We’re creating injury prevention messages that highlight personal stories and first-hand experiences.
Who are the storytellers? Farmers, agricultural workers, and family and community members who’ve been impacted by injuries, fatalities, or close calls.
Told in their own words, their experiences provide valuable information to learn what went wrong and how to prevent similar incidents.
The common thread is “We don’t want this to happen to anyone else.”
Our Team
Melissa Brown
Melissa is the full-time outreach specialist at the National Farm Medicine Center and a member of the outreach team at the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center. Formerly an agricultural instructor, Melissa has always lived and worked in central Wisconsin and enjoys helping out on the family dairy farm. She is excited that this project will allow farmers to reach out and help others learn about safety without going through traumatic experiences themselves.
Devon Charlier
Devon is the Director of Evaluation and Strategic Initiatives at the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health (UMASH) Center, where she works to understand, enhance, and share the organization’s One Health impact. Her work centers occupational, rural, environmental, and social determinants of health. She brings experience across health education, evaluation, and communications, nonprofit leadership, and teaching yoga and mindfulness. She is committed to equipping people and communities with the information they need to make decisions about their health and well-being. Charlier has a bachelor’s degree in Community Health Education from Minnesota State University, Mankato, and a MPH in Community Health Promotion from the University of Minnesota.
Email charl259@umn.edu
Ellen Duysen
Ellen serves as the coordinator and outreach specialist for the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (CS-CASH) at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Ellen raised hogs, cattle and three rascally boys on farms in Colorado and Iowa. This experience provided her with an understanding of the many hazards related to farming and ranching. Ellen has heard many stories of work-related injuries and fatalities while conducting educational outreach with Ag communities. She believes that these stories can serve to raise awareness and start conversations about the best methods to prevent these incidents.
Email ellen.duysen@unmc.edu
Scott Heiberger
Scott is the communications manager at the National Farm Medicine Center (NFMC) and a member of the outreach team at the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH). Scott is a former newspaper reporter who produces agricultural safety and health content for a variety of platforms. He also assists media professionals and has co-authored four peer-reviewed articles on the communication of agricultural safety and health via media outlets.
Ryan Newcomb
Ryan is the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health (UMASH) Center’s communications and outreach specialist. Ryan drives the organization’s engagement initiatives by crafting impactful stories and building meaningful community connections. A Michigan State University alumnus, Ryan holds a BA degree grounded in community engagement, journalism, and environmental sustainability. He brings experience in sustainable food systems, farmers markets and rural agriculture communications.
Email rnewcomb@umn.edu
Risto Rautiainen
Risto grew up on a farm in Finland. He has an MS in agriculture from the University of Helsinki and a Ph.D. in Occupational and Environmental Health from the University of Iowa. He is a professor at the University of Nebraska College of Public Health, and he directs the NIOSH-funded Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (CS-CASH) in Omaha. Risto’s main interest is in studying why agricultural injuries happen and how they can be prevented. He has over 30 years of experience in agricultural safety and health research and outreach in Finland, Canada and the US.
Email rrautiainen@unmc.edu
Aaron Yoder
Aaron grew up in central Pennsylvania where he spent time working on his grandfather’s farm. He studied agricultural safety and health at Penn State and Purdue, focusing on injury reporting and data collection. Aaron currently is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and works with projects through Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health. He is a past president of the International Society for Agricultural Safety and Health and serves on the Board of Directors of the Agricultural Safety and Health Council of America and Progressive Agriculture Foundation. Aaron maintains leadership roles in the eXtension.org/AgSafety Community of Practice, American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, and the USDA NCERA197 Committee for establishing priorities at Land Grant University for ag safety and health research and education programs.
Email aaron.yoder@unmc.edu
Our Organizations
Telling the Story Project is a collaborative effort of the following organizations, made possible through funding from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Program (NIOSH AgFF).
The Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health (CS-CASH) was established in 2011 and is located at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health in Omaha. CS-CASH serves a seven-state region, including North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. The center focuses primarily on respiratory disease research, injury surveillance, hearing protection, educational needs of farmers, including non-traditional farmers, their family members, and workers.
The National Children’s Center for Rural and Agricultural Health and Safety is one of 12 agricultural centers funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the only center dedicated to childhood agricultural injury prevention.
The Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH), located in Minneapolis and established in 2011, is a multidisciplinary collaboration of five leading research and health care institutions: The University of Minnesota School of Public Health and College of Veterinary Medicine, National Farm Medicine Center of the Marshfield Clinic, and the Minnesota Department of Health. UMASH embraces a One Health philosophy, recognizing the connections between human, animal, and environmental health when addressing existing and emerging occupational health and safety issues in agriculture.
The National Farm Medicine Center (NFMC) was established in 1981 in response to occupational health problems seen in farm patients coming to Marshfield Clinic in Marshfield, Wisconsin. The center continues to focus its research and outreach on rural populations. Current safety and health priorities include children, agritourism, beginning farmers and ranchers, and injury surveillance, which are addressed by staff with special expertise in injury prevention, public health, bioinformatics, nursing, anthropology, education, and communications.
