Name: Amanda Heeg
Title: Assistant to Pete Iwen, Ph.D., director, Tony Sambol, assistant director, Marilynn Larson, Ph.D., and the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory
Hometown: Aurora, Neb.
Talk about your job and what you like best about it:
There is never a dull moment when you are working in the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory. Working with the NPHL has given me a very broad range of knowledge and is always challenging me to learn new and innovative ways to make things run smoother. Whether it’s working with companies over in Germany to get a special product, keeping track of where everyone has disappeared to, or even brainstorming ways to better our emergency shipping protocols, working with the team up here couldn’t be a more rewarding experience.
Along with my amazing team that I work with directly, I have an equally amazing outlying group of support people to help me out daily. Ranging from the amazing facilities crew that I get to work with – the friendly faces who are willing to take my category A packages down in the mail room – to the wonderful staff down in purchasing and accounts payable that make all my odd requests come true. I couldn’t even fathom having a more knowledgeable and helpful group of people to work with than I have here at UNMC.
Your favorite memory of working at UNMC:
All of my memories with UNMC have been increasingly pleasant. However, my favorite thing about working for UNMC is definitely seeing how involved with the community we are. To me, the most important factor of employment is how those in the community view our work and mission, and as a whole, I think UNMC has nailed it.
Hobbies:
Photography, refinishing furniture, watching Netflix with Carl (my dog), taking road trips and scream singing 90s hip hop in the car.
List three things people may not know about you:
- I recently went skydiving for the first time, and since then I have decided to get my hands on my very own United States Parachute Association license — one jump down, 32 to go….
- On top of being a full-time employee, a part-time student, and a dog mom, I also try to volunteer myself for as much community involvement opportunities as possible. The latest and most rewarding was getting the privilege to be on the board for the American Diabetes Association’s annual 5k, StepOut.
- My dog got his name, Carlton (Carl for short), after watching an episode of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." Figured my dog should represent the only dance moves I know.