Hayley Nelson

Hayley Nelson

Research Coordinator

hayley.nelson@practicalfarmers.org

Hayley joined the Practical Farmers of Iowa team in February 2019. In her position as a research coordinator with PFI’s Cooperators’ Program, its on-farm research program. Hayley works with farmers to design on-farm research that can answer their practical farming questions. In her own words: “My goal is to equip farmers with the useful tools of science to enhance the artistry and intuition they bring to their worthwhile work.”

Hayley was raised on a cattle farm in western Iowa and obtained her bachelor’s degrees in global resource systems and environmental science at Iowa State University in 2013. She remained in Ames, Iowa, to continue working in a plant pathology lab at ISU, where she enjoyed directing field research trials and managing the lab as a research associate.

In 2016, Hayley began her graduate research in the same lab studying organic management of insect and disease pests of muskmelon and acorn squash. In 2019, she graduated from ISU with a Master of Science in plant pathology. Since then, she has greatly enjoyed getting to support the mission and vision of PFI.

Things that bring Hayley joy include: working up a sweat doing yard work, her Doberman puppy and two cats, weird humans, exercising her creativity and challenging the misconception that science is some serious, ambiguous and un-creative thing.


Read Hayley’s work