One of the many things I’ve been focusing on as I get my feet on the ground here at CHE is building a strong team to move our work forward into the next 20 years. I’m very excited to announce that Dr. Rachel Massey will be joining us next month as our Senior Science and Policy Advisor.
Rachel comes to us with over two decades of experience working at the intersection of public interest science and policymaking in state, national and international arenas. She served most recently as Senior Associate Director at the Toxics Use Reduction Institute at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where her projects have included state, federal and international chemicals policy initiatives, analyzing toxics use reduction opportunities for businesses and communities, and working in partnership with grassroots organizations addressing toxics at the community level.
Rachel recently received the Ken Zarker Memorial P2 Champion Award from the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable for her work supporting efforts of the Nantucket PFAS Action Group to protect firefighters’ health by reducing the use of PFAS in turnout gear.
Supporting Solutions
In January of this year, Rachel was one of the featured speakers on a CHE webinar, Environmental Health Impacts of Synthetic Turf and Safer Alternatives, highlighting her recent research with her colleague Lindsey Pollard on the
health and environmental risks of materials used as artificial turf infill, including waste tire materials. They also touched on emerging information on chemicals in turf grass blades, associated health and environmental concerns such as microplastic pollution and high surface temperatures, and research on the benefits of natural grass fields as a safer alternative.
Rachel’s skills and experience are a perfect fit for CHE as we refresh our tools and programs with a science-to-action focus, supporting solutions that are firmly rooted in equity:
“I'm thrilled to join CHE at this juncture. I've appreciated CHE’s unique role for many years, and am really glad to have the opportunity to join Kristin and the rest of the team in the next phase of this work.”
You’ll start hearing from Rachel when she joins the team in late November, please join me in welcoming her to the CHE community!
Interns and Advisors
I also want to highlight this fall’s Science Communications Interns, Shania Darby and Matt Lilley, who are helping us 
update and refresh the CHE website. Shania comes to us from George Washington University, where she is finishing up her Masters in public health. Matt is a science and technical writer in Minnesota, who has also written 20 nonfiction children’s books. We appreciate the energy and expertise Shania and Matt are sharing with CHE this fall.
We'll be expanding our advisory team as we move into 2023 — stay tuned for details, coming soon. Meanwhile, if you haven’t already, please register for our gathering in Bolinas on Saturday, November 12 to celebrate CHE’s 20th year! You can join us either in person or online, hope to see you there.