2022 John J. Bloomfield Awardee

The John J. Bloomfield Award is presented to a young industrial hygienist who pursues the problem of occupational health hazards primarily by doing fieldwork. The 2022 Bloomfield Award recipient is Rebecca M. Burton, CIH, CSP, MPH.

Rebecca Burton is a Senior Corporate Industrial Hygienist at Kindeva Drug Delivery, where she implements and manages global industrial hygiene programs and develops global occupational health strategy for pharmaceutical device manufacturing and development. Most recently, she has begun creating a global environmental sustainability program as part of a larger corporate ESG initiative. Her occupational health experience covers research and development and manufacturing environments for a wide range of products.

Ms. Burton is concurrently studying for a doctoral degree in Environmental Health Sciences in the Industrial Hygiene program at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Her dissertation research explores characterization of inhalation and dermal chemical exposures during novel methods of additive manufacturing, as well as total worker health and psychosocial workplace exposure management. Ms. Burton also earned her Master of Public Health degree at the University of Minnesota, where her research focused on analysis and optimization of engineering controls for exposures to laboratory animal allergens. She previously completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre from the Florida State University School of Theatre, where she studied scenic art and structural design. Prior to her move to the industrial hygiene field, she worked professionally for ten years as a scenic artist, props artist, electrician, stagehand, and carpenter.

Since joining the industrial hygiene profession, Ms. Burton has demonstrated her devotion to the field through her membership and committee work for AIHA, where she has served on the Continuing Education Committee, the Noise Committee, and the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Committee. She contributes by attending and presenting at conferences, trainings, and webinars, and through volunteer work writing about health and safety topics in the performing arts. Most recently, Rebecca’s writing on theatre health and safety has been featured in blog entries and newsletters for Technical Tools of the Trade, Technicians for Change, and the Scenic Artists’ Guild.