WSLH Chemical Emergency Response (CER) Laboratory Director Meshel Lange received the HazMatter of the Year Award at the Wisconsin Association of Hazardous Materials Responders (WAHMR) conference in early March.
The HazMatter of the Year award acknowledges a person’s service and/or dedication to the improvement of the hazardous materials response community.
Lange was one of 10 nominees for this year’s award and her primary nomination was submitted by WSLH CER’s FBI response partners –
Meshel has been an outstanding scientific resource and HazMat training and response partner for years. As the Chemical Threats Coordinator for the Wisconsin Laboratory Network for Chemical Threats (LRN-C), Meshel has shared her time and expertise to train HazMat operators throughout the State of WI, and beyond, become and remain proficient with their field identification equipment. Meshel’s knowledge, experience, and understanding of the intricacies of a HazMat response, coupled with her leadership abilities and willingness to collaborate, have improved response protocols and cooperation for HazMat responders in the State of WI. Meshel has a reputation as a reliable response resource – frequently called upon, while operators are on-scene, to answer questions, assess potential threats, clarify capabilities, and offer best practices. She is often the first call, and usually the best call, a HazMat team will make when it needs information. Meshel’s dedication to improving all aspects of a HazMat response, from protocol to training to on-scene capability and safety, is certainly deserving of the HazMatter Award.
In addition to working with Wisconsin’s HazMat teams on emergency response, Lange and her WSLH CER colleague Mason Shields provide many hours of annual training to HazMat teams across the state as part of their Laboratory Response Network-Chemical (LRN-C) outreach efforts, for which they are nationally known.
Meshel Lange (right) holds her HazMatter of the Year Award. Her WI State Laboratory of Hygiene colleague Mason Shields stands on her left.