Dr. Michelle Pavloff

Michelle is a registered nurse and rural health researcher. She is currently the Director of the Centre for Health Research, Innovation and Scholarship at Saskatchewan Polytechnic. Michelle holds a bachelor of science in nursing, a master of nursing degree, and a PhD.

Michelle is the principal investigator of the FARMh Initiative. Her areas of research include patient-oriented research, rural nursing, rural health, and farmer/rancher mental health.

Sharalee Laventure

Shari was born and raised on a mixed farm west of Biggar in a small community called Duperow. She married a farmer and moved north of Biggar to raise her family. She moved to Saskatoon in 2006 and has worked various management jobs including her current position with Cargill as the Strategic Marketing Specialist for Saskatchewan. In 2015, her youngest brother lost his mental health battle and died by suicide. She needed to find something positive that would give the grief a place to settle and joining the FARMh Initiative has her looking forward to making a difference in agriculture producers’ lives with mental health supports designed by them.

Justine Lustig

Justine is a cattle rancher with a focus on regenerative agriculture. She grew up on a grain farm and loves being a part of food production on the prairies. She is interested in sharing the perspective of farm culture and the importance of mental health support for folks who live in rural areas.

Cyle Stewart

Cyle ranches in southwest Saskatchewan with his wife Erika, their three daughters, and Erika's parents. The ranch is a fourth-generation cow/calf and backgrounding outfit. Cyle attended college in Montana on a bull riding scholarship and rode bulls professionally until a series of head injuries forced an early retirement. Currently, Cyle ranches full-time, is a member of the Herbert Ranch Rodeo Committee, and enjoys working at home with his family. Cyle finds great pride in improving their herd's genetics and is always looking for learning opportunities to improve their operation and become more efficient. With prior experience in sports-related head injuries and knowledge of present-day ranching challenges, Cyle hopes to bring a versatile and insightful perspective to the discussions.

Vida Todd

Vida recently retired from the healthcare industry after nearly 47 years. Her childhood was experienced in a small mixed farming atmosphere with cattle, horses, and grain. She has personal experience with depression in her own family and consequently wants to help support the mental health needs of everyone she can. As a single mother of two sons, she feels it is important to understand mental health issues and find effective coping strategies.

Dr. Elsie Duff

Elsie, RN, NP, PhD grew up on a small family mixed farm in southwest Manitoba that included various types of livestock with cattle as the main product. She is a nurse practitioner and assistant professor at the University of Manitoba. She began nursing in small farming communities and has continued to nurse in rural or remote Manitoba throughout her career. Growing up on a farm, working rurally, and her nursing research experiences have helped her contribute to this research.

Dr. Pamela Farthing

Pamela RN, BA, MSc, PhD is faculty in the Saskatchewan Collaborative Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at Saskatchewan Polytechnic. As an RN in Saskatchewan for over 25 years, she has practiced in long-term care, rural nursing, and neonatal intensive care. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in psychology, a Master of Science in medicine (Community Health and Epidemiology), and a PhD in Nursing from the University of Saskatchewan, as well as a diploma in nursing from Saskatchewan Polytechnic (then SIAST), and specialized graduate training in Public Health and the Agricultural Rural Ecosystem. Her research experience includes type one diabetes, rural advanced nursing education, rural mental health, pediatric respiratory epidemiology, informatics, and diabetes care.

Cynthia Beck

Cynthia Beck, M.Sc., is a Registered Psychologist (provisional) who provides mental health services in rural Saskatchewan. She proudly volunteers as a director of the SaskAgMatters Mental Health Network Incorporated and is an active advocate of mental health in agriculture. Her family operates a multi-generational mixed cattle and grain farm near Milestone, SK.

Kathy Disiewich

Kathy RN, BSN, MSN/ED is a registered nurse and currently teaches undergraduate nursing students in the Saskatchewan Collaborative Bachelor of Science in Nursing, School of Nursing at Saskatchewan Polytechnic in Saskatoon. In her more than 33 years of nursing, she has worked in numerous areas, including in a rural setting. She holds a bachelor of science in nursing from the University of Victoria and a master of science in nursing specializing in healthcare education from the University of Phoenix, and a diploma in nursing from Sask Polytech (formerly Kelsey Institute of Applied Arts and Technology). She is currently enrolled in the Educational Doctorate in Educational Administration program at the University of Saskatchewan. Research interests include patient-oriented research, rural nursing, holistic assessment, teaching and learning, and evidence-based practice. She grew up on a small farm in the Prince Albert area.

Dr. Mary Ellen Labrecque

Mary Ellen NP PhD, is a registered nurse practitioner and a rural nursing researcher. She is a faculty member in the College of Nursing, and is the Associate Dean Academic and Assistant Professor. Mary Ellen’s research interests include rural and remote nursing practice, advanced practice nursing, and the delivery of primary health care that addresses the unique determinants of health of populations. She has been involved in numerous local, provincial, national, and international committees with a focus on advanced practice nursing. Her professional nursing practice, with over 30 years of experience, has included acute, community, industrial, and tertiary care in urban, rural, and northern communities.

Alecia Weinheimer

Alecia grew up on a mixed farm in East Saskatchewan. She attended the University of Regina where she earned her Bachelor’s of Human Justice degree. She has been working with families and youth assessing their needs while offering support and resources to assist them. Alecia is actively farming with her spouse on a third-generation mixed farm. Alecia loves being part of food production and education and joined the FARMh Initiative because she believes more mental health support is required for rural families. She looks forward to making a difference in agriculture producers’ lives.

Dr. Kevin Wasko

Kevin is a practicing emergency physician with Trillium Health Partners in Mississauga, Ontario. He was previously the Physician Executive for Integrated Rural Health with the Saskatchewan Health Authority and was jointly responsible for the delivery of healthcare services across rural Saskatchewan.

