News Archive
John and Melinda Cardarelli at Chernobyl
Submitted photo
John Cardarelli will become Health Physics Society (HPS) president at the 2021 HPS Annual Meeting in Phoenix in July. Here he shares with us his background in health physics and HPS, his thoughts about the field and the Society, and his plans as president.
Why did you run to be the HPS president?
I've been a member of this society since the beginning of my professional career, 30 years ago. I also joined my local chapter, the Cincinnati Radiation Society (founded in 1952 and the first local chapter of the HPS), to connect with other professionals, and I quickly learned about the diverse applications of radiation protection. My career evolved in a way I couldn't have imagined. Serving as a commissioned officer in the US Public Health Service and as a federal civil servant in research and regulatory agencies forged my commitment to science, specifically as it is applied to public health.
After volunteering on various committees within the HPS and in several roles for my local chapter, I became aware of the significant contributions the Society makes toward improving people's lives through the safe use and application of radiation. Our Position Statements represent an unrelenting commitment to science that contributes to positive impacts in public health. The reliance on objective science appealed to me, and the HPS Code of Ethics serves as my compass in decision making. When I was approached to consider running for president, it took me several days and lots of discussions with my wife and professional colleagues before deciding to proceed. As members of this great organization, our Code of Ethics calls us to "...accept every opportunity to increase public understanding of radiation protection and the objectives of the Society." For those who read our code of ethics, you will see that I left out the word "gladly" before "accept" because I can't say I was initially glad about being asked because I questioned if I could commit the time and effort necessary to do justice to the Society. Once I processed my personal and professional thoughts and realized that being asked to lead was not only a humbling experience but a great honor, I decided to gladly run and be fully committed to carrying out the Society's mission and vision.
How would you summarize your health physics career (first and last jobs, changes from start of career to now, etc.)?
Rewarding! My first job was as a nuclear engineering co-op student where I worked at a commercial nuclear power plant, learning reactor physics, auxiliary systems, and business acumen. I also volunteered in a nuclear medicine department at a local hospital. Upon graduation, I pursued my master's in health physics and worked at a Department of Energy (DOE) facility that processed uranium ore as part of the US nuclear weapons complex. I learned all about the uranium fuel cycle and its associated radiological hazards from decay products to enriched uranium. This experience, combined with lucky timing, prepared me to take on a new opportunity with the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), conducting dose reconstructions for epidemiological studies of workers exposed to radiological and chemical hazards throughout the nuclear weapons complex. I was fortunate to visit nearly every DOE facility associated within this complex, learning the processes, evaluating exposure risks, estimating doses, and—most importantly—understanding the strengths and weaknesses of how these dose estimates are applied in epidemiologic studies. Along the way, I earned my doctorate in environmental health and industrial hygiene, became a commissioned officer in the Public Health Service, and developed a deep and profound respect for workers who contributed to our nation's defense. After 9/11 and the anthrax attacks in 2001, I transferred to a group in NIOSH that conducted health-hazard evaluations and provided practical recommendations to prevent or reduce workplace hazards from ionizing and nonionizing radiation, chemicals, and biological agents. I was among the first to deploy to DC in response to the anthrax attacks and served on the original environmental clearance committee.
In 2005, I joined the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which was creating a team to focus on long-term recovery efforts following large-scale biological, chemical, or radiological incidents. While there, I continued to work on legacy issues associated with anthrax, but my passion for the radiological field was fueled by a new challenge to work with a team of top scientists and engineers to develop the nation's only radiological, chemical, and photographic remote detection aircraft known as ASPECT. Today it remains the nation's only 24/7/365 response aircraft with wide-area characterization capabilities for emergency response and environmental cleanup activities. Radioactive sources were needed to calibrate ASPECT, so I obtained a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license, became a radiation safety officer (RSO), and started a Rad Source Program. My license permitted me to use these sources for training purposes and to transport them throughout the United States and its territories, so I started to offer access to these sources to conduct training and exercises. Little did I know that there was a huge demand to exercise in an elevated, but safe, radioactive environment. This program ultimately deployed nearly 150 times, supporting Department of Defense, EPA, DOE, and many state and local exercises. My time at EPA gave me invaluable experience about implementing government regulations and policy development. In 2019, I retired from the Public Health Service and became a civil servant at NIOSH and now work in a compensation program under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act. I never thought this journey would lead me back to NIOSH serving those workers who helped win the cold war.
When and why did you join the HPS?
I joined the HPS and the Cincinnati Radiation Society as a graduate student in 1991. While pursuing my master's degree in health physics, these organizations provided networking opportunities through which I was able to find mentors such as Bob Gallaghar, Jerry Gels, and Henry Spitz, who provided early-career guidance and encouraged me to actively engage with the HPS.
Did you learn anything new about the Society during your time as president-elect?
