New UAM Animal Science Professor Adds Global Perspective

Lon Tegels - College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Arkansas at Monticello, Arkansas Forest Resources Center, U of A System Division of Agriculture MONTICELLO, Ark. — A missionary group may have drawn away one of UA-Monticello’s veterinarians, but it also had a hand in bringing in his replacement. UAM’s College of Forestry, Agriculture and Natural Resources has welcomed Dr. Maribel Nelson, a veterinarian who comes aboard as an assistant professor teaching animal science courses. Nelson is taking up where Dr. Rocky Lindsey, DVM, is leaving off. Lindsey moved to parttime at UAM to ramp up his work with the Christian Veterinarian’s Mission. The Christian Veterinarians Mission, or CVM, is a common link between Nelson and Lindsey. The two attended CVM’s national conference in Kansas City, and while neither Lindsey nor Nelson remember meeting each other there, it gave them some common friends. Lindsey was on the search committee that recruited Nelson. Lindsey said when the job came open, “I mentioned it to some of the locals in the group. Out of the regional reps one of those people mentioned Dr. Maribel Nelson as a potential candidate.” Lindsey and Nelson talked by phone. “She told me she wanted to impact a lot of people, most people she could for good, both inside and outside of the classroom, and she was excited to be able to potentially teach,” said Lindsey “She stood out the most, and it was very clear to the whole committee,” said Lindsey. International Experience Nelson is a native of Brazil, who came to America after practicing veterinary medicine there. She graduated from Veterinary School in 2007 from the Federal University of Santa Maria, Brazil. She also has an MBA in Agribusiness Management from the Getulio Vargas Foundation in Brazil. She did her internship at Brazil Foods, workin...