James
Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio
Alma Mater: University of Louisiana (BS)
Certifications: None
Interests: basketball, bowling, and SCUBA diving
James grew up the quintessential jock. An accomplished forward on his high school basketball team, he received a full scholarship to the University of Louisiana, where he discovered a knack for chemistry. While working for a gas refinery right out of college, James found a passion for safety and the environment after volunteering to help with the cleanup of a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
After spending time hearing stories and talking to several influential people at the volunteer base camp, he decided to enter the field of industrial hygiene. Currently interning at a major oil company, he is nearing the end of his postdoctoral study and considering a field position in the oil and gas industry, to better prevent future environmental and worker accidents.
Jordan
Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri
Alma Mater: University of Illinois (BA)
Certifications: First Aid/CPR/AED, OSHA 10
Interests: writing, traveling, and photography
Coming from a hardscrabble neighborhood in East St. Louis, Jordan helped support her family from an early age by working as a dishwasher for a local restaurant. The management introduced the NIOSH Safety Matters program to the staff; through it, she felt inspired to do more to help protect her fellow workers.
A gifted writer, Jordan graduated college and worked as a reporter for several regional magazines, writing comprehensive and award-winning articles on workplace safety and labor laws. Determined to do even more, she landed a position in a corporate safety department for a regional construction firm. She is exploring options for postgraduate education in safety or law, recently acquired her OSHA 10 certificate, and is ready to apply for her Safety Trained Supervisor Construction (STSC) certification.