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CAFES Alumni Board Elects New Members and Officers

April 11, 2012 – The University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF) College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES) Alumni Association board has elected new officers and members.  Ashley (Sollman) Gausman, Jenni (Drinkall) Skiba and Troy Talford are joining the nine-member board of directors. Leslie (Shuler) Svacina was elected president.

Ashley (Sollman) Gausman earned her BS degree in agricultural business from UWRF in 2009. She is a sales agronomist for Western Wisconsin Ag Supply in Ellsworth, with a service area encompassing three counties in the western Wisconsin area. Gausman live in Baldwin with her husband, Bill, where they have a corn and soybean operation.

Jenni (Drinkall) Skiba is dairy custom fomulator for Land O'Lakes Purina Feed, LLC division. Prior to holding this position Skiba worked in customer service and website services for Land O'Lakes, supporting the feed and agronomy dealers and cooperatives.  She farms with her husband and his family on their family farm, Diamond S Farm, near North Branch, Minn. Skiba is a 2003 UWRF graduate whose BS degree was in dairy science with a management option. 

Troy Talford graduated with a BS in agricultural education from UWRF in 2005. Since he graduated he has been an agriculture instructor at Sauk Prairie High School. Talford is currently on the board of directors for the Wisconsin Association of Agricultural Educators and the State FFA. He is active in state and national agriculture teacher conferences, and is currently the Vice Chair of Member Services for the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE).

Leslie (Shuler) Svacina graduated with a BS in marketing communications – agriculture emphasis and a minor in agribusiness from UWRF in 2004. She also earned an MS in agribusiness from Kansas State University and an MS Ed. in student affairs administration in higher education from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Svacina is an academic advisor for first year students at UW-Stout in Menomonie. She also is team teaching an ag newswriting class at UWRF this semester. Before transitioning into higher education, Svacina worked in marketing communications, corporate giving/foundation and government relations capacities for CHS Inc. and the Minnesota Agri-Growth Council.  She and her husband, Scott (a 2001 UWRF graduate), live near Baldwin.

Continuing members of the CAFES alumni association board are Leah Schliep Addington of Kenyon, Minn., Chad Glaze of Merrill, Krishona Bjork Martinson of Otsego, Minn., Andy Carlson of Darwin, Minn., and Ann Prescott of Adams, Minn. After serving two terms, Tyler Grenzow of River Falls, Glenn Hoeft of Bariboo, and Ryan Thorson of Shawano are stepping down from the board. 

The UWRF CAFES Alumni Association was organized in 1983. It functions with support from the UWRF Foundation and the College, to foster connections between alumni and CAFES. Upon graduation, all CAFES students become members of the CAFES alumni association. The association sponsors a Senior Supper each spring to welcome graduating seniors into the alumni association.

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