Erica Bernstein manages CHEMTREC’s public and industry service-related initiatives including the TRANSCAER® program, a national outreach program that focuses on assisting communities to prepare for and respond to a possible hazardous material transportation incident. In her role, Erica focuses on establishing and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders including government agencies, emergency responders, trade associations, carriers, and other industry partners. Erica manages the development and revision of course curricula and safety videos. She coordinates national-level training events, hazmat conference participation, and is responsible for managing federal grant funding for TRANSCAER. She earned a Master of Arts in Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor of Science in Design from Radford University. She has completed the Master Exercise Practitioner Program (MEPP) at the Emergency Management Institute and is experienced in all-hazard exercise design and evaluation. Prior to joining CHEMTREC®, Erica served as the Director of Outreach for The Chlorine Institute.
Dr. Banerji attended University of Texas at Austin and received her PharmD in 1996. She then completed a pharmacy practice residency at University of California San Francisco (UCSF) from 1996-1997. She began her career as a pharmacist in the setting of critical care at a busy Chicago academic hospital. She entered the poison center world in 1999 at the San Francisco Poison Control Center and quickly became certified as a Specialist in Poison Information (CSPI) where she stayed in San Francisco until 2001. She relocated to Denver, Colorado at begun employment at RMPDS as a full-time Specialist in Poison Information and moved into an education and training position with the leadership team soon after joining RMPDS. Currently she is the managing director of the poison center at RMPDS and oversees all clinical, training, and educational programs. She holds faculty appointments with multiple Schools of Pharmacies: University of Colorado, University of Wyoming, Creighton University, and Regis University. Dr. Banerji has authored numerous publications in scholarly journals and several book chapters in the field of clinical toxicology.
Amit Bhargava is a Subject Matter Expert in the field of Environmental and Regulatory Compliance. He has more than 24 years of widely varied experience in a consulting and industry environment. Amit has a successful track record of designing and facilitating implementation of software solutions to manage Environmental and Regulatory Compliance for the Industry. His passion to solve the pain he had to go through dealing with certain archaic processes led him to form EnviroApps. Now he wants to share his experience and solutions he created with the industry so they may consider switching to digital solutions to enhance safety, save costs and make their lives easier.
Gareth is a thought leader in the field of crisis management, emergency response and human factors. Gareth’s Master’s Degree in Homeland Security and Crisis Management, alongside his lecturing work at Coventry University means he is at the cutting edge of developments in the field. Gareth has a unique ability to turn his wealth of academic experience into simple, practical, and intuitive solutions for clients, ensuring they remain in the forefront of crisis management practice. Gareth has received accolades for his work with the National Health Service, preparing for, responding to, and recovering from a wide range of incidents whilst also working on policy and procedural developments of national and international significance. More recently Gareth has worked with clients in the chemical, oil and gas, university, and public sector, creating inventive and intuitive solutions to maintain their crisis readiness.
Paul Bomgardner began his public safety career as a Trooper in the Maryland State Police in January 1977. During his tenure, he served as a road Trooper, an inspector in the Automotive Safety Enforcement Division, and finally, as a commercial motor vehicle inspector in the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program, eventually serving as the commander of that unit. After leaving the State Police in December 1988, Paul served as the Director, Hazardous Materials Transportation at the American Trucking Associations until his move in December 2001, to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance where he served as the Director of Administration. In March 2010, Paul joined the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Office of Enforcement as the Hazardous Materials Division Team Lead. Paul was promoted to Chief of the HM Division in January of 2011 and retains that position today. As Chief, Paul is responsible for the development and delivery of the Agency’s national hazardous materials enforcement initiatives.
