AIHA Volunteer Groups Named Awards

2025-2026 Volunteer Groups Named Award Recipients

AIHA Biological Monitoring Committee Chairperson Award
Presented by the AIHA Biological Monitoring Committee

This award recognizes an outstanding member of the Biological Monitoring Committee who has made significant contributions to the health and safety of employees in the workplace through the application of biological monitoring. This year's recipient is Cheryl A. Metzler, CIH for her dedicated service as committee chair, her leadership in presenting the Fundamentals of Biological Monitoring Professional Development Course at AIHA Connect 2025, and her instrumental role in initiating a committee project to develop Hazard Alerts for designated chemicals for distribution to industrial hygienists and workers.

Cannabis Industry Health and Safety Best Student Poster
Presented by the AIHA Cannabis Industry Health and Safety Committee

This award is presented to the author of the student poster at AIHA Connect that best focuses on the OEHS aspects of this industry. Recipients for this award are chosen immediately before AIHA Connect—please support our students by attending the student poster session on Tuesday, June 2 from 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

Carol Rice Award for Best Student Poster in Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology
Presented by the AIHA Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Committee

Dr. Carol Rice, PhD, CIH, is a distinguished industrial hygienist and occupational and environmental epidemiologist whose career has focused on exposure assessment and the protection of worker health. She is a Professor Emerita of Environmental Health at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. This award, first presented at AIHce 2016, recognizes appropriate methods in epidemiology in a student project in the field of occupational and environmental health. Recipients for this award are chosen immediately before AIHA Connect—please support our students by attending the student poster session on Tuesday, June 2 from 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

David L. Swift Memorial Award
Presented by the AIHA Aerosol Technology Committee

This award honors the memory of Dr. David L. Swift for his outstanding contributions to aerosol and industrial hygiene research. It is given to the author(s) of aerosol research papers published during the previous year in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene. This year's recipients are Gediminas Mainelis and Taewon Han for their paper, Performance characteristics of respirable parallel particle impactors (PPI) (JOEH 2025; 22(11):871–888) https://doi.org/10.1080/15459624.2025.2518071.

Donna Doganiero Award
Presented by the AIHA Safety Committee

This award recognizes exceptional contributions to safety education. It honors Donna Doganiero, CIH, FAIHA, for her outstanding achievements in the field of industrial hygiene and safety. This year's recipient is Glenn Murray for his presentation, I7: Technology and People – An AND Conversation.

Dr. Jack Driscoll Best Real-Time Detection Student Poster Award
Presented by the AIHA Real-Time Detection Systems Committee

This award recognizes the author of the student poster at AIHA Connect that best focuses on real-time detection. Recipients for this award are chosen immediately before AIHA Connect—please support our students by attending the student poster session on Tuesday, June 2 from 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

Dr. Klaus Willeke & Dr. Paul A. Baron Award for Best Aerosol Professional Poster
Presented by the AIHA Aerosol Technology Committee

This award recognizes the authors of the best professional (non-student) aerosol science poster presented at AIHA Connect. The poster must focus on aerosol science and technology as applied to the occupational environment. The award honors the legacy of Dr. Klaus Willeke and Dr. Paul A. Baron, renowned researchers and collaborators in aerosol science. Recipients for this award are chosen immediately before AIHA Connect—please support our students by attending the student poster session on Tuesday, June 2 from 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

Dr. William C. Hinds Award for Best Aerosol Student Poster
Presented by the AIHA Aerosol Technology Committee

This award honors the authors of the best student aerosol science poster presented at AIHA Connect. The poster must focus on aerosol science and technology as applied to the occupational environment. The award commemorates Dr. William C. Hinds, an AIHA Fellow and esteemed educator who founded the Industrial Hygiene academic program at UCLA. Recipients for this award are chosen immediately before AIHA Connect—please support our students by attending the student poster session on Tuesday, June 2 from 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

Fellows SIG Mid-Career Award
Presented by the AIHA Fellows SIG

This award honors an industrial hygienist with 10 to 25 years of industrial hygiene work experience who exhibits outstanding leadership and/or technical capabilities, has worked as a volunteer for AIHA committees, project task forces and/or SIGs, and has exhibited a commitment to contribute to the industrial hygiene profession throughout their career. This year's recipient is Megan Canright Racicot, MPH, CIH.

