Zachary Schnell, M.S.

Graduate Student in Occupational Safety

(East Carolina University)

Pamlico Community College

(Environmental Science Program Coordinatory and Instructor)                                                                                                      

It’s always worth reading the emails you receive because you never know what opportunities they might present. This became true for me after receiving a BCSP scholarship opportunity sent by Dr. Michael Behm from East Carolina University. The Board of Certified Safety Professionals graciously offered a $5,000 scholarship for current occupational safety program graduate students. After realizing that I qualified to apply, it seemed obvious that I should give it try.

Occupational safety has not always been my first field of study, but it has slowly made its way into my career and future educational work. It all started back when I was a Peace Corps volunteer living in the Philippines as a coastal resource management extension worker. When the world’s 2nd strongest super typhoon, Haiyan, made landfall there, my safety training and experience proved to be quite useful. Serving as the safety officer for my region, I had to consolidate my fellow volunteers, and prepare for the worst. Unknowingly at the time, but this experience made me realize just how important safety training can be for people and their communities.

After my experience in the Philippines, I became the environmental science instructor and program coordinator at Pamlico Community College. It was at PCC, that I felt the need to integrate safety training into the program and start to diversify the environmental science students’ skills to accommodate the ever-changing job market. While working on new safety credentials, I came across the ECU M.S. in Occupational Safety program and thought it would be a great opportunity to further my skills and research to pass along to students and the community. It has been a lot of fun being a student again in the ECU program to continue to learn from the instructors and fellow students in the program. I would like to thank the BCSP organization for providing opportunities like this scholarship. Having additional financial support helps progress my studies, which ultimately gets passed down for students. I am looking forward to continuing the M.S. program and being a life-long learner to provide any support I can.

Bryce Lawlor, CSP

Bryce, a Connecticut native, got his EHS start at school while completing his undergraduate from Keene State College in Keene, NH.  There he earned his Bachelors in, Occupational Safety and Health & Applied Sciences.  During his time in school, he had two internships, one with Medtronic in their EHS Divisional group and another with Markem-Imaje in their facility/plant EHS department.  After school, Bryce started his career moving down to North Carolina and working for Cree, Inc. in Durham.  Bryce has remained with Cree since and enjoys working in the high technology semiconductor industry.

At Cree, Bryce has had the opportunity to work in all aspects of EHS, with a particular emphasis on industrial hygiene, working under the company’s CIH and his mentor.  In 2017 he earned his Associate Safety Professional (ASP) certification, followed shortly after with his Certified Safety Professional (CSP) in 2018.  In 2019 Bryce also began his Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) degree program at NC State’s Jenkins MBA Program where he is slated to complete that degree in early 2022.

Bryce has been a member of the North Carolina American Society of Safety Professionals since 2015 and been serving as the Media Chair since 2016 which is the position he currently holds today.  He was also highly involved in the ASS”E” chapter while in school where he was the student chapter’s Vice President. 

Outside of professional life, Bryce enjoys all things fitness.  Taking that passion, he and two friends started a veteran’s fundraising effort dubbed, The Heroes Campaign: a fundraising effort for the Task Force Dagger Foundation combining people’s love for fitness, community and giving back to our Veterans.  That effort successfully raised over $12K during their time and they are looking to re-invigorate their events here in the near future.  He also enjoys spending time with his wife, his 1-year-old daughter, dog and soon to be daughter number two!

Bryce is passionate about this job and this chapter and his colleagues, friends and peers can attest.  He hopes everyone reading this can take advantage of what the Chapter has to offer, particularly on networking opportunities.  This Chapter is filled with over 400-chapter members.  That’s over 400 stories, 400 people with different experiences.  Combined, our Chapter alone has more lifetimes of experience and know-how than we can count! Use it to your advantage.  This job is not easy but it’s rewarding and important, and remember that every day, is a great day to save lives!

Jeffrey (Jeff) D. Meddin, CSP (Ret), CHEP, CHCM, WSO-CSE

Retired Safety Professional

Jeff grew up in a family meat packing company in Savannah, GA where he learned the importance of safety and how unforgiving accidents could be. The business received several safety certificates from their insurance carrier for no lost time injuries, a true honor in the early 1950s and ‘60s. During this time Jeff volunteered and trained with the American Red Cross on their Emergency Service Team and with the Civil Defense in land line communications and as a shelter manager as Atlantic hurricanes frequented the Georgia coastal area where he lived. He started and finished his college education with a B.B.A. in Management and Marketing having taken a 4-year hiatus to serve in the US Air Force during the Viet Nam Era as an Aircraft and Avionics Instrument Repairman. 

Read More→

Christopher S. Hinson, MA, CIH, CSP, CHMM

Senior EHS Specialist

Merck & Co., Inc.

Chris has 14 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry.  He graduated from Campbell University, College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in 2007 with a B.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences.  He entered the industry as an analytical chemist, focusing primarily on dissolution and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).  In March 2010, he was asked by his employer to assume the role of chemical hygiene officer and hazardous waste manager; from there his passion for our profession was unlocked.  After finding his calling as an EHS professional, he continued his studies to develop as a professional obtaining the Certified Hazardous Material Manager (CHMM) credential in 2014, the Certified Safety Professional (CSP) credential in 2015, and earned the right to be called a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) in 2017. He is also an ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 Lead Auditor and a Process Hazard Analysis (PHA) Leader.  Chris completed his M.A. in Executive Leadership from Liberty University, Overton School of Business in December 2020, earning highest honors and was inducted into the Sigma Beta Delta National Honor Society of Business School Graduates.

Read More→

Julie Summers, P.E.

Senior Director, EHS

Asymchem Inc.

Julie Summers has over 25 years of EHS experience, primarily in the pharmaceutical industry in EHS engineering and management roles. She has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Missouri – Columbia and is a Registered Professional Engineer in the State of Missouri.

Julie has extensive experience in Environmental Compliance, Process Safety Management, Emergency Response, Incident Investigation, and auditing. More recently, she has broadened her focus to include occupational health and management of potent compounds.

Read More→