Partnerships for Environmental Public Health (PEPH)
NIEHS Program Builds Careers, Changes Lives (Part II)
January 13, 2021
Interviewee: Rocio Treminio-Lopez
In this second installment of our two-part series celebrating the 25th anniversary of the NIEHS Environmental Career Worker Training Program, we’ll hear from Rocio Treminio-Lopez, a program graduate who is now the mayor of Brentwood, Maryland. Treminio-Lopez shares personal stories of her experiences in the program and how it shaped her life and career path.
NIEHS Program Builds Careers, Changes Lives (Part II)
In this second installment of our two-part series celebrating the 25th anniversary of the NIEHS Environmental Career Worker Training Program (ECWTP), we’ll catch up with Rocio Treminio-Lopez, an ECWTP program graduate who is now the mayor of Brentwood, Maryland. Treminio-Lopez shares personal stories of her experiences in the program and how it shaped her life and career path.
To learn more about the ECWTP, listen to part one of the series in which ECWTP Director Sharon Beard explained the origin of the program and how it prepares underrepresented individuals for careers in environmental cleanup, hazardous waste removal, and emergency response. We also heard from Martanaze Hancock, an ECWTP graduate who now has a career as an environmental health and safety specialist.
Interviewee
Rocio Treminio-Lopez graduated from the Alice Hamilton Occupational Health Center, a former ECWTP grantee, in 1999. After graduating, she became a receptionist at the Center and quickly moved into an administrative role. Since then, she has held many jobs, but her time at the Center instilled in her a passion to serve others through her work. This led her to a career in local government.
In 2013, she became a councilwoman for her Brentwood, Maryland community and was later appointed interim mayor. In 2015, Treminio-Lopez won the election, making her the first Latino-American woman elected as mayor in Maryland. She has since been elected to serve two more two-year terms as Brentwood’s mayor and will run for re-election in Spring 2021.
Additional Resources
- Visit the NIEHS Worker Training Program and ECWTP webpages to learn more about program goals and grantees.
- Visit the ECWTP 25th Anniversary webpage to learn more about successes of program grantees and graduates.
- Read about the economic benefits of the ECWTP (1MB) in a 2015 report from the NIEHS Worker Training Program.