John Lomas spent the last 9 years working as laboratory safety review professional for the School of Medicine and the College of Biological Science. He was part of the original team that developed and implemented the laboratory safety review program at UC Davis. During his time at UC Davis he has taught lab safety courses and demonstrated to lab members how to manage their safety programs. He was known for  being an independent worker and always completed his work on time.

John has had a lifelong career in safety. He began as a firefighter in the 70’s when he worked for the California Department of Forestry (CDF) out of Shingletown, California. He was fresh out of high school and participated in a regional occupational program that helped him obtain his first job. He was rated second highest in the hiring process through CDF (now called CalFire). Shortly after Shingletown, he started his career with the University of California system where he became a fire inspector at the University of California in San Francisco. John met his best friend Gerry Westcott, former radiation manager, and the two had many great times there and developed a lifelong friendship. John left San Francisco for a promotion as Campus Fire Marshal at UCLA where he met his wife, Patricia. Today, they have been married for 21 years and together for almost 30.

John held many leadership positions including the role of director of facilities at the non-profit Easter Seal. He also worked as Disaster Safety Officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) before returning to the UC system and coming to Davis. John excelled in program management and gained extensive experience in disaster preparation. He coordinates disaster response and crisis management activities. His experience included setting up and establishing a safety program in the field while following the Incident Command System (ICS) and applying his National Incident Management System (NIMS) expertise.

John has been a valuable member of the lab safety review team. He shared, “I will miss my team and supervisor. We had a great time working together”. His professional insight and humor will be missed by all in the team. John and his wife will be retiring to a beautiful beach town in Florida. He looks forward to spending his time fishing on his new boat.