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, outreach specialist with the National Farm Medicine Center, Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, will step into the president’s role June 2027 when ISASH meets in Santa Fe, N.M. Ploeckelman Brown was re-elected to the ISASH Board this spring by a vote of membership.
“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,” Ploeckelman Brown said. “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.”
As president-elect, 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,” Ploeckelman Brown said. “When we invest in the safety and health of farmers and farm families, we invest in the future of agriculture itself.”
ISASH is the largest professional society of agricultural safety specialists in the world, a network of more than 200 educators, engineers, insurers, physicians, nurses, veterinarians, communicators, social scientists, business leaders and others who play influential roles in agricultural safety and health.
“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 Casper Bendixsen, Ph.D., NFMC director.
Ploeckelman Brown 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 NFMC and the Research Institute, assists with multiple websites, and serves as co-lead for media relations.
Ploeckelman Brown grew up on her family’s dairy farm in Stetsonville, Wis., and was selected 2009 State Fairest of the Fairs, a state-funded position in which she represented Wisconsin agriculture. Before she dedicated herself to agricultural injury prevention she spent six years inspiring the next generation as an agriculture instructor, FFA advisor, and youth apprenticeship coordinator in the Colby (Wis.) School District.
Ploeckelman Brown serves on several boards including the Agrisafe Network, the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health Reginal Advisory Committee, 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).
