This event occurred on September 28, 2023
Cheryl Antonio
Health Physicist
Hanford Mission Integration Solutions
Cheryl Antonio is one of the nation’s leading internal dosimetrists! She has been at the Hanford site since 1999 working for PNNL, Dade Moeller & Associates, and HMIS. Cheryl’s work prior to Hanford took her across the country and to the other side of the globe! She was part of the St. Vrain Nuclear Power Plant decommissioning project in Plateville, Colorado. While she was the assistant radiation safety officer at the Denver VA Hospital, she helped address workers’ concerns following the public release of human subject radiation experiments. Cheryl also volunteered her time as a member of the Peace Corp in Thailand where she helped set up lunch programs in primary schools. In addition to being the first generation in her extended family to get a college degree, she was also part of a R&D100 award for research work with the National Bureau of Standard/National Institute of Standards and Technology. For SWE’s The Way We Are event, Cheryl will discuss the Atomic Man case illustrating the importance of internal dosimetry..
Brianna Blair
Electrical Engineering Student
Washington State University, Tri-Cities
Breanna is currently a student at Washington State University Tri-cities where she is working towards her bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. Breanna has always had a passion for STEM and loves taking on new challenges. Her wish is to one day work in the U.S space industry and help lead STEM outreach efforts to excite and motivate the next generation of STEM professionals. Outside of school, Breanna interns at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) with the Sensing, Measurment, and Forcasting group where she assists engineers with the design and testing of sensors and energy harvesting devices for sensors. In her free time, Breanna enjoys being behind the camera, hiking with her golden retriever, and going on new adventures whenever she can!
Michelle Hendrickson
Senior Chemical Engineer,
Washington River Protection Solutions
Dr. Hendrickson is licensed as a Professional Environmental Engineer in Washington and a Masters-Level Certified Hazardous Materials Manager. She studied Professional Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at the University of Idaho as an undergraduate, Environmental Engineering for her MS and Biological Systems Engineering for her PhD at Washington State University. Dr. Hendrickson is an adjunct faculty member of the WSU School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, teaching undergraduate and graduate level engineering courses.
As a Senior Chemical Engineer in the Flowsheet Integration group, her primary duties include: identification and evaluation of mission elements and systems that impact current or future operations and technical baselines, derivation of process engineering requirements and constraints for facilities, and evaluation of potential alternative mission scenarios. Prior to joining WRPS, Dr. Hendrickson served as an Engineer with the Washington State Department of Ecology Water Quality and Nuclear Waste Management Programs, with particular emphasis in Wastewater Treatment, Waste Management, Cleanup, and Closure. In total, she has over 25 years of experience working on Hanford environmental issues in various roles as a US Department of Energy Contractor, Consultant, and Regulator. Prior experience includes that as an Industrial EH&S Consultant and US Department of Defense Contractor serving as Project Lead/Office Manager on behalf of CH2M Hill, while opening a new project office in Okinawa, Japan.
In 2013, Dr. Hendrickson earned the American Nuclear Society’s award for Best Poster Presentation at the Waste Management Symposium. In 2011, the Eastern Washington Chapter of the Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials Managers awarded her as Hazardous Materials Manager of the Year for work on Hanford tank farm activities and cleanup related issues associated with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding. Her nomination as Hazardous Materials Manager of the Year was endorsed by then Washington Governor Christine Gregoire.
