Lookin' at U: Amanda Heeg

Amanda Heeg and Carlton

Each Thursday, we randomly feature a medical center employee.
This week, we learn more about:

Name: Amanda Heeg
Hometown: Aurora, Neb.
No. of years at UNMC: Three years

What do you do here at UNMC?
As assistant to Pete Iwen, Ph.D., director, Tony Sambol, assistant director, Marilynn Larson, Ph.D., and the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory, I’ve found that working with the NPHL has given me a 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, 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.

Being a trusted resource is one of UNMC’s brand values. Tell us of a time you witnessed this at UNMC.

Working for the state public health lab, our team is constantly working with the local and state health departments to insure and promote the health of our communities. Our chemistry lab is known country wide for its FTIR (fourier transform infrared spectroscopy) program, providing a quality assurance program for the development and maintenance of competencies in outside labs. Our microbiologists are on call 24/7 to preform testing and/or provide their expertise on potential health hazards like MERS, Francisella tularensis, Bacillus anthracis, and even the dreaded Ebola. Our staff, along with the Nebraska Medicine Biocontainment Unit staff, are constantly being called on to be a resource for the countless amount of questions concerning the how to’s of biosafety preparedness.

List three things people may not know about you.

I recently went skydiving for the first time.
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.