Biographical Sketches - Nominees for the TNI Board of Directors
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Steve Arms
Robin Cook
Judy Morgan
Prem Parmar
Valerie Slavin
Alfredo Sotomayor
Steve Arms
Retired/consultant
Steve Arms has over 35 years of managerial and analytical experience in the environmental testing field. Now retired from the Florida Department of Health, his background combines analytical and supervisory work in the Florida drinking water primacy laboratory with 19 years as the administrator of the Environmental Laboratory Certification Program (ELCP). Active in NELAC since 1997, he served on the NELAP Accrediting Authority Committee and was chairperson of the NELAC Standards Review Committee. He participated on the Partnership Planning Team and Transition Board in the merger of NELAC and INELA and has served on the TNI Board since its founding. He is a Past Chair of the TNI Board of Directors and current chair of the TNI Advocacy Committee and served on the many other committees and working groups in the organization. He now works part-time in consulting and serves as Lead Evaluator for the recognition of TNI NELAP Accreditation Bodies. Mr. Arms has a BS degree in Chemistry from the University of Florida.
Robin Cook
Regulatory Compliance Officer, QA Manager
City of Daytona Beach
Daytona Beach, Florida
Robin has over 25 years' experience in environmental testing. Her experience includes both chemistry and microbiological analysis, supervisory and management experience, consulting, regulatory compliance and Quality Assurance. Robin has been an active volunteer throughout her career, not only with TNI but also the Florida Society of Environmental Analysis (FSEA) where she has served as Treasurer since 2008. With TNI, Robin has volunteered as a member of several committees, including the Quality Systems, Microbiology Expert, Advocacy, Training, Mentoring, CSDEC, and PT subcommittee for Micro Quality Systems. She serves as TNI's Small Laboratory Advocate and has made numerous presentations on behalf of TNI. She is the 2019 winner of the Charly Carter award.
Judy Morgan
Vice President, Chief Compliance and Training Officer
Pace Analytical Services, LLC
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Judy has been serving the environmental industry since 1986. In her current role, she is responsible for the design and implementation of the Compliance Program, Green Initiatives Program, Safety Program, Training, Ethics and Confidentiality and Waste Disposal/Minimization program as well as various aspects of quality assurance for a large, multi-location laboratory network. She is a respected expert witness and a prolific technical writer. Judy has her BS in Chemistry from Austin Peay State University and an MS in Analytical Chemistry from Western Kentucky University. She is currently a member of the TNI Board of Directors, Chair of the California Environmental Laboratory Technical Advisory Committee (ELTAC), Chair of the TNI Non-governmental Accreditation Body Recognition Committee, Chair of TNI Consumables Task Force, TNI Assessment Forum Coordinator. The list of the other TNI committees, ad hoc groups and NEMC activities that Judy has contributed to since the beginning of the organization is extensive. In 2023 Judy received the Charlie Carter Award in recognition of her contributions.
Prem Parmar
Laboratory Manager
Orange County Water District
Fountain Valley, California
Prem's experience includes working as an analytical chemist, a QA/QC Administrator, an organic chemistry lab supervisor and most recently laboratory manager. Under his management, his laboratory has incorporated the TNI Standard and a number of his staff have become active participants on TNI committees and working groups. Prem has his BS in Chemistry from University of California Irvine and a MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from California State University, Fullerton.
Valerie Slavin
Pace Analytical Services
Sparta, Illinois
Val is currently Vice President of Operations at Pace Analytical Services and is responsible for developing a strategic vision and providing operational oversight and support for her region. Her career includes bench experience in Wet Chemistry, Metals, and Organics. In addition to analysis, she managed the team in each of these departments. She later moved into Quality Management and Technical Director roles. She has also worked as a consultant. She served for many years on the TNI Chemistry Expert Committee and served as its Chair and has served one term on the TNI Board of Directors In addition to TNI, she remains active in other industry organizations.
Alfredo Sotomayor
Laboratory Manager
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Alfredo is a founding member of TNI and INELA and participated in NELAC since its inception. He is passionate about environmental accreditation and has made many strategic contributions to TNI. Alfredo is currently the Laboratory Manager of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District Central Laboratory, an accredited laboratory by a NELAP Accreditation Body. Prior to his current position, he worked for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as a laboratory assessor and drinking water supply specialist, earning a reputation for in-depth knowledge, collaboration, and fairness. He is a member of the TNI Board of Directors and has served as its Chair since 2015. He has also served as Chair of the Policy Committee and has led numerous ad hoc task groups. Alfredo has demonstrated his commitment to TNI thorough lengthy service and would like to continue to do so. He has a deep understanding of laboratory accreditation and the TNI organization.
develop consensus standards for use by TNI's programs. This group has a support role in assisting other programs with activities such as guidance and standards interpretation.
fosters the generation of data of known and documented quality is through the National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, or NELAP. The purpose of this program is to establish and implement a program for the accreditation of environmental laboratories.
is to establish and maintain a national PT program to support TNI’s National Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program, and other activities.
Field Activities Program (NEFAP) Executive Committee is to establish and implement an accreditation program for field sampling and measurement organizations (FSMOs).
Audit Sample Program is to develop consensus standards for the manufacture and analysis of audit samples for source emission testing.
on a variety of topics of interest to the environmental measurement community. TNI also hosts two regularly scheduled meetings per year, typically in January and August. Both are a week long and involve open meetings of TNI committees as well as training courses and other special sessions.