Employer Panel with Free Chick-fil-A
Come for the free Chick-fil-A for lunch and stay for an amazing employer panel featuring Curious Plot, General Mills, Land O'Lakes and Scoular right before the Ag, Food, Business Career Fair! This all University of Minnesota alumni panel will cover advice on getting internships, navigating a career fair, and entering the ag industry. Join us simply to listen or come ready with your own questions. Please register below so we order enough food.
Wednesday, September 18 from 12-12:50pm
Minnesota Commons Room (first floor), St. Paul Student Center
About our Alumni Panelists
Ellen Butterfield, Curious Plot
Ellen is a public relations specialist at Curious Plot, working on behalf of clients in the food and agriculture sectors. She grew up on her family's dairy farm near Hinckley, Minnesota, which sparked her passion for agriculture and pursuing a degree at the University of Minnesota. On campus, Ellen was involved in Beta of Clovia sorority and various agriculture clubs, including AECM Club, Gopher Crops and Soils, Gopher Dairy Club and more. Since graduating with degrees in Agricultural Communication and Marketing and Animal Science, Ellen has stayed involved in the University of Minnesota by serving as a CFANS Mentor Program Steering Committee member and on the CFANS Alumni Society Board of Directors. Her hobbies are enjoying iced coffee at new coffee shops, showing Jersey cattle, gardening, spending time with her pets - Avery, Callie and Flint, traveling and coordinating the Pine County Dairy Princess Program.
Karl Thorson, General Mills
Karl Thorson is a corporate Global Food Safety and Sanitation Manager, leading Sanitation for General Mills globally. Karl received his Bachelor of Science degree in Food Science from the University of Minnesota. His experience includes 28 years with Pillsbury/General Mills in both plant and corporate roles in Quality, Operations, and Sanitation. He has worked with multiple product platforms including cereal, pizza, yogurt, dough products, snacks, pet and other dry, refrigerated and frozen products. His areas of focus include allergen and pathogen control, sanitary design, and sanitation training/education. He chaired the GMA (Grocery Manufacturers Association) Sanitation Working Group for 3 years. He also works with BEMA (Bakery Equipment Manufacturers and Allieds), Alliance for Advanced Sanitation, and PMMI (The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies) OpX Leadership Network to help advance food safety through sanitation and sanitary design for the food industry. He has been recognized as the Baking & Snack’s 2016 Operations Executive of the Year and 2016 Sanitarian of the Year by IAFP (International Association of Food Protection).
Maggie Priebe, Land O'Lakes
Maggie Priebe is an experienced College Relations Recruiter at Land O'Lakes, where she leverages her expertise to attract top talent and connect students with impactful opportunities in the food and agriculture industry. She leads undergraduate internship recruitment for WinField United and supports the recruitment of Graduate/MBA interns across key functions, including corporate strategy, marketing, human resources, legal, government relations, and sales. With over 8 years of full-cycle recruiting experience, and more than 3 years at Land O'Lakes, Maggie is committed to identifying and nurturing emerging talent in the ag sector. Prior to joining Land O'Lakes, she recruited talent for both corporate and manufacturing roles at Pentair, Thrivent, and Buffalo Wild Wings. Maggie holds dual Bachelor's Degrees in Human Resource Development and Psychology from the University of Minnesota.
Beth Stebbins, Scoular
Beth Stebbins is the director of sustainability at Scoular, a global agribusiness headquartered in Omaha, NE. In her role she leads a variety of sustainability efforts for the enterprise, including internal greenhouse gas reduction initiatives, ethical sourcing projects, and development of regenerative agriculture projects within the supply chain. Previously, Beth has worked in sustainability and procurement at Grain Millers in Eden Prairie, MN and flour quality at Ardent Mills in Denver, CO. Beth holds a Bachelor of Science in microbiology from the University of Minnesota and a Master of Science in cereal science from North Dakota State University.