January 18, 2017
Emily Zamzow, a current ERC student, was first introduced to academic research while working for Boise State University on a NIOSH funded research study examining diesel exposure to underground miners in 2014. Throughout this project she worked with Dr. Chris Simpson of the University of Washington Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), and he introduced her to the exposure science masters program through DEOHS.
Currently as a second year MS student in the exposure science program, she works in the Simpson Lab analyzing biomarker samples from underground miners to determine their exposure to diesel. She hopes her project will help build the body of knowledge surrounding diesel exposures to ensure the health and safety of future underground miners.
Being an ERC student has equipped Emily with the skills to work in industry and provide essential industrial hygiene support. In the summer of 2016, she was employed as the industrial hygiene intern at the ExxonMobil Joliet, Illinois refinery. Throughout the summer, she assisted in exposure monitoring of workers to ensure worker safety and compliance with all regulatory and ExxonMobil standards, guidelines and best practices.
The refinery environment is diverse and thus, exposure monitoring was done for a wide range of potential hazards including chemical hazards, noise, lighting, asbestos and respirable dust. With her training from the ERC and the University of Washington, Emily was able to help ensure worker safety at the ExxonMobil refinery.
