Shujin Hackman is the new Safety Manager for the Chemistry Department. She is taking over Debbie Decker’s former position.

Shujin completed her Bachler’s Degree in her native country of China. She completed her Master’s Degree at Ohio State University. It was during her graduate work at Ohio State that she began to take an active role in managing safety programs. She experienced a splash of Trizol, a corrosive solution, to the face and close to her eyes. Shujin believes that most people who take an active role in safety have either witnessed a lab incident or experienced one.

After the completion of her Master’s Degree, Shujin worked as a research associate and lab manager in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Ohio State’s medical center. This was a BLS2 lab and she conducted brain tumor research as well as managed the lab safety programs. She moved in 2014 when her husband obtained a job at the University of Florida where they spent five years. During this time, she worked as a safety manager for the Department of Biomedical Engineering. Her primary role was in safety but she also trained lab personnel and managed laboratory equipment such as the flow cytometer and confocal microscope (which houses a class IV laser).

Shujin and her husband arrived at Davis in April of 2019. Shujin worked in a small pharmaceutical start-up company  as a lab manager and managed the safety programs. Shujin was the first EH&S manager the company hired. This gave her the unique opportunity to work alongside an EH&S consultant and build a safety program. What she recalls most from this experience is “People have different opinions to lab safety. They all want to do things their way.” They compromised and followed the advice of those that had a safety background from universities. She says, “Universities have awesome lab safety programs!”.

Shujin’s approach to implementing safety programs is a collaborative one. She does not believe in being a “safety police” and believe that, "safety matters to everyone not just safety professionals".

In her personal time, Shujin enjoys cooking and spending time with her husband and 4-year-old daughter. Her favorite type of food to cook is Chinese dishes and pastas. She also enjoys teaching spin classes and swimming.