Kevin grew up on a cattle ranch near Eastend, Saskatchewan. He lived and worked in Swift Current, Saskatchewan from 2011 to 2022, initially moving there to pursue a family medicine residency in the newly-created Swift Current training program. He then practiced full-scope family medicine in the city prior to taking on the role of Physician Executive in 2017.

Kevin was the physician co-lead on the Saskatchewan Health System transition team in 2017, leading work in the areas of physician engagement, medical governance, and the academic mandate when a new provincial health authority was launched. He is an assistant professor with the University of Saskatchewan’s College of Medicine, was an Action Canada fellow through the Public Policy Forum in 21/22, and is a surveyor with Accreditation Canada, evaluating Canadian health systems against recognized national standards for quality patient care delivery.

Kevin is a graduate of the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine. He holds a bachelor of arts in political science from Dalhousie University, a master of arts in political science from the University of Calgary, a certificate of added competence in emergency medicine, and has achieved the Canadian Certified Physician Executive credential.

Dr. Michael Szafron

Michael is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Saskatchewan. He holds a PhD from the University of Saskatchewan from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Michael’s expertise includes biostatistics, survey design, and analytical epidemiology. One of his research passions involves exploring the influence mental health has on various health outcomes for different populations including farmers and ranchers. The mental health and well-being of farmers and ranchers is of particular interest to Michael as he grew up on a mixed-farm in rural Saskatchewan and witnessed the lack of mental health support in rural Saskatchewan. Michael welcomes the opportunity to be part of this team and its work supporting the mental health of farmers and ranchers in rural areas.

Photo credit: University of Saskatchewan

Fred Entz

Fred is a registered nurse working in Saskatoon in the field of cancer care. Fred grew up in southwest Saskatchewan in a small farming community. Growing up in the country and continuing to stay connected to the rural way of life has been important for Fred and his family. Although he now lives and works in Saskatoon, he takes every chance he gets to go to the family farm to stay connected to the heartbeat of Saskatchewan, the agriculture sector.

Fred’s interest and passion for conducting research related to farming, including the peer-to-peer farmer’s support network, comes from his early nursing career when he worked as a registered nurse in a rural community. The barriers and stigma faced by farmers and their families as they seek to access healthcare, especially related to mental health challenges, are significant. Fred hopes that a peer support network can support farmers and their families in real time. The reality is that without healthy farming families, Saskatchewan people (and indeed, the entire world) stands to lose much of what we need to survive. The time to act is now, and Fred considers it an honour to work alongside farming families in doing this important work.

Brandi Heuchert

Brandi RMT DAc BA(Hons) is a registered massage therapist who has spent most of her career serving rural Saskatchewan communities. She spent her junior high and high school years on a mixed farm close to Melville and after graduation moved for education and to raise her family. Brandi currently resides in Perdue, focusing her massage and medical acupuncture practice on serving the people in west central Saskatchewan. Brandi sees the opportunity for rural massage therapists to better serve the mental health needs of their clients through accessible treatment for anxiety, depression, and non-pharmaceutical pain management.

Allison Taylor

Allison Taylor is a support worker for Women Farmers. She has spent the last ten years involved in the organic vegetable and small mixed farming sector in many different “farm roles” including operating her own farm business, farming together with others as well as being a farmworker. After experiencing a mental health breakdown in a rural setting, she realized her struggles were not hers alone, and that better mental health supports were needed for all members of the farm and within rural communities. She recognizes the challenges that come when faced with stressors on the farm and the interconnectedness of livelihood and lifestyle within agriculture and local food.

Allison is currently working towards completing an undergraduate degree in sociology and psychology as a mature student at the University of Regina to better serve her community. Her hope is that by fostering resiliency and support in mental and physical health together, the long-term future of farming can become one which is grounded in deep appreciation for the earth and each other.

Katherine Little

Katherine is a registered nurse working in general surgery at Royal University Hospital. Growing up in a rural community and coming from a multigenerational family farm in west central Saskatchewan, Katherine understands how stressful and emotionally taxing the farming occupation can be, and how very few resources there are available for farmers and their families. As she continues through her nursing career working with a wide range of individuals who come from all over the province, she continues to witness how important mental health education is and how crucial it is to promote mental health for those around us.

Joelle Glassford

Joelle is currently in her second year of Veterinary Technology at Saskatchewan Polytechnic. Joelle is from a small town in rural Saskatchewan and, growing up surrounded by farmers, Joelle learned to appreciate the important role these individuals and their families play in society. As Joelle plans on becoming a future member of the agriculture industry, she is familiar with some of the stressors that accompany the jobs of farmers and ranchers and she wants to do her part to help find a healthy outlet for farmers that are struggling with mental health issues.

Courtney Andrews

Courtney is a student research assistant working on the FARMh Initiative. She is currently in her final year of study at the University of Saskatchewan in the College of Art and Science, majoring in English with a minor in Sociology. Courtney is born and raised in Saskatchewan. She is an advocate for mental health and equal access to mental health services for rural and agricultural communities.

Morgan Hale

Morgan is a research assistant for the SaskAgMatters Mental Health Network and a passionate advocate for both agriculture and mental health. With a diploma in agribusiness from the University of Saskatchewan and currently pursuing psychiatric nursing at Saskatchewan Polytechnic, Morgan combines these two important fields. Growing up on a ranch in Alberta, Morgan has developed a deep understanding of the significance of agriculture as a producer. With a belief in the crucial role of mental health in the well-being of individuals in the agricultural community, she is dedicated to bridging the gap between agriculture and mental health.