When many University of Illinois alumni think about their time in the College of Agriculture or today’s College of ACES, we remember the people that welcomed us, helped us through our academic career or guided us to a successful career path. To many of us, that person was Dean Charles E. Olson. 

On April 14, 2019, Dean Olson passed away. The ACES community mourned his passing and social media exploded with well wishes, memories and mentions of the impact he made on us.

After being awake for 30 hours, I’ve landed in Dar es Salaam. The occupants of the plane are herded downstairs to a hot, humid room and get in line. An immigration official looks at my entry form and asks me a few questions and makes one change to my form – my occupation is no longer “student” but “researcher.”

Dzina langa ndi Kristin Iverson. 

My name is Kristin Iverson in Chichewa, the local language in Malawi.

Known as the warm heart of Africa, Malawi has been a pleasure so far. We have received warm welcomes everywhere we have gone.

Well, I’ve been in Tanzania for another week full of new experiences! If you haven’t read my first blog post, you can find it here: https://go.aces.illinois.edu/VoicesofACES

June 29th - 30th

July 5 -7th

 July 14 – 19

July 20-23

After five weeks of hard work in the field and office, we got to explore other areas of Malawi. To begin our vacation, we drove south to Mulanje. On our way there, we stopped at the house of a UIUC professor, who had retired in Malawi, his homeland. We enjoyed a traditional, homecooked meal and even got a lesson on making nsima. Nsima is a staple food in Malawi made out of maize flour. Fun fact: Malawians say that they haven’t eaten a proper meal unless they have eaten nsima.

Where are you from?
I grew up in a small town, Oblong, IL, located in Southern Illinois. My family farm is predominately row crops, but my passion was raising and showing Angus cattle. After high school, I attended Lakeland College for two years before transferring to the University of Illinois.  

Where do you live?
Wooster, OH

Where are you from? 
I grew up in the Quad Cities where we consider ourselves the "city" for the outlying rural areas. 

Where do you live? 
I live in my hometown of Moline, IL 

Where are you currently employed? 
I am employed in Davenport, IA, just a short drive across the Mississippi River. 

What is your current job title?  
Associate Veterinarian at Animal Family Veterinary Care Center and Head Veterinarian at Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley