A4 Member Spotlight
Summer 2023
Welcome to our A4 Member Spotlight! Every quarter A4 will be featuring a brief bio on an active A4 member. If you’d like to be featured or nominate a fellow member in a future newsletter , please contact Cathy Rudisill.
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Scott Echols Senior Director
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Where are you located?
California, USA
Who do you work for and how long have you been there?
I’ve been working with the ZDHC Foundation for 8 years.
What is your educational background and how did you get started in the alternatives assessment field?
I started my career ages ago with B.S. and M.S. Degrees in Chemistry, spent many years working with toxicologists in environmental chemistry where many of the projects were associated with assessing pollutant loadings and impacts on soils, sediments, aquatic and human life. Over twenty years ago this expanded to pollutants in textiles and footwear which ultimately lead me to obtain an M.S. in Textile Chemistry.
What compels you to work in the chemical alternatives assessment/informed substitution field?
Having spent the first part of my career trying to clean up the problems created by chemicals I think it’s imperative that we take a more mindful and deliberate approach to using chemicals now that we know so much more about potential impacts.
Have you recently published an article, received an award, or completed a project?
Many years ago I had several articles published in scientific journals on topics ranging from organometallic catalysts for polymerization to PCB and chlorinated pesticides in marine mammals. I wish I could say that the movement to safer chemicals in the textile industry were a completed project; however, we have a long way to go and its simply a continuous journey of learning and improvement!
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
Hiking, camping, painting and sketching, and traveling.
What do you like most about being a member of the A4?
I enjoy the connection to colleagues who I can learn from in a field where I know "just enough to be dangerous” ;-)