2024 Visiting Science Scholar
SHEILA ION (TUFTEE), BHS Class of 2007
Sheila Ion (Tuftee) is the Bettendorf Community Schools Foundation 2024 Visiting Science Scholar. She will be presenting to Bettendorf High School students on March 1st and will also be at the Bett STEAM Expo on Saturday, March 2nd.
Sheila is the Corporate Food Safety Quality Assurance Manager for JBS USA, based out of Greeley, Colorado. JBS is the largest protein producer in the world, with food products spanning over 100 countries and 6 different continents. In her current role, she oversees the food safety, quality, and regulatory aspects of six large commercial pork processing plants located in Louisville KY, Beardstown IL, Ottumwa IA, Marshalltown IA, Worthington MN, and Pipestone MN.
Sheila joined the Bettendorf School system during her middle school years, eventually graduating from Bettendorf High School in 2007. She went on to study Animal Science at Iowa State University (ISU) and obtained her Bachelor of Animal Science in 2012. In addition to her degree, Sheila took supplemental classes for a veterinary medicine emphasis and had multiple internships focused on animal health across the United States.
Upon graduation from ISU, Sheila joined Cargill Meat Solutions as a Regulatory Superintendent. In this role, she oversaw the NSIS Program on the harvest floor and acted as the company liaison with the USDA Food Safety Inspection Staff (FSIS). Continuing with her passion for leading teams and science, Sheila then acquired a new role as a Quality Superintendent. In this role, she partnered with the Research and Development teams, gaining industry knowledge of meat products both at the consumer and customer level and visiting many different customers and markets nationwide. In 2016, Sheila accepted the role as the Food Safety Quality and Regulatory Manager for JBS, where she combined both her love of regulatory compliance and product knowledge.
Growing with JBS and welcoming the opportunity to be in her hometown again, she recently accepted the role as Corporate Food Safety Quality Assurance Manager over all of JBS’s Pork Processing Plants in the United States. In this role, her duties include animal welfare, harvest duties/inspection, fabrication and customer service, internal programs, auditing commitments, continued education and partnership with major agricultural universities in the United States, and USDA compliance.
Sheila holds many certifications, including HACCP, PAACO (Professional Animal Auditing Certification Organization), TQA (Transportation Quality Assurance), FSPCA - PCQI (Food Safety Preventative Controls Alliance, Preventative Controls Qualified Individual).
Outside of her work, Sheila is married to her husband Levi and together they have 2 daughters, Brooke (10 years) and Maeve (1.5 years). In her spare time, you can find her watching her daughter play softball and enjoying life in the country with her family.