2023-2024 Executive Committee Candidates
Please see the slate of candidates for 2023-2024 chapter year as submitted by the Nominations and Elections Committee:
Doug Gaylord – President
Frieda Sanders – President-Elect
Matt Machles – Secretary, last year
Jay Sprankle – Treasurer, last year
Ogaga Tebehaevu – Advisory Board Member
Robin Barfield – Advisory Board Member
MARCH 2023
A New Season Begins
“It’s spring again – a time of rebirth as the natural world wakes up and revives after going dormant in the winter months.” – Better Place Forests.
Spring is often described as a season of new life, change, creativity, and adaptation. To some, it is a great time of renewal to gain insight into making new moves, setting new goals, or seeing through one’s goals. Regardless of our perspective about spring, a key message I would like to share with us this month is the need to continue to grow, professionally and otherwise.
Environmental Health and Safety professionals are not stagnant. Rather, we find ways to inspire ourselves, trying new experiences to become better stakeholders. The efforts we make each day in our respective roles contribute to making the world a safer and healthier place. When we continue to grow, it helps us impact our team positively and create good memories. And the more memories we create for ourselves and the people around us, the better it’ll be when we reflect upon these unprecedented times in the distant future.
This month is also a new season for our chapter. For the first time in over two years, we will be meeting in person for the chapter executive committee and technical meetings. On behalf of the Executive Committee, I want to thank you all. The support that we have been receiving since late 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began is remarkable. There has been sustained progress in membership growth and engagement despite the challenge of not being able to meet face-to-face for some time now.
I am happy that we are finally back! We hope you would consider joining us at next week’s technical meeting featuring Dr. Mike Behm and Ashley Heien, who both will speak on “Safety Function Metamorphosis.” Depending on the time you are reading this message, you may either join the event live or virtually next week or view the archived recording online. See the chapter website for more details: https://nc.assp.org/event/
Finally, you should be receiving an update in the next couple of weeks on the slate of candidates for the 2023-2024 chapter year. This (leadership positions) will also be posted on the chapter website for up to 30 days before being voted for at next month’s chapter meeting. As always, your presence and vote would ensure a seamless leadership transition for the next chapter year.
Thank you all for all you do and have a great month!
Ogaga Tebehaevu, MS, CIH, CSP
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: FEBRUARY 2023
Elyse Barrick, CSP, WELL AP
Senior Manager & Site Lead EHS
Biogen Gene Therapy
Elyse Barrick is the Senior Manager, EHS and site lead for Biogen’s Gene Therapy facility currently under construction in Research Triangle Park, NC. After graduating with her BS in Environmental Sciences from the University of Toledo, she started her environmental career serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in La Paz Centro, Nicaragua teaching community environmental programs for 3-6 grade students. Upon returning to the US, she moved to Raleigh/Durham to start her first career position as an environmental scientist for an environmental and engineering consulting firm, mostly focused water and wastewater projects for the US government.
While leaving her office building one afternoon, the EHS project manager stopped her to correct an at-risk action of walking down the stairs while texting (her friend about Taylor Swift!) and it started a career shift that led her into the full environmental, health, and safety field. A few short weeks later, the same project manager reached out about the opportunity to provide some EHS consulting for a client in Santiago, Chile. Over the next few years, she supported the start-up of the client’s data center facility, built out their ISO 14001 and OSHAS 18001 (now ISO 45001) management structure, and developing a solid understanding of South American EHS regulations.
As Elyse realized that she thoroughly enjoyed the field of Environmental, Health, and Safety, she decided to transition back to a US based role working as on-site EHS specialist for Valspar and later a Sr. EHS Specialist for BioMerieux. While at BioMerieux, she was able to focus on manufacturing and laboratory safety, process improvements through LEAN and obtained her Certified Safety Professional designation. Most recently, she was the Safety Program Manager at RTI International and led achievement of the WELL Health and Safety Certification as response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Currently, she is focused on the start-up of operations at Biogen’s Gene Therapy facility, with a strong focus on building a sustainable management system, biological and recombinant DNA safety programs, and regulatory compliance programs.
Outside of work, she loves being outside, traveling with her husband, and learning about all types of construction equipment with her 3-year-old son. She loves to help her colleagues achieve success by providing them a safe and productive workplace and committing to Biogen’s patients by providing them with safe and quality treatments.
JANUARY 2023
Student Engagement
Happy New Year!
As we begin 2023, I am thinking more about ways we can bolster engagement with our students, student sections, and the youngest members of the OSH community. The student community is a fundamental part of ASSP’s structure, both at the national and local level. At the Chapter’s Planning Session in August 2022, student engagement was a key part of our discussion.
The chapter is committed to working with our local student sections and faculty advisors in every way it can to bridge the gap in student engagement. Through conference sponsorship, scholarship support, student spotlighting, and guest-speaking opportunities, the chapter strives to make sure that this group is supported as much as possible. This effort, however, is not only a chapter responsibility. Everyone has a role to play, directly or indirectly, in student engagement.
There are areas that could still be improved on, such as retention, mentorship, motivation, professional development, to mention a few. Speaking of retention, data from the Safety+Health magazine indicates that we are not retaining our recent grad and young professionals enough. Some of our recent grads that I spoke with on this issue last year, told me that they find it somewhat challenging to qualify for entry-level jobs requiring 1-2 years of experience. While this may not be representative of the situation, it’s something worth mentioning. Mentorship and motivation could go a long way to create a positive experience for our students as they transition in their professional journey. Thus, I encourage us to continue to harness our roles to positively influence the next generation of safety leaders.
If this topic resonates with you, I encourage you to join us in our Technical Meeting in March, where a faculty advisor will come speak to us and answer questions relating to this topic.
Finally, I want to thank those that made last month’s end of year social. It was nice to meet in person again, after several months of virtual meetings. All things being equal, we should be returning to face to face meetings no later than March 2023.
On behalf of the Executive Committee, I sincerely appreciate everyone’s support in the last six months. Let’s keep up the good team spirit in the months ahead!
Ogaga Tebehaevu, MS, CIH, CSP