Help us welcome new members of the Safety Services team

Welcome Lauren Beentjes: New Workers' Compensation Risk Analyst

We are delighted to introduce Lauren Beentjes to the Risk Management team, where she’s already bringing valuable insights that will greatly benefit our organization.

Lauren spent over two-and-a-half years working for Sedgwick Insurance (UC Davis’ third-party insurance claims administrator), assigned as a Workers' Compensation Claims Examiner to Amazon, where she worked closely with risk analysts on claim reviews and supporting communications that kept all partners involved.

Lauren also earned a certification for the California Self-Insurance Plans (SIP), which tests that an individual has the necessary knowledge and expertise to navigate the complicated regulations and processes associated with UC Davis’ self-insured workers’ compensation plan.

Asked what she’s looking forward to about working at UC Davis, Lauren refers to all her friends and a family member who work and study at UC Davis who have nothing but great things to say.

“I love how vibrant, diverse, and open the community is. I’m looking forward to exploring the area and working with people who take pride and truly care for the organization they work for.”

On a personal note, Lauren is currently in the midst of planning her wedding with her fiancé Beau, set to take place this October. As a proud homeowner, she enjoys taking on various DIY projects to renovate her space. Additionally, she shares her life with three adorable cats who bring joy and companionship to her daily routine.

Yasas Rajapakse, Ph.D.: Laboratory Safety Professional for CA&ES and Chemistry

Please join us in welcoming Yasas, our new Laboratory Safety Professional for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and the Chemistry department.

Yasas brings vast amounts of valuable experience from his 20+ year career working in higher education in chemistry, including working with radioactive sources and high voltage devices. Previously, Yasas worked as a postdoc at Cristina Davis's lab in UC Davis’ Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, where he worked on trace chemical detection and served as the team’s safety manager for over seven years.

Yasas earned his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from New Mexico State University (NMSU), Las Cruces, NM, where he conducted research on gas-phase explosive detection and explosive kinetics. Originally from Sri Lanka, Yasas completed his undergraduate studies in chemistry and physics, as well as a master's degree in electrochemistry.

Yasas notes that he’s incredibly happy to help the UC Davis community make their work environment safe and hazard-free, in part because of a close call he had:

“One day, I was doing my daily visual inspection of a gas delivery system for an experiment when a glass vial exploded in front of my eyes. I was wearing the proper PPE, and it saved my eyes, so I think it’s imperative that lab personnel wear PPE in the lab.”

Yasas lives in Davis with his wife and two sons, though you might find them out enjoying the natural spaces in California.

Yasas's office is in Wickson Hall, and you can email him at myrajapakse@ucdavis.edu.