April 2017: The Partnership for Work, Health and Safety and WorkSafeBC were proud to present the inaugural Roberta Ellis Award for Excellence in the Study and Practice of Occupational and Environmental Health to Nicole Boeder, a second year MSc student in occupational and environmental health (OEH) in the UBC School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) on April 7, 2017.

Nicole Boeder was selected as the first recipient of this $1,000 award by the SPPH OEH Awards Committee, based on excellence in her OEH co-op practicum at Teck Resources in Trail, BC. At Teck Nicole reports that she applied the fundamentals of hygiene practice, such as anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of occupational and environmental hazards, in order to manage and prevent the occurrence of occupational disease. She completed the MSc program in December 2016 and will be attending her graduation ceremony this May. She is now working at the Vancouver Airport Authority in health and safety.

This award, supported this year by the Partnership for Work, Health and Safety and WorkSafeBC and in the future by WorkSafeBC, will be awarded annually to an SPPH student who has demonstrated excellence in coursework, practicum, or research in the area of occupational and environmental health. The award was initiated to honour the longstanding support of Roberta Ellis in the education and training of students in this area.

Roberta Ellis retired from WorkSafeBC in 2016 as a champion for using research and evidence to inform policy and practice. The Partnership for Work, Health and Safety and its Co-Directors, Mieke Koehoorn and Chris McLeod, thank her for her passion and vision for occupational health and safety and workers’ compensation policy in this province and beyond.

Thank you for your support and leadership Roberta, and congratulations Nicole.