Her Story
About Carolyn
Carolyn Sheridan is the Founder and Executive Director of the Ag Health and Safety Alliance, an international nonprofit she founded in 2017. She leads initiatives focused on improving health and safety outcomes for agricultural workers and the next generation of farmers through educational programming at colleges across the United States, Canada, Australia, and other international partners. A registered nurse since 1979, Sheridan began her full-time work in agricultural health and safety in 1990 and served for 35 years as a director at a local community hospital, where she integrated agricultural health and safety efforts. She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa in 2005 after attending Iowa State University and Iowa Lakes Community College, and she completed specialized certification in agricultural health and safety through the Great Plains Center, where she now helps teach the program. Sheridan is well known for her expertise in respiratory health and received the Clinician of the Year Award from the International Society for Agricultural Health and Safety. Her career reflects a commitment to rural communities, agricultural safety education, and community leadership on issues such as flood recovery and local infrastructure preservation.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Carolyn
01What do you attribute your success to?
I think it's taking opportunities throughout my career. I didn't stay within the confines of a registered nurse. ... looking at opportunities and finding ways to find that as a challenge. But yet immersing myself in that challenge as it came along. ... look at my opportunities and find out how to immerse myself, find the challenges in them, and then find successes as you move along.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Speak up. Understand your own health and safety risks. Make sure that you're standing up for yourself in your career. ... Make sure that you understand your role in farming, but make sure you understand your risks. ... Make sure you have the right size of things. Make sure you understand how as a woman you have different risks. Stand up for yourself, absolutely. Know what your role is, know how you can make this job better, but also how to do things healthy and safe.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
In agriculture, we are faced with numerous types of hazards and risks on a daily basis. ... Most farms and family farms ... are not singular in nature. We have livestock, we have green [crops], we have different types of crops, and so on any given day, we may be moving from one task to another. ... It could be respiratory. It could be grain hazards. Mental health. ... Technology becoming a risk. ... We need to educate, teach, and promote health and safety.
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