Risk, Safety, & Resilience

Group: EHS

Ericka Pearce

Title: Laboratory Safety Program Manager

Groups: EHS

Ericka Pearce is the Laboratory Safety Program Manager at George Mason University, where she supports the university’s comprehensive biosafety program. Ericka rejoined the EHS team in January 2023, returning to the university where she previously served as Biosafety Officer from 2004 to 2006.

With 22 years of experience as a bio risk manager, Ericka has led safety initiatives for the University of Virginia, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Having started her career as a laboratory research associate, Ericka brings a practical, researcher-centric perspective to safety compliance programs. In her current role, Ericka is the primary point of contact for the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) and a member of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). She is a Certified Biological Safety Professional (CBSP) and an active member of ABSA International, dedicated to building value-driven programs that support Mason’s research mission.

Ericka is a proud Mason alumna with an M.S. in Biodefense and holds a B.A. in Animal Behavior from Bucknell University.

Douglass O’Neill

Title: Assistant Director, Occupational Safety

Phone: 703-993-9420

Groups: EHS

Douglass O’Neill joined Environmental Health and Safety in September 2019 as the Assistant Director of Occupational Health and Safety. In this role, he has responsibility for the Indoor Environmental Quality, Industrial Hygiene, and Occupational Safety and Health programs on all campuses. Doug leads the Mason Accident/Incident program for non-laboratory incidents.

Doug came to George Mason University with a broad background in EHS and primarily the educational environment. Most recently, he worked as Coordinator for Safety and Environmental Health within the Office of Safety and Security at Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS). During his time at FCPS, Doug was involved with all Safety and Environmental Health issues, was the Chemical Hygiene Officer, was the Radiation Safety Officer and was one of the two Emergency Operations Coordinators for FCPS.

Doug’s early career included Industrial Hygiene consulting work and as an Occupational Health Compliance Officer with the Virginia Occupation Safety and Health Safety Compliance Division.

Doug has a BS in Geology from George Mason University, a MS in Systems engineering from George Washington University, a Public Health graduate certificate from Johns Hopkins University and is a Registered Environmental Health Specialist.

Catherine Martini

Title: Biosafety Officer/ARO for the BRL

Phone: 703-993-4788

Groups: EHS

Catherine Martini joined the Environmental Health & Safety program in January 2021 to fill the roles of Biosafety Officer and Responsible Official (RO) at George Mason University’s Biomedical Research Laboratory on the Science and Technology Campus.  The Biosafety Officer is responsible for maintaining a comprehensive biological safety program in accordance with local, state, and Federal regulations while ensuring biosecurity and biocontainment of the agents and facility.  The RO is the designated entity official responsible for ensuring compliance with the Federal Select Agent regulations for work with high risk biological materials, while also ensuring the safety of the personnel.

Prior to joining George Mason University, Catherine worked for almost 20 years at American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) as the Alternate Responsible Official for ATCC’s Select Agent Program.  During this time, she also worked as the Manager of Regulatory Compliance, responsible for reviewing Federal permitting requirements for the importation and exportation of biological materials.  She also provided biosafety knowledge and support for ATCC’s BSL-2 and BSL-3 High Containment Laboratories biosafety program.

Catherine is an alumni, having graduated from George Mason University in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology.

Lisa Martinez-Cardenas

Title: Laboratory Safety Technician

Phone: 703-993-4319

Groups: EHS

Lisa Martinez Cardenas joined Risk, Safety, & Resilience on March 18th of 2020 as a Laboratory Safety Technician. She is responsible for providing support to laboratories to maintain safety protocols. Her main duties involve conducting routine hazardous waste collection, supply inventories, laboratory equipment testing, and maintaining records associated with inspections and hazardous waste collection.

Before Joining RSR, Lisa graduated in December of 2019 from George Mason University with her bachelor’s degree in chemistry, with a concentration in biochemistry. Lisa worked part-time as a laboratory assistant in the Chemistry Stockroom of the College of Science from 2018 to 2020. Additionally, Lisa worked part-time as a client and operations services team leader at the George Mason Student Service Center from 2015 to 2020.

