Rebecca M. Burton, MPH, CIH

Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from the Florida State University School of Theatre. After working professionally in the arts as a scenic artist for ten years, and finding work opportunities drying up in the wake of the 2009 recession, she returned to school to pursue a career in health and safety.  In 2013, she earned her MPH in Environmental Health Sciences – Industrial Hygiene from the University of Minnesota.  Since graduating, she has been working as an industrial hygienist for 3M’s research and development facilities, working with scientists to develop innovative EHS solutions to challenging problems.  She has kept ties with her roots through writing a series of articles on health and safety in the arts industry for three local arts organizations’ blogs and newsletters, and through lecturing on arts safety at various arts conventions and workshops.  In 2018, realizing that she had in fact not had quite enough schooling to satisfy her, she returned to the University of Minnesota to pursue a PhD in the industrial hygiene track of the Environmental Health Sciences division.  Her research focuses on exposure characterization and assessment for novel methods of additive manufacturing, and basic characterization of the occupational exposome as a whole in development of Total Worker Exposure.  Outside of her studies and career, Rebecca enjoys spending time with her husband, two wonderful children, and dogs, enjoying the outdoors, and in exercising her creativity through sewing, music, and pie-baking.