steven Freeman, Past President; Melissa Ploeckelman Brown, President-Elect; Dr. Josie Rudolphi, President; Katie Oxford, Chief Executive Officer at Association Services Group, LLC
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ISASH leadership: Dr. Steven Freeman, Past President; Melissa Ploeckelman Brown, President-Elect; Dr. Josie Rudolphi, President; Katie Oxford, Chief Executive Officer at Association Services Group, LLC
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A National Farm Medicine Center staff member has been named president-elect of the International Society for Agricultural Safety and Health (ISASH).
Melissa Ploeckelman Brown will step into the president’s role next June when ISASH meets in Santa Fe, N.M. Ploeckelman Brown was re-elected to the ISASH Board this spring by a vote of its membership. She is the outreach specialist with the National Farm Medicine Center, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute,
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Ploeckelman Brown says, “My love for agriculture began on my family’s dairy farm, where my four siblings and I learned the value of hard work from an early age. We also learned that one injury could change everything, especially in a rural community where emergency services weren’t always close by. Those experiences inspired my commitment to agricultural safety and health.”
Ploeckelman Brown will assist President Josie Rudolphi, a University of Illinois associate professor and former NFMC scientist.
“I am honored to serve as president-elect of ISASH and to help lead an organization whose members are dedicated to protecting the people in agriculture. When we invest in the safety and health of farmers and farm families, we invest in the future of agriculture itself.”
ISASH is the world’s largest professional society of agricultural safety specialists, promoting agricultural safety and health.
Ploeckelman Brown joined Farm Medicine in 2017. Her work includes projects with the National Children’s Center for Rural. Additionally, her work included Agricultural Health and Safety and the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center. She is responsible for all social media within NFMC and the Research Institute, and serves as co-lead for media relations.
History
Ploeckelman Brown grew up on her family’s dairy farm in Stetsonville. She was selected 2009 State Fairest of the Fairs. She then spent six years as an agriculture instructor, FFA advisor, and youth apprenticeship coordinator in the Colby School District.
Ploeckelman Brown serves on several boards, including the Agrisafe Network, the Wisconsin Agricultural Tourism Association and the Children’s Safety Network Alliance. She has represented NFMC on the executive committee of Wisconsin Farm Technology Days three times, including 2026 when she led Marshfield Clinic’s largest-ever participation in the event.
ISASH was incorporated in 1962 as the National Institute for Farm Safety. Many safety initiatives in U.S. agriculture have involved members of ISASH, including: slow-moving vehicle emblem; emergency farm rescue; rollover protective structures; and assistive technologies for disabled farmers.
Ploeckelman Brown is the third representative of the National Farm Medicine Center to be elected ISASH president, following Barbara Lee, Ph.D., (1995-96), and Scott Heiberger (2019-20).
