Kudos from EEB for David Kazen and Marc Navarro

From:  Cassie Stoddard, Associate Professor, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology

I am writing to express my deep thanks to two members of your Facilities Operations teams who saved the day last week! On Friday, a custodian mistakenly discarded a visiting researcher’s scientific samples when cleaning my lab space in Guyot Hall. David Kazen helped us connect with all of the right people—late in the afternoon on Friday ahead of a long holiday weekend. He was efficient, communicative and extremely responsive. Marc Navarro then deduced that the cardboard box of samples may have ended up in a recycling center in Ewing. He drove there and, enlisting others to join in with a backhoe, combed through a mountain of compacted recycled material until he located the samples. I will never forget the enormous smile on the face of the visiting researcher’s face when Marc personally returned the samples to us on Friday afternoon. Over 90% of the samples, which were irreplaceable, were recovered—I cannot tell you what this means to us as scientists. The lengths to which the Facilities staff went to help us are truly above and beyond, and we are extremely grateful for David’s and Marc's level of enthusiasm, support and perseverance. You have amazing staff members—thank you!