Bennie Martinez' is a Chemical Laboratory Technician with a BS in Geology and a MS in Environmental Systems Management. Bennie has over sixteen years of experience working at Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute in Albuquerque where he gained analytical radiochemistry experience working with transuranic. Currently Bennie does maintenance and troubleshooting on furnaces and other instruments, quality control of sample analysis, and development of new procedures involving different radionuclides. Bennie also has several years of experience working with hazardous waste in handling materials containing beryllium and nickel.   Other aspects have included, training new employees and writing procedures.  Bennie has also supervised over 8 individuals as a team leader.

As stated by Bennie:

At LANL, I continued to improve my analytical chemistry skills while working at EM-9 where I learned how to handle organic solvents as well as heavy metals and radionuclides. However, perhaps my greatest asset comes from the experience I have obtained in the work I have been involved with since October 1993. As Deputy Operable Unit Project Leader I learned about the many regulations the Lab and LANL's Environmental Restoration Project have to comply with in order to be in total compliance with the law. My experience with handling hazardous and radioactive waste has been extensive. A waste minimization success story that was submitted to the Pollution Prevention Project office at LANL involved how I was able to save more than $48,000 in waste disposal costs by innovative ideas used to characterize, recycle and reuse containers, and saving on transportation costs. I also am a certified Waste Management Coordinator (WMC) for LANL. I was involved in the biggest expedited cleanup that at that time had ever been done at LANL. As WMC for this effort, I was actively involved with the waste services groups at TA-54 in processing waste profile and chemical waste disposal requests, complying with hazardous waste requirements (eg., less than 90 day hazardous waste storage requirements), and coordinating with all the applicable entities needed to correctly and legally dispose of LANL's waste. While at LANL I have also learned the importance of communicating effectively, maintaining a good rapport with everyone, and knowing what it takes to expedite operations. I have also demonstrated my communication abilities by the poster presentations and oral presentations that I have given while working as deputy operable unit project leader and waste management coordinator.

In addition, I have worked over 6 years on the LANL Hydrologic Resources Management Program/Underground Test Area team collecting ground water samples at the Nevada Test Site in order to follow the migration of radionuclide contaminants. I am also involved in the processing and analysis of the latter samples.

My strengths come in that I am a people person and can work well in a team environment as well as by myself. I have also participated in work for the WIPP site, Yucca Mountain Project, and radiochemistry work for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency. With my dual role as a field worker and laboratory technician I hope I am bringing the versatility and expertise that the geochemistry team needs and requires for all the different types of work it is involved in and will continue to be a part of for years to come.