The UMCES Staff Award is presented annually to an individual staff member who consistently demonstrates a high level of commitment and dedication to UMCES, has a positive impact on their work environment, is flexible and demonstrates cooperation and collaboration among their peers and with supervisor while carrying out their job duties.
2021
John Piasecki
John Piasecki, Appalachian Laboratory Facilities Manager, was awarded this honor for consistently goes above and beyond to facilitate our research activities at the lab. The Appalachian Laboratory relies on Piasecki for an assortment of wide-ranging duties from maintaining Laboratory buildings and vehicles to rescuing researchers and students stranded in the field by vehicle breakdowns. In addition to performing these diverse duties well, Piasecki also has made significant contributions to the reduction of the Lab’s energy use and costs through updating the HVAC system and transitioning the facility to LED lighting. Piasecki, who joined the Lab in 2010 as Assistant Facilities Manager, often lends a helping hand to faculty and students working on research projects at the Lab, too.
2020
Juli Brush
Juli Brush received this honor for her exceptional job performance as the Contract and Grant Specialist. Her can-do attitude, helpfulness, and dependableness under pressure coupled with her deep knowledge of funding agency requirements has significantly improved the efficiency, accuracy, and accountability of proposals submitted by UMCES. Her flexibility, cooperation, and collaboration with her peers at Horn Point Laboratory and other UMCES laboratories is exemplary. Her exceptional performance and ability to tackle new problems was seen recently in the process of submitting proposals to National Institute of Health relating to COVID-19. Julianna’s positive and helpful attitude makes her an important member of the UMCES community and reaches beyond the business office to interact and support others.
2020
Molly Pickel
Molly Pickel was awarded this honor for her outstanding performance in her role as Assistant to the Executive Director of the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology. She helped plan and execute events such as IMET’s Open House and a visit by EU Ambassadors. She also shows her passion for IMET and UMCES’ missions through her work on committees and currently serves as co-chair of IMET’s Sustainability Committee, where she helps implement environmentally friendly practices and educational programs.
2019
Amy Griffin
In addition to fulfilling her roles in the accreditation and reaffirmation of accreditation processes, she has become the unofficial student services officer for UMCES. Words used to describe her include an integral component of the UMCES community, dedication, enthusiasm, initiative, trusted advisor, and student advocate. Griffin has served as the liaison between the UMCES Graduate Student Council and the office of the Vice President for Education since 2016. She has been key to ensuring UMCES continued accreditation compliance and to working towards re-accreditation and is always the first to step up to volunteer on issues that enhance the culture and support structure for students, staff and faculty. She has been the champion for ensuring students are represented on all relevant committees where students can gain experience and insights to the research enterprise or how higher education functions.
2018
Barbara Jenkins
Barbara Jenkins received this award in honor of the positive impact that Barb has made on UMCES and the Appalachian Laboratory. Her legacy was best epitomized by the daily assistance she provides faculty with proposal preparation and pre-award administration. Her expertise and can-do attitude have won her the regard of everyone who has worked with her and her coworkers have been nothing but impressed with her professionalism, boundless energy and limitless initiative.