Brandi Janssen, PHD
I-CASH Director
Office: S329 CPHB
Brandi joined I-CASH as Director in May of 2014. She grew up on a beef cattle farm in the Missouri Ozarks and came to Iowa to pursue her higher education. She earned a BA from Grinnell College, and an MA and PhD in Anthropology from the University of Iowa where her research examined the production and marketing strategies of direct market farmers in eastern Iowa. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Iowa, past Editor-in-Chief of Culture, Agriculture, Food and Environment, and author of Making Local Food Work: The Challenges and Opportunities of Today's Small Farmers.
Brandi currently serves on the board of directors the Iowa Rural Health Association and the Iowa Valley RC&D; she is also a member of the Johnson County Chamber of Commerce Agriculture and BioScience Committee. She is a past President of Field to Family, a Johnson County non-profit dedicated to developing new markets for local farmers, and former Iowa City Community School District’s Farm to School Coordinator.
Kelsey Strandberg
Program Assistant
Kelsey is a second-year MS student in the Industrial Hygiene program while also earning a certificate in Agricultural Safety and Health from the University of Iowa. She grew up on a corn and soybean farm near Rockwell City, Iowa. Throughout her youth, Kelsey was active in 4-H and FFA at the state level. She completed her bachelor's in business management and public health at the University of Iowa. Her research interests include indoor air quality and ventilation. She is currently working on a research project that assesses a novel ventilation system for swine confinements.
Ralph Altmaier, MS
Administrative Services Coordinator
Office: 210 IREH, UI Research Park
Ralph is the Administrative Services Coordinator for I-CASH.
Ralph grew up on the family farm south of Iowa City. After getting his BS in Farm Operations at Iowa State in ’79 he returned to the family farm. In 2003 he left the farm to take a job in research at the University of Iowa. In 2006 he returned to school to get a Masters in Occupational and Environmental Health (OEH). After graduating in 2008 he started working in the department of OEH studying gas emission from swine confined animal feeding operations. He lives on the family farm with his wife. They have one daughter who is a student at The University of Iowa.
Kay Mohling, MA
Program Coordinator
Office: 107 IREH, UI Research Park
Kay grew up on a grain and livestock farm in eastern Iowa, received her B.S. from Iowa State University, M.A. from the University of Iowa, and joined I-CASH in January 2000. She works with the I-CASH Seasonal Campaigns, creating and designing outreach materials, and edits the I-CASH Annual Report and quarterly Alive & Well Newsletter. She also manages the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health’s Agricultural Safety and Health Course, held annually at the University of Iowa, as well as coordinating training sites in additional states.
Gayle Olson
Gayle was raised on a Northeast Iowa farm. She and her husband farm in Southeast Iowa where they grow grain and livestock, including some organic, on their century farm. She received both her B.A. in sociology and MS degree in Family and Consumer Sciences Education from Iowa State University. She is also a Certified Health Education Specialist. The topic for her master’s thesis was the safety of children on the farm.
A strong believer in local engagement, Gayle has worked for Iowa State University Extension in both youth development and community development. She also served as coordinator for the University of Iowa’s Center for Agricultural Disease and Injury Research, Education and Prevention (now Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health).
A former I-CASH advisory committee member, Gayle returned to the University of Iowa to coordinate the annual Midwest Rural Agricultural Safety and Health Conference in 2012. Her other duties with I-CASH include working with the Emerging Issues Working Group and the Corresponding Advisory Board.