IEA_AARST_Radon_Reporter_JUNE_2024

THE RADON REPORTER | 13 MEMBERSHIP Location: Chapel Hill, NC Principal Technologist, Jacobs IEA: How long have you been working in the soil gas industry?: For 22 years IEA: Describe your professional experience and what attracted you to this work (your “ah-hah” moment): I have been working as an environmental chemist for 33 years.I was attracted to the combination of interesting scientific questions and practical applications to benefit people offered by the field. I focused on analytical chemistry in my undergraduate training and research at UVA. My graduate studies were in an interdisciplinary environmental science department in a school of Public Health at UNC. My master’s thesis examined atmospheric chemistry of semivolatile and particulate bound halogenated compounds using a smog chamber and mass spectrometry. I then started work at a research chemist for an EPA contractor, initially focused on sampling and analyzing combustion byproducts. When my firm was acquired by a larger consultant I was asked to step into running a soil and groundwater treatability and fate & transport laboratory. That led to pursuing and managing a series of technology demonstrations of remediation technologies for government agencies. I then had opportunities to combine my background in atmospheric sampling and analysis with soil/ groundwater issues by studying vapor intrusion, both for commercial clients and for the US EPA. I worked with EPA scientists who had a background in radon studies and an interest in applying radon as a tracer for volatile organic compound vapor intrusion. Going all the way back to college I have been involved on a volunteer basis with housing repair/construction and building maintenance which has taught me a lot about buildings that is valuable in my professional life. I have now been working primarily although not exclusively on vapor intrusion sites and topics for about 15 years. IEA: What does your typical workday look like? My work is a mix of scientific thinking/data analysis, advice to project teams, project management, and sales. No two days are the same, and few turn out like I was expecting them to in the morning. IEA: What do you like about working in your profession?: I appreciate the opportunity to continue learning and pushing the field forward – combining the science of chemistry with the tangible historic aspects Member Spotlight: Chris Lutes  of studying buildings. I enjoy the collegiality of both my coworkers at Jacobs and those throughout the industry. IEA: What benefits does membership to Indoor Environments bring you: My primary role with Indoor Environments Association/AARST has been as a member of the ANSI/AARST committee writing a national mitigation standard for 1-4 family residential buildings that was adapted as final (2014-2020) and then with the ANSI/AARST committee updating and revising national mitigation standards for residential, commercial and schools (2020-2023). Since 2021 I have been serving on the NRPP Certification Council working to develop a VOC mitigation national credential. I have learned a lot from the work of these committees – combining the expertise of hands-on practitioners in many parts of the nation, with researchers, regulators, and trainers. We have had some very in-depth discussions drawing on the results of decades of research, thousands of structures worth of experience, tempered with our mutual understanding of client/consumer priorities and market forces. The relationships built through that work have been invaluable to me in being able to know who to ask for a “sanity check” or a “did anyone ever study X”? IEA: Do you have any advice for people who are considering becoming a member: I would encourage folks in the industry to get involved and share their perspectives. The industry as a whole has an important mission in public health protection, and by learning from each other we can continue to improve the standard of scientific practice in the industry.