Welcome To Sophie

Career

2018 - Present MilliporeSigma

I started my journey at MilliporeSigma as a Quality Control Technician in the Membrane Analytical Lab(MAL). There I performed QC testing following standard operating procedures to ensure product met customer specification. I used equipment that included HPLCs set up for Gel Permeation Chromatography, UV-Vis Spectrometer, centrifuges, pipettes and scales. In that role I also wrote and revised standard operating procedures and began to lead change controls and validations. In order to accomplish those things I trained as a technical document author and trained in the Quality Management System Trackwise which is what our site uses to manage Deviations, Change Controls, CAPAs, Audit Observations and Complaints. After 1.5 years there I was promoted to lead. This role enabled me to practice more data analysis using excel and Minitab. The lead role also required me to lead a small team to achieve daily goals, I trained many individuals, problem solved, escalated concerns, and acted as a representative of the MAL team to outside stakeholders during meetings. I greatly enjoyed working as a team lead and having the opportunity to advocate for my team, train my coworkers, execute continuous improvement projects and create a culture of respect.

Currently, I am employed as a Quality Systems Engineer. In this role I am primarily responsible for the execution of a Data Integrity project. This project is designed to help the site improve its compliance with 21 CFR Part 11 and ALCOA+ principles. The project requires me to work with 18 teams across four work centers to assess the processes for data integrity gaps, assess the risk of each gap using an FMEA and the develop a mitigation strategy for each gap. So far I have led the team to identify over 900 gaps and to successfully close over 700 of them. I also work to continually follow up on the mitigations to ensure they are being completed in a timely and high quality fashion. This project has grown my project management skills as well as my risk assessment, team leadership, time management, and technical writing skills. The other main part of my current role is to assist with the sites audit program. I work with the program manager to schedule customer and internal audits. I host customer audits which requires explaining complex systems to outside stakeholders in an understandable and accurate way. I also conduct internal audits assessing the sites compliance to ISO 9001:2015. To become a certified auditor at the site I became certified as a DEKRA ISO 9001:2015 lead auditor and completed the internal training. Finally, I manage a few smaller projects. Of these the one I am most enthusiastic about is a project to transition our process for providing Certificates of Quality to a paperless system. I’m excited to be combining my passion for the environment into my day to day work. I also manage the sites Validation Master Inventory List. This list acts as a record of the sites validations but also houses risk assessments of each validation which I then use to lead the team in selecting projects for the annual validation master plan. I recently qualified as an ASQ Certified Quality Engineer, these skills have helped throughout all of the afore mentioned projects.

While at MilliporeSigma my passion for the environment has come out in ways beyond my day to day responsibilities. A peer and I started a site wide composting program. This program was brand new to the site. To develop it we reached out to local farmers and compost companies and some of them agreed to accept our compost. We brought together a team of volunteers and created a schedule for delivery of the food waste to a farm each day. In the first 6 months of this project we prevented around 1,000 pounds of food scraps from entering the industrial food waste system!

Additionally, during my time at MilliporeSigma I have been an active member of the site Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ERG. I am most proud of my contribution to this teams monthly flow downs. I have been leading these for the past several months and generate a flow down with educational information pertinent to our site that helps build DEI skills and awareness.

2013-2017 SUNY Cobleskill

As mentioned, I worked in the biotechnology lab as an intern while I was attending SUNY Cobleskill. That internship lasted 1 year. I worked an additional 1.5 years as a laboratory assistant. In that position I assisted with classes (including giving lectures on occasion), setting up and facilitating most labs, and coaching research students and other lab assistants. I also did inventory and purchasing in that position and performed maintenance tasks on lab equipment.

Outside of being a lab assistant I also worked as a Residents Assistant for three years. In that position I developed and presented programs on health, wellness, academic skills, crafts and creativity, and culture. I was responsible for monitoring the well being of about 20 students each year. I would support them by providing a listening ear or helping them in a crisis by getting them the professional support they needed. I helped them with more mundane necessities like getting back into a locked room after forgetting their key or catching up on homework. I really enjoyed creating a community and bonding with each and every one of those students. I also enjoyed working with my RA team it helped me develop some friendships that I continue to cherish.

2014 - New Hampshire Department of Agriculture Division of Plant Industry

In the summer of 2014 I participated in an internship with the New Hampshire Department of Agriculture. I worked with an invasive plant expert and three entomologists on various projects. My main responsibility was to travel from farm to vineyard to forest collecting insects caught in traps that were being used to monitor for invasive species. I would then scan for Spotted Wing Drosophilia and the Brown tail moth when I got the samples back to the lab. In this internship I also participated in some forestry workshops where the plant industry team educated loggers on the Emerald Ash Borer as well as visits to beehives throughout the state. Despite being short and sweet I think this was my favorite job so far.

2016 - Uncanoonuc Mountain Perennials

In the summer of 2016 I worked at Uncanoonuc Mountain Perennials. The business sold perennial plants but also maintained an expansive garden that was open for public viewing during business hours. The displays included a rose garden, a Zen garden, a shade garden and many beds displaying different varietal of day lillies, spider plants, hostas, sweet willian, irises and every other perennial that is successful in New England. I worked maintaining the gardens and providing customer support in plant selection and purchasing.

2010 - 2012 Roberts Greenhouse/Fleece and Flower Farm

During High School I worked at Roberts Greenhouse which sold annuals, perennials and vegetables and was also a landscaping company. I worked taking care of the plants, tending the vegetable garden, perform landscaping tasks like raking and mulching, and providing customer service. In the winter I was lucky enough to continue being employed there and worked processing fleeces from washing to carding to spinning.

For a few months the Greenhouse was working to provide community education opportunities and I developed lesson plans for elementary aged students about gardening, farming and agriculture.