H. Kenneth Dillon Memorial Award
Presented by the AIHA Biosafety and Environmental Microbiology Committee

This award honors the memory of Dr. Ken Dillon, a former AIHA Fellow and the principal instructor for several years of the popular PDC, Prevention, Determination, and Remediation of Biological Contamination in Indoor Environments. Recipients for this award are chosen immediately before AIHA Connect—please support our students by attending the student poster session on Tuesday, June 2 from 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

Lila Albin Award
Presented by the AIHA IEQ & Biological Agents Committee (Former Indoor Environmental Quality Committee)

Established in 1997, this award recognizes a peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene. This year's recipients are Beaudreau, M., Srikanth, P., Zuidema, C., A. Cohen, M., Seto, E., D. Simpson, C., & Baker, M. G. for Assessing fentanyl and methamphetamine in air and on surfaces of transit vehicles, Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene, 22:4, 300–310.

Lydia Renton Outstanding IAC Volunteer Award
Presented by the AIHA International Affairs Committee

This award recognizes an active committee member whose service and dedication to build global capacity and/or raise awareness have had profound influence and measurable contribution to the advancement of worker and community health and safety. It honors Lydia Renton for her unwavering commitment to protecting workers' rights, reducing hazards, and fostering environments where the health and safety of workers worldwide is paramount. This year's recipient is Garrett D. Brown, MPH, CIH, FAIHA.

MUSSC Senior Volunteer Committee Leadership Award
Presented by the AIHA Military and Uniformed Services Support Committee

This award recognizes outstanding performance in a volunteer committee leadership role. This year's recipient is Traci-Anne Boyle for her exceptional dedication and service as secretary of the Military and Uniformed Services Support Committee. Over the past 18 months, Boyle's contributions have had a significant and lasting impact on the committee's performance and continuity, and her leadership in recommending effective team management practices and employing new communication tools has meaningfully strengthened membership engagement and enrollment.

Nancy Wilk-Andrew Cecala Award
Presented by the AIHA Mining Working Group

Named in honor of two trailblazers whose dedication and achievements have left a profound legacy in the field of industrial hygiene within the mining industry, this award recognizes an individual or group whose published article or conference presentation exemplifies outstanding contributions in innovation, partnerships, prevention of chronic disease, broad application, and addressing emerging issues. This year's recipients are Manti Michael Nota, MSC, AFOH; Perry Gottesfeld; Stephen E. Mbuligwe; Gabriel R. Kassenga; and Shehu Mohammed Anka for their paper, Airborne lead exposures during artisanal lead mining and gold ore processing in Zamfara, Nigeria, published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene on May 5, 2025.

The Nancy Pearce and John Rekus Award
Presented by the AIHA Confined Spaces Committee

In memory of Nancy Pearce and honoring John Rekus, this award will be presented to the best confined spaces-related education session at AIHA Connect 2026.

Patricia Stewart Award for Best Presentation in Occupational Epidemiology
Presented by the AIHA Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Committee

This award honors Dr. Patricia Stewart, a pioneering occupational epidemiologist internationally recognized for her leadership in developing innovative methods to characterize occupational exposures in large and complex epidemiologic studies. Her work has strengthened the scientific foundations of occupational health research through improved exposure reconstruction and reduced misclassification. This award recognizes the presentation at AIHA Connect that best reflects methodological excellence in occupational or environmental health, innovative or rigorous exposure assessment approaches, and clear relevance to worker health and disease prevention. Recipients for this award are chosen immediately before AIHA Connect—please support our students by attending the student poster session on Tuesday, June 2 from 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

Tishchauer Award
Presented by the AIHA Ergonomic Committee

This award recognizes a student ergonomics presentation at AIHA Connect. Recipients for this award are chosen immediately before AIHA Connect—please support our students by attending the student poster session on Tuesday, June 2 from 9:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.

Upton Sinclair Lecture Award
Presented by the AIHA Social Concerns Committee

This year's recipient is Georgia Gee, New York Times, for her powerful investigative reporting on an elementary school in East Gainesville, Florida, built atop an unremediated toxic waste site. In the Upton Sinclair Memorial Lecture, D8: The Trash School, Gee will detail how she uncovered a buried story, the resistance she faced from state agencies, and the strategies she used to navigate public records and surface critical truths, including the broader and deeply concerning reality that this case is not an isolated incident.