Yes! I learned several new things about our Society. Most importantly, we exist because of the hundreds of volunteers who contribute to its success every day. Our members and committees are resilient and adapted to COVID challenges by organizing a hugely successful 100% virtual meeting in 2020. We are among the first large organizations, if not the first, to conduct a hybrid meeting in 2021, under the ever-changing environment associated with COVID health and safety recommendations. Finally, I learned that there are areas for improvement, such as strengthening communication between chapters, marketing and sharing the value of membership, and addressing membership recruitment and retention. We are already working on these areas, and I look forward to sharing specifics in the coming months.
Did you have any surprises during your time as president-elect?
Yes! COVID—enough said. LOL. I'm an advocate for communicating via multiple methods and enjoy making short videos and learning new technologies. So I had this idea to create a video to introduce myself and the great benefits of HPS membership and printed a QR code on the back of my "HPS business cards" that I would hand out during my chapter visits. Unfortunately, my visits were all virtual so I'm now stuck with 500 "bookmarks." If you're interested in what you missed, click here.
As president, what are your plans and goals for the coming years?
I ran for president on three initiatives: pro-science platform, expanding membership, and maintaining focus on our strategic planning process. These initiatives form the foundation by which I plan to lead our Society. Our vision is to be the home for radiation safety specialists and the trusted source of radiation safety information that enables the safe use of radiation to improve people's lives. A pro-science platform is critical to maintaining that trust. Expanding membership occurs through active engagement with future health physicists via new and innovative ways, marketing the benefits of membership, and creating an environment of belonging to a special group that is welcoming to all potential members. One of my goals is to curtail the downward trend of membership and improve recruitment and retention efforts, but it will take all of us to achieve it. We can meet these expectations by focusing on our strategic planning process.
What are your plans to reverse the downward trend in HPS membership?
The downward trend in HPS membership is the result of several factors. We will focus our efforts on factors that we can control. For example, we learned from past surveys that many members didn't see the value of their membership, which made us consider how to increase awareness and create more ways to retain and recruit new members. I listed 11 benefits in my "Welcome" video and we recently updated our membership rules to make it clear that working toward a degree in a creditable area or having relevant professional experience will qualify applicants for membership, especially technicians. We are also working to improve our marketing efforts and adding new tangible benefits for our members. Our recent addition is FREE access to the HPS Zoom account for ANY member to hold Zoom meetings, provided they are consistent with our mission. Finally, we are working to improve communication among our 39 chapters by developing a Chapter Resource Page, where all members can see what is happening and participate virtually if available.
What are your strategic objectives for ensuring the Society's future viability and relevance?
This should be an easy question to answer because we have an annual strategic planning process. The 2021 Strategic Plan and 2022 Strategic Plan define our annual priorities as developed by HPS leadership. These plans provide specific, reasonable, and achievable short-term goals. We track our progress monthly during Board meetings and the Board of Directors meets quarterly to further discuss and address how to support the strategic plan. I also hold weekly meetings with our executive director. This planning and monitoring process ensures the viability of the Society. Our relevance is derived from how we maintain our role among the radiation protection community, specifically being the trusted source of radiation information. A proposal put forth by Styrlund and Hayes suggests four steps for achieving relevance. First, be more authentic. I see our Code of Ethics as defining who we are as an organization. Second, achieve more mastery. We must constantly seek to improve ourselves by being proactive with a willingness to go beyond deeply rooted beliefs and a commitment to truth. Third, be more empathetic. As a trusted source of radiation information, the HPS not only needs to sense what the public wants but understand their needs and be a credible source to provide answers to their questions that improve their lives (e.g., reduce anxiety, increase knowledge of radiation risks). Finally, take more action. HPS must be fully engaged with our stakeholders at all levels to ensure our vision is achieved, no matter how small the task or how controversial the topic may be.
What are your plans to enhance Society support to students and young professionals?
Once a student becomes a member, we have an established mentoring program called HP Connect. The goal is to pair students with professionals in specific areas of interest. In 2021, we started a mentoring task force to make the HPS mentoring program more successful and relevant to students and early/switching career members. This task force will provide a white paper with suggestions to increase the value and participation in the program. Stay tuned for more information to be announced in the coming months!
It's also worth noting that HPS proudly supports students with travel grants to attend the annual meetings by providing free registration, hotel accommodations, and partial airfare. We have been doing this for more than a decade and have invested more than $450,000 in this mission. Obviously with COVID, things were different for 2020, but we have started them again in 2021.
Finally, beyond the mentoring program, task force activities, and travel grants, support for our students and young professionals is a key part of our 2022 Strategic Plan under Goal B: Improve engagement with stakeholders. Within this goal, we've identified three subtasks and B.2 focuses on increasing the number of new members. Within this subtask, we will work on four activities to develop and implement a process to (1) improve transition between membership categories, (2) recruit chapter members to become HPS members, (3) recruit non-health physicist radiation safety professionals, and (4) bring awareness of health physics as a career option to associated disciplines.
Do you have plans to make any additional significant changes in Society governance?
