EHS Awards and Recognition

Employee of the Year for 2008

In recognition of her high level of support and leadership to her own staff, as well as to every staff member of EHS, Stephanie Perry, EHS Business Manager, has been named the 2008 recipient of our Employee of the Year Award.
Stephanie facilitates our hiring, oversees our daily operations and special projects, ensures the security of the EHS department, manages the departmental budget, has excellent written and communication skills, as well as strong analytical and problem solving skills.
She promotes interest in her staff and in their personal development. She is exceptionally dedicated and conscientious in everything she does and she continually strives to produce high quality work and work ethics.
Any aspect of the running of the office of EHS goes through Stephanie. She wears many hats and she makes our work life easier.

Award of Excellence, September 10th, 2008

EHS presented its Award of Excellence on September 10th, 2008 to EHS Health & Safety Technician Michael Kaseta. Michael Kaseta consistently provides excellent customer service. He takes his responsibilities seriously - leaving nothing to chance. He is responsible for and oversees the radioactive package deliveries; conducts Legionella sampling; performs major lab clearances; assists in the management of our Hot Labs; performs thyroid counts; takes air samples; and certifies fume hoods, eye washes and emergency showers. Michael also assists in resolving radioactive package issues. He is always polite, accurate and reliable, and always has a positive attitude. Congratulations Mike!

Employee of the Year for 2007

In recognition of her valuable contributions to the department as the Environmental Operations Manager and as acting Environmental Services Section Manager, Brenda handles the many crisis's and issues she faces with perseverance and dedication, and in a calm, consistent and professional manner.
Starting with her initial hire in 1994 as an Environmental Services Section Technician, along with her earning both her masters in Environmental Science/Environmental Health Management and her professional certification as a Hazardous Materials Manager in 2001, Brenda has demonstrated her great skill and ability to evaluate and prioritize her duties, which shows in her steady growth to the management position she holds today.
She exemplifies the best of Yale's Office of Environmental Health and Safety with her professionalism, thoroughness and knowledge. She is committed to the development and growth of her staff and consistently promotes a diplomatic and professional atmosphere, is committed to her personal and professional goals and is an excellent choice as the first recipient of the Employee of the Year award.

Award of Excellence, November 5th, 2007

On November 5th, 2007, EHS presented our Award of Excellence to James Watkins. James is a dedicated, hard working employee who began working for EHS as an ESS technician where he was cross trained in all the waste programs. He quickly showed an interest in radioactive waste management and worked his way to health physicist for the group. He has succeeded in disposing of a backlog of historical radioactive material. James has also taken the initiative to assist in improving and critiquing the ESS database while streamlining and formalizing may components of the radioactive waste program. He agreed to serve as the interim Supervisor for the ESS technicians and has been learning new facets of ESS in the process. James is open to new ideas and welcomes challenges with a positive and fair attitude.

Award of Excellence, September 19th, 2007

Benjamin Fontes (OEHS), Tom Ouimet (OEHS), and Randina Palmisano (YARC) worked diligently for more than a year on the production of a training video that was funded by the American Biological Safety Association. The video, entitled "Working Safely with Laboratory Animals", is designed to address issues at the Animal BSL 1, 2, and 3 levels. This video bridges an important and vulnerable gap between lab animal husbandry, research, and safety. It will be distributed widely by ABSA, and further helps establish Yale's reputation in the areas of lab animal resources and safety.
This award recognizes the very hard work, technical expertise, and perhaps above all the perseverance that these three individuals brought to this project. They successfully mastered the training issues, negotiated their way through the oversight committee's requirements, and developed a product that they and all of their partners should be proud of. Awarded September 19th, 2007.

Award of Excellence, September 19th, 2007

EHS has initiated an Award of Excellence program to recognize our employees whose work embodies and demonstrates an ethic of consistent, high-quality service to our department and the campus at large. The Program was developed by EHS Director, Peter Reinhardt, and introduced during our strategic planning retreat held September 2007. Linda Mouning, Senior Administrative Assistant received the first ever EHS award for her strong organizational support to our controlled substances and biological safety cabinet certification programs.