Class of 2019

Courtney Crawford is a Michigan native, hailing from the small town of Owosso Michigan. Courtney obtained her Bachelor's of Science in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience with a minor in Community Action and Social Change from the University of Michigan (U of M). While an undergraduate at U of M, Courtney held many student life positions, including student cook positions with Michigan Dining. It was this relationship that lead to Courtney's first health and safety position as the Michigan Dining Health and Safety Program Assistant. Courtney is currently a second year graduate student pursuing a Master of Public Health Industrial Hygiene and a certificate in Risk Science and Human Health.

Courtney's LinkedIn Page

Abilene Emerson is a Master of Public Health student in the Industrial Hygiene program. Abilene was born and raised in Traverse City, MI and graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biopsychology, Cognition and Neuroscience in 2017. During her sophomore year, Abilene became interested in public health when she attended a Prospective Student Day at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She was inspired to pursue health related topics and provide healthcare services, which encouraged her to take an internship in supply chain with Johnson and Johnson. This internship allowed her to take a second internship her junior year as an Environmental Safety and Health Intern with Johnson and Johnson. It was during this internship that Abilene grew very interested in working in occupational health and safety in the workplace and she knew she wanted to pursue a career working in health and safety in industry. To gain further experience, she was also the Safety Intern at Bell's Brewery during summer 2017 and she has been a research assistant in the Exposure Research Lab working with Rick Neitzel at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Outside of school and work, Abilene loves walking around campus, watching movies and eating good food.

Abilene's LinkedIn Page

Elizabeth's LinkedIn Page

Claudia Meyer is a Masters of Public Health candidate in Industrial Hygiene at the University of Michigan. In 2017, Claudia completed her BSPH in Environmental Health Sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill with a focus in industrial hygiene and exposure science. She graduated as the top undergraduate student in the Gillings School of Global Public Health. Having developed an interest in occupational health and safety while at UNC, Claudia worked as an Industrial Hygiene Intern with the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Safety, Health, and Environmental Management during the summer of 2016. While at the Smithsonian, Claudia assisted in air sampling in a variety of lab-based settings, culminating in a final project studying naphthalene exposure in entomology storage rooms. More recently, she worked in Atlanta at HD Supply, consulting on environmental and safety program compliance ahead of the sale of a major business unit. At Michigan, Claudia hopes to expand upon her undergraduate education and looks forward to improving the overall health of worker populations.

Claudia's LinkedIn Page

Sophia is a Master of Public Health candidate in Industrial Hygiene. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado Boulder in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in May 2014. After graduating, she worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in the oil and gas extraction program. While at NIOSH, she was primarily responsible for implementing and managing the Fatalities in Oil and Gas Extraction (FOG) database, which collects detailed information about oil and gas extraction worker fatalities in the U.S. She was also involved in the NIOSH effort to identify and characterize oil and gas worker fatalities during tank gauging and fluid transfer activities, the 2014 CDC Ebola Response, a firefighter fatality investigation, and several other oil and gas extraction industry safety and health initiatives.

Sophia's LinkedInPage

Steven Vanderlaske graduated the United States Coast Guard Academy with a Bachelors of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Throughout his service in the USCG, he has had various experiences with risk management and hazard awareness. While serving as a shipboard engineer, he was responsible for maintaining the potable water and sanitation systems. As the Gas Free Engineer, he certified confined spaces as safe for entry, and he was the training team lead for instructing all crew members how to respond to fire, flooding or other casualties at sea. Steven later joined the aviation community and qualified as an Aircraft Commander in two different fleet planes. He has flown more than 2,000 total hours in support of all 11 USCG missions and received various awards for his accomplishments during Law Enforcement and Search and Rescue operations. His most recent assignment was on Cape Cod, Massachusetts where he led the workplace safety program at an air station with 180 personnel, three hangars and seven aircraft. Upon graduation, he expects to be assigned as a regional Safety and Environmental Health Officer, responsible for safe operations at all USCG units within multiple states. He plans to work towards being a Certified Industrial Hygienist. Steven and his wife Mary enjoy running, biking and traveling.

Steven's LinkedIn Page

YangJu (Vanessa) Chen is the second-year MS candidate in Industrial Hygiene. She received her Bachelor of Science from National Taiwan University(NTU) in Public health in 2015. She was a summer intern in 2014 in Taiwan OSHA for safety inspection program. After graduating, she started to work in health risk assessment lab at NTU for two years. She was involved in petroleum air pollution, food safety and pesticide residual regulation projects cooperated with Taiwan EPA, FDA and local health bureau. From 2018 summer. She started her intern in Environment, Health & Safety center at University of Michigan. For her academic research, she is interested in the methodology of life cycle and sustainability for occupational and industrial issues. Her research topic for the thesis is Impact of occupational exposure to noise across occupations.

YangJu's LinkedIn Page

Michael Begin is a second-year Master of Public Health (MPH) candidate in Industrial Hygiene at the University of Michigan. Mike completed his BS in Earth and Environmental Sciences from the University of Michigan in 2014. After graduation he worked for over two years as a field scientist at an environmental engineering and consulting firm located in Westland, MI. There he specialized in the remediation of contaminated groundwater at leaking underground storage tank (LUST) sites. He also served as an emergency responder at mercury spill sites and as a qualified inspector of clandestine drug lab properties for the state of Indiana. More recently, Mike was an industrial hygiene intern for Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, IN at their pharmaceutical manufacturing site. There he designed and completed a complete quantitative exposure assessment in order to evaluate full-shift and task-specific exposures to respirable insulin crystals during formulation of the drug product. He also completed an internal audit of department chemical storage cabinets and conducted area noise monitoring throughout the site. Mike plans on working towards becoming a Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) and Safety Professional (CSP). In his free time, Mike enjoys gymnastics, rock climbing, backpacking, and photography.

Mike's LinkedIn Page

MPH Industrial hygiene program

Xenia's LinkedIn Page

MPH Industrial hygiene program

MPH Industrial hygiene program