No. We just completed a fairly aggressive transition in our governance structure, going from nine to six members of the Board of Directors. I'm the second president serving a two-year term under these changes. Did you know that our first president, K.Z. Morgan, served two consecutive one-year terms? We have embraced a strategic planning process and it's just reaching a point of maturity where we are seeing benefits with regard to better understanding of our roles, responsibilities, and holding ourselves accountable. That said, we are experiencing an increased workload with higher expectations of ourselves and desires to achieve things more quickly. Please recognize that your elected leaders are all volunteers with a strong passion for serving the Society and sometimes our personal or professional lives prevent us from accomplishing things in a manner we initially thought possible. Rest assured, we are an active, energized group performing at a high level. If any changes occur in the governance, they will be reflected in our annual strategic planning process and be commensurate with our respective workloads.
John and Melinda Cardarelli at Tikal National Park in Guatemala
Submitted photo
What can HPS members do to aid you in your job as president?
There are many things you can do to help our Society; I'll list my top five. First, get involved in your chosen profession by joining one of our 39 local chapters. Second, volunteer to serve on one of 20+ HPS committees by clicking the "volunteer" button at the bottom of the page or become active in any one of our 12 sections. Third, update your profile: Log in >>> click "Directory" >>> click "Update Directory" >>> scroll down and check any of the boxes to place your name on a list to become an HPS Subject Matter Expert to help us answer questions from (1) other HPS members or (2) members of the public or to become a (3) presenter at chapter meetings or (4) presenter at public or education events. Fourth, encourage your colleagues to become members. Tell them about the many benefits of joining the Society. Finally, please share your ideas with any member of HPS leadership. We are listening and willing to adapt to our members' expectations.
What do you think is the most important issue facing health physicists today?
Connecting with and educating the public about the risks and benefits associated with radiation exposures in low dose or low dose-rate environments. I'm specifically referring to the levels we all are exposed to every day, anywhere in the world. This includes exposures to both ionizing and nonionizing radiation. Our mission is excellence in the science and practice of radiation safety. Our vision is to be the trusted source of radiation safety information that enables the safe use of radiation to improve people's lives. Improving people's lives is the metric by which we can demonstrate public health impact—and I believe this is one of the most important issues facing our profession today. How can we do this? Part of the answer lies within our Code of Ethics, which enumerates the principles by which we maintain a professional level of conduct. Part of the answer lies with you and how you engage with others and your familiarity with our position statements. The HPS is a trusted "authoritative" source of information. And finally, another part of the answer lies in how we, as a profession, control the narrative through scientific, unbiased, transparent, and objective exchanges with those who may dismiss our messages. It matters, because when the next large-scale nuclear or radiological incident occurs, our efforts to communicate and educate the public about the risks and benefits of radiation exposure today will reduce their fears and anxieties—and this will result in better decision making, thus improving their lives.
What do you think is the most important issue of concern to the HPS?
During my virtual chapter visits, I was particularly interested in listening to the needs of our members, and one common theme expressed was improving communication. Smaller chapters expressed a desire to have better communication and knowledge about what larger or more active chapters were doing—and how they were doing it. Larger or very active chapters expressed a willingness to share their activities with other audiences (e.g., other chapters, the public, other society chapters) but didn't have the means to market or advertise these "services" to a wider audience.
The greatest inventions of all time involved a better way to improve communication—radio, TV, automobiles, airplanes, phones, internet, and new applications to make it easier to communicate. Our members expressed interest in sharing information more efficiently and effectively. As a result, I will focus on improving our website to include a Chapter Resource Page through which our chapters can better communicate with each other and thereby add more value to your membership.
Is there anything else you would like to say to HPS members as their new president?
I am honored and humbled to be elected as the 65th president of the HPS. During the next few years, our profession will be addressing fundamental questions about the role radiation protection standards play in our everyday lives. Is there too much conservatism built into the standards? Are we achieving our mission and pursuing our vision appropriately? I will rely on science and our Code of Ethics to serve as my compass in decision making when representing our Society. I'm also asking that every member of HPS help make a tangible positive public health impact any way you can—you have an army of radiation professionals and an HPS Toolbox willing to help you too.
What is one of the most fun things you've done as a health physicist?
Most of my career has been in emergency response and some of my best memories reside with times spent on a response with my colleagues. Spending long hours taking measurements or writing reports all weekend were grueling but kept my job exciting and challenging. Building the airborne radiological detection capabilities for the EPA ASPECT aircraft was perhaps the most fun and challenging accomplishment of my career. Also, serving as the RSO of the Rad Source Program and providing training and access to radioactive sources to our nation's response personnel (federal, state, and local) was fun because playing "hide-and-seek" was easy and addressed a desperate need for our responders to gain real-world experience to work in an elevated radioactive environment and gain familiarity with a variety of instruments that seldom get used.
What do you like to do in your down time (do you have any down time)?
I love to travel with my wife and our two children, and their significant others if schedules permit. Both kids recently graduated from college and have entered the workforce, so we are starting a new chapter in our lives. If we're not exploring new destinations, I enjoy playing tennis or pickleball and usually have my racquet or paddle handy to partake in a spontaneous game. Bring your A game!