Yolanda Y. Braxton is the Director of the Operation Systems Division that serves to improve the safety of the multimodal transport of hazardous materials by providing research, analysis, and technical information required to identify, mitigate, and understand the associated transportation risks. Prior to becoming Director, Ms. Braxton served as the OHMS Data Operations Coordinator in which she supported PHMSA’s vision for a risked-based data driven organization in which OHMS Data Operations improves hazardous materials transportation data collection to better target the data needed to manage serious risks and detect emerging risks. Ms. Braxton developed and managed initiatives, strategies and long range plans that resolved an agency level issue of data quality by strategically developing, planning and executing a ISO 9001:2015 compliant Quality Management System (QMS) to facilitate continuous improvement in support of PHMSA’s mission. Ms. Braxton is a certified ISO 9001 Auditor and was instrumental in implementing a robust audit program with defined audit and scope to provide complete assessment of the entire QMS to ensure the requirements are effectively implemented and met. Ms. Braxton is currently a Doctoral Student (ABD) of Political Science at Howard University with the concentrations in American Government, International Relations and Public Administration. Ms. Braxton has also been inducted into the Golden Key International Honour Society as one of the top 5% of PhD students in the United States. Ms. Braxton received a Masters of Public Administration with a focus in Human Resources and International Development and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the illustrious Texas Southern University. Ms. Braxton is also a graduate of the Federal Executive Institute (FEI LDS 449) in which she was also selected as the commencement speaker. Diversity and Inclusion is of critical importance to Ms. Braxton who was the 2020 recipient of the PHMSA Civility, Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) Award. Ms. Braxton was also the recipient of the PHMSA Diversity Champion Award and was recognized for her “exemplary commitment and dedication to the advancement of diversity and inclusion efforts in the federal workplace. Yolanda is a native of Houston, Texas and a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated; The American Society of Public Administration; American Political Science Association, National Conference of Black Political Scientists and the Program Management Institute.
Chris joined CHEMTREC in May of 2018 and devotes his efforts to the diverse legal needs and compliance issues at CHEMTREC and with the TRANSCAER program. In his 30+ years of legal practice Chris has focused on commercial litigation and corporate law. He rose to partner at an Am Law 50 firm in Texas before moving to the DC area where he joined a litigation boutique and ultimately managed a firm supporting business owners and handling employment law issues. Chris works closely with CHEMTREC’s Chief Executive and The American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) General Counsel to ensure CHEMTREC’s legal needs are met while continuing to fully align with ACC’s overall mission and member support. Chris is graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and South Texas College of Law.
When Wendy made the decision to volunteer at a local fire department while in college, she had no way of knowing that this decision would change the course of her life. She started out as a firefighter but later became involved in hazardous materials response, during which, she developed a passion for the hazardous materials field. Wendy continued to volunteer at fire departments in both Virginia and Maryland for ten years before accepting a job with the Federal Railroad Administration as a hazardous materials safety inspector and later became the State of New Jersey’s only hazmat inspector for their rail program. She also worked for Amtrak's Inspector General as an investigator. Wendy later served as an instructor for a premier hazardous materials training firm and eventually took a job as the sole hazmat specialist for North American Regulatory Affairs with a global laboratory supply distributor. Drawing on the knowledge and experience that she has gained over the years Wendy founded her own hazardous materials and hazardous waste consulting firm. STARS HazMat Consulting ensures that various hazardous materials are safely transported around the United States and Canada. Wendy started this company with one goal in mind. She wants to help companies develop cost-effective ways to comply with both state and federal regulations to manage risk while increasing safety and efficiency. STARS now has 12 highly qualified team members with a diverse array of expertise spanning all modes of transportation, as well as storage, disposal, and handling of hazardous materials, with many coming from regulatory enforcement careers at DOT. Wendy has written a book on HazMat Transportation and is an associate professor teaching this subject for the University of Findlay's Environmental Health & Safety program for both graduates and undergrads. Wendy also travels around the country speaking on various topics related to the transportation and management of hazardous materials for numerous organizations that include the National Industrial Transportation League (NITL), Bureau of Explosives (BOE/AAR), Dangerous Goods Advisory Council (DGAC), and Dangerous Goods Symposium (DGS – formerly DGIS) by LabelMaster. She holds several degrees from private and public Universities and has been the proud recipient of a multitude of awards for leadership and industry excellence.
From Victory Circle to the Announcer's Desk, Hall of Fame Race Car Driver and Network Television Color Analyst Derek Daly has spent nearly three decades as the face of the motorsport world. He competed in the Formula One World Championship, being ranked 10th in the world. He made six starts in the Indianapolis 500 before winning the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race, two years in a row. In 1984, Derek suffered one of the hardest crash impacts that a driver had ever survived when he hit the wall at Michigan International Speedway at 212 MPH. When he retired from racing, Derek started a 24-year association with ESPN, NBC, CBS, and Fox Sports. USA Today called him as "the best new face on sports television" and IndyCar Racing magazine voted him "the most popular motorsports television announcer."