On Fall of 2023, Lisa will start the master’s degree program in Public Health in Epidemiology at George Mason University.

Tammy Knight

Title: Compliance Specialist

Phone: 703-993-5155

Groups: EHS

Mrs. Knight joined Risk, Safety, & Resilience in March 2020 as a Laboratory Safety Compliance Specialist. In this role, Mrs. Knight supports the Responsible Official and Alternate Responsible Official in oversight of the Select Agent Program. She also supports laboratory safety programs to ensure compliance with State and Federal regulations in the Environmental Health Safety Office at the Sci-Tech campus.

Before joining George Mason University, Mrs. Knight worked in the Health Care industry, providing patients with over 8 years of customer service experience.

Elif Karaoz

Title: Biosafety Officer

Groups: EHS

Lei An Ilan-Garcia

Title: Industrial Hygiene Specialist

Phone: 703-993-4421

Groups: EHS

Lei An Ilan-Garcia joined Environmental Health and Safety as an Industrial Hygiene Specialist in June 2022. Some of her duties include providing staff with respiratory protection training and respirator fit testing, providing hearing conservation training and conducting noise assessments, and conducting indoor air quality investigations. She also collect samples (i.e. floors, walls) as requested for further laboratory analysis. Prior to working at George Mason University, she worked as an Environmental Health Specialist at various local agencies (Fairfax County and Contra Costa County). She inspected restaurants, public swimming pools, and tattoo parlors. She also assisted with COVID-19 operations for the counties she worked for. Lei An graduated with a BS in Environmental Toxicology in 2016 from University of California, Davis and she is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Health in Epidemiology here at George Mason University.

Terry Hurley

Title: Laboratory Safety Officer

Phone: 703-993-8281

Groups: EHS

Terry Hurley joined Risk, Safety, & Resilience in June of 2017. As Laboratory Safety Officer, Mr. Hurley inspects lab spaces to make sure they are compliant with local, state and federal safety regulations. Mr. Hurley also conducts a variety of safety trainings including Lab Safety, Hazard Communication and Hazard Waste. Prior to joining George Mason, Mr. Hurley was a contractor that provided Lab Safety consultation at American and Catholic University.
Mr. Hurley attended Johnson & Wales University in 2001 and received and Bachelor’s Degree in Food Service Management and an Associate’s Degree in Culinary Arts. Mr. Hurley was a manager of various restaurants prior to transitioning to Environmental Health and Safety.

Dave Algert

Title: Safety Officer

Phone: 703-993-5588

Groups: EHS

Dave Algert is currently an Occupational Safety Officer with Environmental Health & Safety. Dave joined George Mason University as the Facilities Safety Coordinator in December 2012. In this role, he worked closely with Environmental Health & Safety assisting with outreach and coordination of training requirements. In 2014, Dave moved to his current role in EHS where he implements various occupational safety programs, including training and inspections, to the George Mason community.

Prior to working at George Mason, Dave worked in the general industry and construction occupational safety field in both the public and private sectors.

Dave graduated from Eastern Kentucky University with a Bachelor of Science in Fire and Safety Engineering Technology and completed a Safety and Health Officer apprenticeship through the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Leanne Wright

Title: Director, Environmental Health & Safety

Phone: 703-993-7531

Groups: EHS

Leanne Wright is the Director of Environmental Health and Safety. She oversees George Mason University’s laboratory and occupational safety and environmental compliance initiatives. Leanne joined George Mason in 2022 after over ten years leading health and safety initiatives at American University in Washington, D.C. Leanne enjoys building new programs and dreaming up creative solutions to complex problems. At American University, she developed the university’s COVID-19 contact tracing infrastructure, training program and team and served as a public health advisor to campus leadership throughout the pandemic.

Leanne graduated from William & Mary with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston with a Master’s degree in Public Health and holds a Certified Safety Professional designation. While not working on safety initiatives, Leanne is likely training for a long-distance race or spending time with her husband and two school-age children.