2024 John J. Bloomfield Awardee

The John J. Bloomfield Award is presented to a young industrial hygienist who pursues the problem of occupational health hazards primarily by doing fieldwork.

The 2024 Bloomfield Award recipient is Margaret Sietsema, PhD, CIH.

Margaret Sietsema is an academic Industrial Hygienist at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). At UIC, she is the Industrial Hygiene Director at the Great Lakes Center for Occupational Safety and Health. Her role involves teaching, developing, and overseeing an Industrial Hygiene curriculum that equips students with the knowledge and skills necessary to lead in the field and ensure the health and safety of workers.

Dr. Sietsema’s research primarily centers on advancing respiratory protection and encompasses laboratory and field studies. She has collaborated closely with the National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory (NPPTL) to investigate implementation challenges and strategies associated with reusable elastomeric respiratory protection in healthcare settings. Dr. Sietsema has conducted several simulated workplace protection factor studies, where she explores the effectiveness of respiratory protection under controlled conditions and develops innovative real-time detection methods for respiratory protection failures in the workplace. These studies aim to enhance the accuracy and reliability of respiratory safety measures, ensuring optimal protection for workers. She is also exploring sensor technology for real-time monitoring of respirator fit. Dr. Sietsema has been honored with numerous awards including the Arthur Johnson Young Researcher Award (2014), The Michigan Industrial Hygiene Society’s Best Paper Award (2018), and the American Industrial Hygiene Association’s (AIHA) John M. White Award (2019, 2024).

In addition to her research and teaching, Dr. Sietsema actively serves the profession through various leadership and committee roles. She is a dedicated member and past chair of the AIHA Respiratory Protection Committee. Her involvement with AIHA extends to the Academic Advisory Committee, where she helps guide academic initiatives and foster the development of future industrial hygienists. Internationally, she serves as a Director of the International Society for Respiratory Protection (ISRP) and actively participates in the ISRP Education Committee. She also contributes to the ASTM Performance Standard for Simulated Workplace Protection Factors Workgroup. She is an Editorial Review Board member for the Journal of the International Society for Respiratory Protection and the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene.