{"id":13684,"date":"2026-07-31T08:54:03","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T13:54:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/?post_type=campus_story&p=13684"},"modified":"2026-07-31T08:54:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T13:54:04","slug":"falcon-futures-hands-on-opportunities-on-campus-job-experience-help-grad-prepare-for-career","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/falcon-futures-hands-on-opportunities-on-campus-job-experience-help-grad-prepare-for-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Falcon Futures: Hands-on opportunities, on-campus job experience help grad prepare for career"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Photo:\u00a0Afton<\/a>
Afton Nelson, a May graduate of UW-River Falls who double-majored in dairy science and animal science,\u00a0recently began a new job as an embryo export coordinator at\u00a0GenOvations\u00a0in Lodi, Wis.\u00a0Nelson credits hands-on opportunities and on-campus work experience as key\u00a0ingredients in her successful job\u00a0search.\u00a0<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Afton Nelson, a May graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, didn\u2019t have long to wait to get started on her career after graduation. The double major in dairy science and animal science from Owatonna, Minn., was able to step right into a job as an embryo export coordinator for GenOvations in Lodi.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI heard about the company because we went on a field trip there fall semester for one of my reproduction classes,\u201d said Nelson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nelson, who transferred to UWRF her sophomore year, said getting a look at real-world operations at UWRF\u2019s Mann Valley Farm and other producers like GenOvations was vital in preparing her for a career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of the hands-on opportunities, I would say, were the biggest thing,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cEspecially being in dairy science and animal science, having the ability to go to the farm or other local farms and be able to do ultrasounds and watch the breeding process, it was very beneficial for me.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nelson initially planned to become a large animal veterinarian. When transferring to UWRF, she went back and forth between majoring in animal science or dairy science before realizing it would be easy to double major. Being able to explore her interests through classes helped her find her professional path. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI’ve always been interested in animal reproduction,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing able to take these miscellaneous courses actually ended up kind of making my career decision in the long run.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nelson said the one-on-one relationships she was able to build with her professors at UWRF proved she had found the right fit for her education.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I was at a larger university, I felt like none of the professors knew my name and I didn’t have the strong connections that I have here,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cAll my professors have helped me tremendously.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GenOvations offers reproductive services for beef and dairy cattle, sheep and goats, including global embryo distribution. As an embryo export coordinator, Nelson will work with domestic and international clients. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be the main client communication,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cI\u2019ll ensure that the invoices are out, ensuring these valuable embryos are properly packed and shipped to the right places.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nelson said working as a recruitment and enrollment intern in UWRF\u2019s Admissions Office for two and a half years also helped her feel prepared to enter the full-time working world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI gained confidence in answering questions and I feel like it made me very good at time management,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cI\u2019ll be doing very similar work, client communication.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her senior year, Nelson visited UWRF\u2019s Career Services to get help fine tuning her resume. GenOvations was the first job she applied for.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her new position is just the beginning for Nelson, who is also excited for her future opportunities.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy main thing is growing within a company,\u201d Nelson said. \u201cI\u2019ll eventually get cross-trained into embryology, which is the end goal.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Written by UW-River Falls<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/www.uwrf.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/06\/falcon-futures-hands-opportunities-campus-job-experience-help-grad-prepare-for<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Afton Nelson, a May graduate of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls, didn\u2019t have long to wait to get started on her career after graduation. The double major in dairy science and animal science from Owatonna, Minn., was able to step right into a job as an embryo export coordinator for GenOvations in Lodi.   \u201cI heard about the company because we went on a field trip there fall semester for one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":13685,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[100],"story_category":[148,150],"class_list":["post-13684","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-river-falls","story_category-economy","story_category-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/13684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13684"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=13684"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=13684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}