Recognizing Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health’s Staff Service Excellence Award Winners
By Natalie Dionne
The Gangarosa Department of Environmental Health (GDEH) recently announced this year’s recipients of the department’s Staff Service Excellence Awards for their continued dedication to the GDEH and the Rollins School of Public Health at large. These annual awards serve to recognize the tireless efforts of the dedicated team tasked with supporting the academic, research, and administrative activities that enable the department’s faculty and students to flourish.
As GDEH continues to grow with the addition of new students and faculty, the department’s hardworking staff remain critical to the department’s success. Below are profiles on this year’s winners.
GDEH 2022 Staff Service Excellence Award Winners
Amber Burt - 5 Years of Service
Title and Work History – Data Manager & Analyst –Carmen Marsit’s Laboratory of Environmental Genomics
Burt started working for Marsit in 2016 and works mostly on the Rhode Island Child Health Study, studying DNA methylation in the placenta.
What is your favorite part of working at Rollins? Working in the Marsit lab. I like the research that I get to work on and working with the other people in the lab.
What do you do outside of work for fun? I enjoy baking, gardening, and reading.
Priya D'Souza - 10 Years of Service
Title and Work History - Laboratory Manager, Laboratory of Exposure Assessment and Development for Environmental Research (LEADER) Laboratory
D’Souza came to Rollins as a student and has now been with the lab for more than 10 years.
What is your favorite part of working at Rollins? I love being surrounded by so many interesting and brilliant people at various stages of their careers and lives. I learn something new every day!
What is the best career advice you’ve received? Choose a career you love and you will never work a day in your life.
What do you do outside of work for fun? I love to hike, read, and explore!
Tamaria Hawkins - 5 Years of Service
Title and Work History - Project Coordinator, LEADER Laboratory
Hawkins manages the operations of multiple projects and oversees facilities management responsibilities for LEADER Laboratory. She also aids the department in the areas of research administration, HERCULES finance, faculty EBI reporting, and general administrative support.
What is your favorite part of working at Rollins? Working with individuals from diverse backgrounds and building relationships.
What is the best career advice you’ve received? Always treat people with respect and be attentive to the needs of others at all times
What do you do outside of work for fun? Spend time with family and friends, spoil and play with my dog Prince, and empower and serve others.
Kate Hodgins - 10 Years of Service
Title and Work History - Center Administrator, HERCULES
Hodgins graduated from Emory College in 2004 and from Rollins in 2010. She started working in GDEH in January 2011. She was the Center Administrator for the Emory/Georgia Tech EPA Clean Air Research Center, SCAPE, from 2011-2016 and has been working with HERCULES since 2016.
What is your favorite part of working at Rollins? My favorite part of working at Rollins is the people! I have always felt supported by my colleagues and the school in general. I also really enjoy being on a university campus. I like the energy and ample opportunities to learn about new topics.
What is the best career advice you’ve received? I don’t know that I was ever given this advice, but I have learned that the work environment can be just as important as the actual job role. In my previous career, my colleagues didn’t seem very happy, and they often spoke negatively of the sacrifices they had made for their career. I feel fortunate to have found a position where I am surrounded by interesting work, and I also have time and energy to devote to interests outside of work.
What do you do outside of work for fun? Outside of work, I enjoy running, tennis, learning to speak Spanish, exploring Atlanta, volunteering through my kids’ schools and activities, and finally getting to hang out with my friends in person again!
Grace Lee - 5 Years of Service
Title and Work History - Senior Public Health Program Associate for LEADER
Grace has worked for the LEADER group for over 5 years, first as an MPH student and later as a staff member. She primarily works in the laboratory, assessing people’s exposure to various potentially harmful chemicals.
What is your favorite part of working at Rollins? My favorite part of working at Rollins is being able to attend talks on the latest topics in public health given by experts.
What is the best career advice you’ve received? The best career advice I’ve received is to be confident in my ability to learn and grow into a position, instead of limiting myself to what I already know. You can only grow if you challenge yourself.
What do you do outside of work for fun? I love to garden, especially growing tomatoes and peppers! There is something magical about watching a plant grow from a seed.
Amy Lovvorn - 10 Years of Service
Title and Work History - Manager, Research Projects
Amy’s first job at Emory was in the School of Medicine, working at Grady Hospital on pneumonia and TB studies. She had previously focused more on international work, so has enjoyed learning about the health challenges of a disadvantaged population in Atlanta. She then worked in the School of Nursing on a study investigating whether motivational interviewing and palliative care led to increased health and economic outcomes for people living with HIV. For the past 5 years she has been managing Thomas Clasen’s Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) trial, investigating an LPG cookstove intervention. As HAPIN is currently finishing up a year 5 NCE, she recently started working part-time on a study in the School of Nursing with Lisa Thompson on the Combustion of Plastic Waste and Human Health Effects in Guatemala study. (However, she hopes to continue working on projects at Rollins!)
What is your favorite part of working at Rollins? Everyone at Rollins is truly dedicated to improving public health. It is inspiring to work around so many thoughtful, intelligent people. I really missed those personal interactions during the lockdown. While I enjoyed working in the SOM and SON, Rollins feels more like home.
What do you do outside of work for fun? Yoga, brew kombucha, hike, hang out with family
Angela Rozo - 15 Years of Service
Title and Work History - Training Program Coordinator for the GEOHealth Hub and Graduate Program Administrator for the PhD Program in Environmental Health Sciences (EHS)
Rozo started in 2007 as one of two ADAPs in the Hubert Department of Global Health coming from working as an educational programs manager at the Latin American Association. In 2016, she moved to the GDEH to assist Kyle Steenland and Karen Levy with their newly funded GEOHealth Hub where she has been coordinating research and training activities in South America for six years. In 2020, she also joined the EHS program’s team as program administrator.
What is your favorite part of working at Rollins? The people I have gotten to meet during these past 15 years! I have gotten to know staff, students, and faculty on a professional and personal level, and they have contributed to my growth in very meaningful ways.
Best career advice you’ve received? Always move up, never lateral … in whatever that means for you. Better opportunities, better people, better quality of professional and personal life, even better coffee!
What do you do outside of work for fun? I love metalsmithing! I started 4 years ago and have not stopped learning new skills. I work with fine metals and stones but prefer recycled and repurposed materials. This is my mediation activity as it is difficult to be distracted with a torch in one hand and a bone cutting saw in another.
Ariadne Swichtenberg - 20 Years of Service
Title and Work History - Sr. Associate Director of Academic Programs Swichtenberg started at Emory's School of Medicine with the Regional Training Program (2000-2007) working on teen pregnancy prevention and other public health related programs, then started as an ADAP in Environmental Health. The department had about 60 master’s students that year and now has double the amount.
What is your favorite part of working at Rollins? The people! Hands down, since day one, it’s the people that make Rollins a special and wonderful place to work. The students, faculty, and staff are all amazing. Everyone is passionate about and dedicated to their work, serving students in the best ways possible, and help to make good things happen. I always say that at Rollins, we do things that make sense. People are receptive to feedback that leads to continued improvement to systems. We encourage students to be part of that process.
What is the best career advice you’ve received? The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is a little extra. What do you do outside of work for fun? I enjoy spending time with family and friends, making handmade cards, walking outdoors, baking, and reading.
