NAME: Stephanie L. Douma Contact email: stdouma@gmail.com Degree: PHRAM(Cert.) Population Health Risk Assessment and Management Graduate Certification. Institution and Advisor:Institute ofPopulation Health, Department of Epidemiology,University of Ottawa. Practicum supervisor: Dr Daniel Krewski, Director of the McLaughlin Centre for Population Risk Assessment at theUniversity of Ottawa Title of Thesis: Geoscience modelling of relative variation in arsenic hazard potential inNew Brunswick. Graduation Date: 18 May, 2010 Career Goals: To inform policy and regulators of the importance of understanding natural background (geology) as an integral part of any risk assessment in environmental studies. Connection with Laurentian SETAC: Laurentian SETAC member since Spring 2011. Actively involved with the Ottawa Pub Night Committee. This committee aims to introduce the membership to a variety of speakers and topics in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry on a monthly basis in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Accomplishment I am most proud of: Publishing in the medical journal Advances in Nursing Science. Douma et al. 2005. Estrogen Related Mood Disorders: Reproductive Life Cycle Factors. Advances in Nursing Science 28: 364-375. Big cheese I would most like to have a drink with: The Director of Health Canada. I would like to share with the Director of Health my assessment of the cost to the Canadian Health Care System relating specifically to exposure (and subsequent predictable disease) to natural toxicants. For example, as fundamental as the knowledge that smoking cessation saves lives, I believe that preventing exposure to natural toxicants will reduce cancers and disease even more so than anthropogenic contaminants, since not all toxicants are man-made. Most people won’t guess that I: am a watercolour portrait artist. I am a member of the Napean Fine Arts League and I have won various prizes for my watercolour portraits. I can brag that I have rubbed shoulders with: Dr Daniel Krewski Best laugh I had during my degree: When my supervisor told me that he had made a mistake in one of the research projects he was working on. I say I laughed, but I was really humbled by his honesty. I thought that this is a guy I can really respect, because he is someone who realized and admitted that no one has all the answers all the time. Best weird science moment: Listening to a lecture on evaluating relative risk to exposure to radon using picture frames found in homes. Approximately $30 million dollars later, their answers were not as accurate as taking a geological map and showing where all the late phase felsic granitoid rocks were located inCanada. As a side note, I learned from that lecture thatWinnipeg wins for the highest radon potential in homes inCanada. Most memorable conference I have been to during my degree was: Attending the National Assessment Protocol for Aquatic Sites, May 2010. I was amazed by how much impact the knowledge of Geology can have on Risk Assessment Development. In my opinion, Geology affects the interpretation of contamination load and source, and any Risk Assessment Development for that matter. Not using Geology in Risk Assessment is something I equate with asking an ecotoxicologist to assess a property but denying them information on the Ecology. Most memorable philosophical moment I had during my degree: Most researchers are afraid of multidisciplinary work preferring to work solely into their field of expertise. My graduate experience was more than just a degree because: It gave me the knowledge and confidence to encourage collaborations between health, environment and geology departments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Click here for Stephanie’s CV.
top of page
bottom of page