Eleesha Salinas

Eleesha Salinas was born in San Antonio, TX and where she currently resides. Growing up her grandparents had a hobby farm where they raised chickens and grew fresh fruits and vegetables, this is when Eleesha was first exposed to agriculture. Being raised in a military family, leaving Texas to live in California where her father was stationed, exposed her even more to the agricultural industry being surrounded by many produce fields in the Santa Barbara County area. After moving back to the great state of Texas, she furthered her education at the local community college where she was the president of the agriculture club, volunteered at the San Antonio Livestock show and Rodeo with the swine committee and helped with many Leadership Development and Career Development Events.

After receiving an Associates degree of Science with an emphasis in Agriculture, she furthered her education at Texas A&M University – Kingsville. There she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Plant and Soil Sciences with an emphasis in Agronomy, growing a bigger passion for the agricultural industry. From there she went on to running the food safety program for a grower, packer, shipper operation. Participating in many third-party audits and working with local produce growers. She joined the FSNS C&A team as the Livestock Audit Coordinator in August 2022, where she hopes to grow her livestock knowledge by working with dairy facilities and eventually becoming an evaluator in the future.

Hanna Lemle

Hanna received her degree in Animal Sciences from The Ohio State University. Having a passion for dairy fueled by her experience working on a mid-size dairy in Ohio, she attained a certificate in Dairy Herd Management. After graduating, Hanna went to industry and worked for Cargill at a number of meat processing facilities before joining the FSNS C&A team as a food safety auditor. With FSNS C&A she was a qualified high risk auditor for BRC and SQF schemes; in addition to being a poultry and red-meat PAACO auditor. After auditing for several years, Hanna returned plant-side as a QA Manager for a dual-jurisdiction further processing facility producing soups, sauces and sides. Hanna returned to the FSNS C&A team in 2020 and currently oversees all office functions; including audit scheduling, reporting and customer service.

Dennis Wilson

Dennis William Willson was born and raised in Louisiana. While earning a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from Mercy College, Dennis conducted welfare research projects on dairy farms, where he discovered the work of Dr. Temple Grandin. Later, Dennis obtained his Masters of Science Degree in Animal Science from Colorado State University where he studied under Dr. Grandin. Dennis is certified in PAACO Meat Plant and Dairy auditing, Beef Quality Assurance, and is a certified Dairy Cattle Specialist through the American Registry of Professional Animal Scientists. Prior to joining FSNS, Dennis worked as a USDA Slaughter Inspector.

Growing up Dennis enjoyed spending time outdoors and still enjoys hiking in the Rocky Mountains, cooking for family and friends, and making friends with Canada geese. Dennis is excited to join the FSNS Auditing Team and looks forward to learning from his colleagues and honing his auditing skills.

Malik Travis

Malik grew up in central Mississippi whereas a young child he always had a love for animals, especially cattle. In college he joined organizations such as block and bridle, and the dairy science club where his love for dairy cattle blossomed. After graduating with his bachelors in animal and dairy science with a concentration in production management from Mississippi State University he went on to work in the dairy industry. His experience includes working in dairy management on a variety of  dairy farms ranging in size, teaching, and over seeing a diverse group of employees.  Malik’s passion for dairy cattle along with a love for the industry has led him to a career in animal welfare auditing at FSNS C&A.

Claudia Dobrient

Claudia Dobrient is a city girl turned dairy scientist in seven years of education and old-fashioned hard work. She began her agriculture experience raising a show lamb and steer for the FFA organization, receiving state titles for dairy cattle judging and agriculture issues forum. Claudia attended Tarleton State University, gaining her bachelor’s degree in Animal Science, with a minor in Business.

Claudia was named spotlight senior for her research, The Effect of Heat Stress on Mammary Gland Development in Dairy Cattle. She worked as a research assistant for projects in nutrition, lameness, and mastitis. She competed at the state and national level for the Dairy Challenge, engaging with dairy producers, evaluating dairies, and presenting a proposal of improvement for a board of experts in the industry.

Following an early graduation, Claudia attended the U.S. Dairy Education and Training Consortium. She is a licensed artificial inseminator and phlebotomist. Most recently, Claudia was the herdsman and milker for a raw milk goat dairy, as well as a milker for an organic and raw milk Jersey dairy.

Claudia’s background provides a unique understanding of the urban consumer and the next generation of dairy farming. Claudia is eager to implement her knowledge of animal science and dairy business management and is honored to begin work as a part of FSNS livestock audit team.

Jacquelyn Higgins

Jackie was raised on a beef and dairy operation and has 20 years of experience raising cattle. Previously, she worked as the cattle manager at NMSU Clayton Livestock Research Center, where she was responsible for all aspects of cattle care as well as ensuring compliance with IACUC protocols for research and animal care.  Jackie has served as a Livestock Audit Specialist for FSNS C&A for more than two years, and also provides training for new team members. Jackie holds the PAACO Meat Plant Auditor Certification, the PAACO Poultry Auditor Certification, and the FARM Third Party Verifier Certification.

Valerie Smith, DVM

Dr. Valerie Smith practiced veterinary medicine at the Animal Clinic of Glasgow in Glasgow, KY for over 20 years. Her passion for animal agriculture and welfare led her to take a position with Dean Foods/Dairy Stewardship in August 2015. In this position she performed in excess of 500 on farm evaluations. She began working for FSNS C&A on June 15, 2020 and serves as the Director of Livestock Audit Services.

Dr. Smith completed her undergraduate studies in Animal Science at Western Kentucky University in 1991 and received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1995. She is a licensed veterinarian in KY and TN, a PAACO certified auditor, FARM Trainer certified FARM 4.0 evaluator/verifier, Cow Signals Master Trainer, and was Food Armor Accredited. She has enjoyed memberships in DCWC, AABP, AVMA, KVMA, TVMA, NMC, KY Cattlemen’s Association and is an avid supporter of the FFA.

Joe Staples, DVM

Dr. Joseph M. Staples is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and serves the South-Central Kentucky and Northern Tennessee area in his practice. A native of Glasgow, Kentucky, Dr. Staples is a 2001 graduate of Auburn University where he received his DVM degree. He completed his undergraduate studies at Western Kentucky University where he received a B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry and Animal Science. He is PAACO certified in Dairy Auditing, has completed FARM 4.0 certification, is a member of the AVMA, KVMA, AABP, Society for Theriogenology, and the Kentucky Cattlemen’s Association.

He currently lives with his wife Marla in Austin, Kentucky on a small cattle farm. In his spare time, he enjoys golf, the outdoors, and spending time with his three grandchildren.

Jason Marshall

Jason grew up in SW Wisconsin on a dairy, beef, and swine operation. He was very much involved in the daily operations. Even though he was deeply rooted in agriculture, he decided to make a lifestyle change and in order to do that he joined the US Marine Corp. Jason served 22 years and did extensive work in the fields of computer and data networking, as well as training recruiters to recruit the best! Due to his service, he has lived in several states and throughout it all he was able to continue to maintain livestock as well as be active in the local agriculture community.

Jason retired in 2015 and settled in central Oklahoma, where he and his wife, Lori, purchased a ranch and own a cow/calf operation. In addition to ranching, he started his auditing career as a beef, swine, and poultry auditor in July of 2017. He has audited producers all over the United States and Canada with pace of 400+ audits per year. Jason is PAACO and BQA certified, as well as a member of the Oklahoma Cattleman’s Association. Jason is very much a team player and is honored to serve the producer, consumer, and all those associated with the FSNS team!