YOUR ASSOCIATION
NEHA NEWS
Note of Thanks to Our Departing Board Members The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) is for- tunate to have members who are willing to volunteer their time and energy to our organization through positions within our Board of Directors and on committees and work groups. Our board members also serve as subject matter experts, trainers, and peer reviewers for the organization. We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge the dedication and hard work of three board mem- bers on the occasion of their departure from the board: Immediate Past-President Roy Kroeger, Region 5 Vice-President Traci Michel- son, and Region 7 Vice-President Tim Hatch.
before starting as an environmental health specialist. He worked through every position within the department before becoming the environmental health director in 2019. He served in that role until retiring in 2022 after serving 29 years. Retirement was not the final chapter for Kroeger—he was retired for only 4 days before assuming the environmental health director position at El Paso County in Colorado. Kroeger has been a respected professional and subject matter expert in numerous volunteer roles. Despite his interest in water quality, he has often been pulled toward food safety service. For nearly a decade, he has represented local public health agencies on the Governing Council with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Partnership for Food Protection. He has also represented NEHA on the Council to Improve Foodborne Illness Outbreak Response. Additionally, he continues to work with FDA, NEHA, the Association for Food and Drug Ocials, and the International Food Protection Training Institute as a subject matter expert to develop a national food safety curriculum for all retail regulatory food safety professionals nationwide. Another passion for Kroeger is that he enjoys teaching others about environmental health. That passion has allowed him to serve on the National Environmental Health Science and Protec- tion Accreditation Council. During that time, he spoke with future environmental health students at several universities. He also worked with the State University of New York, College of Environ- mental Science and Forestry to achieve academic accreditation for their program. He also serves as an undergraduate advisor for the environmental health program at Colorado State University. One of his greatest honors was when he had the opportunity to help train and mentor new environmental health professionals in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Following Hurricanes Irma and Marie that struck the islands in 2017, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention worked with NEHA to help the territory rebuild its environmental health workforce. “Having the opportunity to train and work with a group of people who wanted to make a dif- ference in their community is something that I will never forget. These new professionals had so much to learn and our team had so little time to train them. The students were incredible and many continue to provide environmental health service to their communities today.” In reflecting on his time on the board, Kroeger shared, “Serv- ing NEHA and the great people in our profession has been an honor. There have been some challenges, such as replacing a long- tenured executive director and enduring the challenges presented by a global pandemic. There have been, however, more rewards. I had the opportunity to serve as president during the expansion of the association, both financially and in employment. I do not take credit for that growth; it was due to the hard work and dedication of an amazing group of employees and volunteers.” “Much of the success that I have had is due to the great men- toring that I received from those who preceded me on the board.
Immediate Past-President Roy Kroeger, MPH, REHS, leaves the board after 16 years of dedicated service and leader- ship. He served as vice-president of Region 3 (Colorado, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming) for four consecutive terms between 2007 and 2018. In 2018, he was elected as second vice- president and served as a national o- cer from 2018–2023 and as president
from 2021–2022. And while his time on the board is at an end, Kroeger has indicated a willingness to continue to serve the association as a committee member, technical advisor, or in other roles as needed. While on the board, Kroeger served on numerous standing com- mittees including finance, policy and bylaws, membership, mem- bership memorial, student engagement, Annual Educational Con- ference (AEC) planning, and nominations. Additionally, he served on several ad-hoc committees such as sustainability, response to the Deepwater Horizon event, and the search committee for a new executive director. Further, he has helped review and write new questions for several of the Registered Environmental Health Specialist/Registered Sanitarian (REHS/RS) and Certified Profes- sional–Food Safety (CP-FS) credential exams. He has received numerous presidential citations during his 16 years. Before serving on our board, Kroeger spent 8 years on the board of the Wyoming Environmental Health Association (WEHA). During this time he had the opportunity to learn more about NEHA by working with previous regional vice-presidents such as Jim Dingman and Tom Gonzales. Kroeger has been honored to receive all the awards o¡ered by WEHA, including the Out- standing Environmental Health Specialist Award and the Arthur Williamson Award. Water quality has always been a passion for Kroeger. After some academic twists and turns, he found his way to the accred- ited environmental health program at Colorado State Univer- sity. He started his environmental health career as an intern for the Cheyenne–Laramie County Health Department in Chey- enne, Wyoming, where he took 1 week o¡ after his internship
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Volume 86 • Number 2
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