MAELC is a 16-member legislative council dedicated to the improvement of Agricultural Education in Minnesota.
The state legislature, agricultural educators, and agriculture industry leaders are all represented on the council.
Representative Paul Anderson is a farmer and serves as the Co-Chair of the Agriculture Finance and Policy committee. He is appointed as the Agriculture Committee representative to the MAELC board.
Patrice Bailey was appointed to the position of Assistant Commissioner for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) in June, 2019. Bailey oversees Outreach, Agricultural Marketing and Development, Dairy and Meat Inspection, and Food and Feed Safety for the MDA.
Bailey, a native of Harlem, New York, holds a B.S. in Agricultural Education from Prairie View A&M University (Texas) and has a Master’s of Science Degree in Agricultural Education from Iowa State University.
He has served the Twin Cities in several positions focused on bridging underrepresented communities of color to various available resources and advocating for them legislatively at the Capitol. Most recently, he served as the Outreach Director for the Council for Minnesotans of African Heritage.
Brian Buhr is a professor at the University of Minnesota and serves as the Dean for the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS). Prior to this position, he was the Head of the Department of Agricultural Education and Applied Economics.
Dr. Buhr works in the areas of commodity marketing with an emphasis in livestock markets. He has worked extensively with commodity marketing groups on risk management, value added marketing and the economic impacts of policy and technology. Dr. Buhr completed his Ph.D. from the Iowa State University.
Senator Gary Dahms is the Ranking Minority Member of the Commerce and Consumer Protection Finance committee. He also serves on the Agriculture, Veterans, Broadband, and Rural Development committee. Senator Dahms is appointed to MAELC as the Agriculture Committee minority-party representative.
Dr. Terry Gaalswyk serves as President of Minnesota West Community & Technical College. Dr. Gaalswyk has over 20 years of service in higher education including appointments as a mathematics instructor, division chair, associate dean of instruction, dean of instruction, and executive vice president. He has served at Southeast Technical Institute, South Dakota State University, Western Iowa Tech Community College, Iowa State University, and most recently at Western Nebraska Community College. Dr. Gaalswyk believes in the mission of community & technical colleges and is committed to serving rural communities in service to this mission, our students, high schools, and industry partners.
Dr. Gaalswyk holds a BA in mathematics from Northwestern College, a masters degree in Vocational/Technical Education and a master’s degree in mathematics – both from South Dakota State University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership/Policy Studies from Iowa State University. He is equally proud of his vocational background, having worked alongside his parents building custom countertops and cabinets in family-owned business in Sibley, IA.
Senator Heather Gustafson is a teacher and serves as the Vice-Chair of the Education Finance committee. She also serves on the Agriculture, Veterans, Broadband, and Rural Development committee. Senator Gustafson is the Education Committee representative to the MAELC board.
Paul Hansen serves as a Governor Appointee to the MAELC board, representing agribusiness. He is the Manager of Leader Development for Land O'Lakes, where he works with member owners from across the country to develop and prepare them for leadership roles in the industry and at the co-op. With over 20 years of experience in leadership development, Paul has dedicated his career to helping individuals grow both professionally and personally.
Paul graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor's degree in Agricultural Education. He spent 16 years with Cargill before joining Land O'Lakes, where he has been for the past 10 years. Throughout his career, Paul has led numerous initiatives aimed at fostering leadership and development within the agricultural sector.
Outside of work, Paul values spending time with his wife and two daughters camping, traveling to new places, or having a family game night.
Representative Rick Hansen serves as the Co-Chair of the Agriculture Finance and Policy committee. He is the Agriculture Committee representative to the MAELC board.
Michelle Kamenov, M.A. is the Career Development and Career Technical Education Supervisor at the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE). Prior to coming to MDE, she was a classroom teacher, coordinator of strategic youth initiatives and project coordinator at the University of Minnesota.
Kamenov has experience leading programs and initiatives to develop youth leaders in rural and urban Minnesota communities and has a strong background in community education, youth development, service-learning and project based learning. She also has a variety of experiences leading professional development and research projects around career and college readiness, Career and Technical Education, service-learning, youth development, and partnership development.
Representative Bryan Lawrence is a farmer and agricultural business owner who serves on the Agriculture Finance and Policy committee, as well as the Education Finance and Education Policy. He is the Education Committee representative to the MAELC board.
Jeff Lindeman serves as a Governor Appointee to the MAELC board, representing education. He is the Vice Chair of the Chisago Lakes School Board and is a retired AgriScience Teacher and FFA Advisor at Chisago Lakes High School (CLHS), where he taught for 38 years.
Jeff farms, owns a landscape business, is a logger, stays active helping with the Region and State FFA Floriculture Career Development Event (CDE), and supervises teacher candidates for the University of Minnesota. He also coaches trap shooting at CLHS, as well as works with the youth at Lakes Free Church, and in the community and county through various organizations.
Dr. Michael Martin is a faculty member in Agricultural Education at the University of Minnesota, Crookston and serves as the Agriculture Teacher Preparation program representative to the MAELC board.
Dr. Martin previously taught high school agriculture in Illinois at Urbana High School before attending the University of Missouri for his doctorate degree in Agricultural Education. He spent eight years at Colorado State University and three years at Iowa State University, working in agricultural education at both institutions.
Dr. Martin has been active in professional development and research on belonging and engagement in agricultural education and teaching critical agricultural issues in high school classrooms. He lives on a small hobby farm with his wife in Red Lake County, Minnesota.
Connect to the University of Minnesota, Crookston AgEd Program
Senator Aric Putnam serves as the Chair of the Agriculture, Veterans, Broadband, and Rural Development committee. He is the Agriculture Committee-majority party representative to the MAELC board.
Eric Sawatzke is an agriculture teacher at West Central Area High School in Barrett, MN and currently serves as President for the Minnesota Association of Agricultural Educators (MAAE).
Eric graduated from Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted High School and earned a Bachelor's and Master's Degree in Agricultural Education from the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Eric began his career teaching at Marshall High School and then moved on to Dassel-Cokato before his current position at West Central Area.
Eric and his wife, Erica, along with their daughters, Emma and Charlotte, raise turkeys for Ferndale Market and grow corn and soybeans.
Amber Seibert at Park Rapids Area Schools, and is currently serving as the President-Elect for the Minnesota Association of Agricultural Educators (MAAE).
Amber has been teaching for 15 years, previously at Fairmont Area Schools and Sauk Rapids-Rice Schools. She grew up on a dairy farm in Sebeka, Minnesota, and was active in 4H and FFA throughout high school and college. Amber completed her undergraduate degree in Agricultural Education at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, and holds a Master's Degree in Curriculum Design from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota.
In her free time, Amber enjoys helping on the family farm, reading, and enjoying time outside whenever possible. She has hiked every state park in Minnesota and hopes to soon begin section-hiking the Superior Hiking Trail and the North Country Trail.
Julie Tesch is the President & CEO of the Center for Rural Policy & Development. After 25-years of living in urban areas, Julie decided it was time to return to her roots in rural Minnesota, taking on her current role in 2018 after working in Washington, DC as the executive director of the American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. Julie is a proud graduate of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities where she received her bachelor’s degree in Applied Economics and her Master’s of Education in Agricultural Education.
Outside of work, Julie enjoys volunteering for 4-H & FFA activities. She serves as the Past-Chair of the Minnesota FFA Foundation and is the FFA Foundation representative to the MAELC board.