Author: Karen Burkhartzmeyer

Sustainability Day: It’s not just for the last Wednesday in October 

Posted on by Karen Burkhartzmeyer

Happy Sustainability Day! You may not realize that the last Wednesday of every October is dedicated to reminding us of the importance of caring for our planet. Maybe you rode your bike to work today, replaced a burned-out lightbulb with an efficient LED bulb or made sure to turn off the water while brushing your teeth. (You won’t believe how much water this simple act will save. My fifth-grade teacher imparted this wisdom to me many, many, many years ago.)  

We do our best to live our values here at Promega and we like to think that every day is one to prioritize and practice sustainable living. Like so many others, we are certainly learning along the way, and have a long way to go. But we were excited to announce this summer that Promega now draws over 20% of our global electricity from renewable sources. Investments in solar arrays have led to a ten-fold increase in renewable energy usage in the last three years.  

Reducing Electricity Usage

Minimizing electricity usage at all our branches, distribution and manufacturing locations around the world is a priority since Promega has a goal to reduce carbon emissions by 50% as indexed to revenue by 2030. Electricity makes up nearly half of Promega emissions, so we are doing what we can to lessen this impact. 

Continue reading “Sustainability Day: It’s not just for the last Wednesday in October “

Adapting Holiday Traditions: COVID, Customs and Cookies at Promega

Posted on by Karen Burkhartzmeyer

Adaptation: In biology and ecology, the process or state of adjusting or changing to become more suited to an environment.    

Holiday traditions are certainly taking new forms this year as we all determine how to safely celebrate during a pandemic. It goes without saying that it’s been a tough year. Customs and rituals, large and small, bring peace and comfort. We need those more than ever now, so the challenge becomes finding new ways to honor valued traditions.

Chuck York, VP Manufacturing delivers individually packaged cookies to R&D Scientists on the Promega Madison Campus, adapting this holiday tradition to the life during a pandemic.
This year’s cookie delivery happened with a twist. Chuck York, VP Manufacturing delivers individually packaged cookies to R&D Scientists on the Promega Madison Campus.

Today, we would like to share how one dearly held Promega Madison tradition was able to endure in our COVID-19 world. Adaptation is key. And butter and sugar help, too.

Elaine Day

Promega employees this week were surprised and deeply moved to find that their beloved “Elaine Day” had not become yet another casualty of the pandemic.

“This has been such a difficult year,” says Senior QA Scientist Sue Wigdal. “I had assumed, sadly, that Elaine Day would be cancelled, but to be able to have it and all the thoughtfulness and deliciousness that it brings, was amazing.”  

Continue reading “Adapting Holiday Traditions: COVID, Customs and Cookies at Promega”

Supporting Caregivers, Colleagues, and Neighbors

Posted on by Karen Burkhartzmeyer

“Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends.” – The Beatles

And don’t forget family, colleagues, neighbors. And, these days, the chatty checker at the grocery store, the postal carrier who offers a wave, even the guy who makes oh-so-brief eye contact at a stoplight. We’re all getting by with a little help from anyone who will offer it.   

two people wearing masks and social distancing give waves in the subway station

Care. Support. Help! We provide and receive these gifts throughout our entire lives. The pandemic, however, has prompted many of us to feel the weight of their importance more than ever. We simply need one another to get by. Lending someone a helping hand can be tremendous therapy, too. Today we pause to appreciate three distinct ways our Promega community is supporting colleagues in times of need.     

Continue reading “Supporting Caregivers, Colleagues, and Neighbors”

Growth at Promega: From Daycare to Employee

Posted on by Karen Burkhartzmeyer

The red roof of Woods Hollow Child Care center peeks out over the prairie swale at the Promega Madison campus.
The red roof of Woods Hollow Child Care center peeks out over the prairie swale at the Promega Madison campus.

Woods Hollow Children’s Center is a prominent feature on the Promega Madison campus, due not only to the building’s distinctive red metal roof, but also the sights, sounds and energy that emanate from it. Playground laughter echoes across the prairie, little ones with their teachers stop in to explore the art at the Promega gallery, children and scientists alike share the meandering paths between lab, manufacturing and office buildings.

The fully accredited child center for children 6 weeks to 10 years old has been part of the Promega community since 1991 when the company built and began financially supporting Woods Hollow, making it available to employees as well as families in the surrounding community. (Promega employees do not receive a break in tuition, but they are given priority for admission. And Promega funding allows Woods Hollow to keep operating costs down while also being able to hire top teachers and offer them competitive wages.)

During its 27 years in operation, the center has served more than 2000 families, many of those with multiple children. It is natural to assume that someday perhaps at least a few of those kids would grow up to work at Promega.

Meet Promega Distribution Services Specialist, and Woods Hollow alum, Tyler Kalish. Continue reading “Growth at Promega: From Daycare to Employee”

Inspiring the Next Generation of Scientists

Posted on by Karen Burkhartzmeyer

A Promega scientist works with a girl scout.
Local girls scouts worked with scientists at Promega to learn how a cell culture facility operates.

My twin daughters are finishing up their 10th-grade year next month, finding themselves smack in the middle of their high school experience, and discussions of classes, colleges and careers are increasing in frequency in my household. (It’s cliché, but I have to say it… Where does the time go?) As the girls begin to ponder their future, my husband and I are encouraging them to gain real-life insight from adults who work in fields they’re curious about. It’s never too early to get a first-hand perspective.

One of my girls has known from a pretty young age that she wants to pursue something in STEM, and likely the “S” in the acronym. Her schedule happened to be open the night a few months ago that one of my Promega colleagues, Senior R&D Scientist Danette Daniels, was speaking on a panel sponsored by the University of Wisconsin – Madison chapter of Graduate Women in Science. My daughter wasn’t sure about how she’d be received as the only high school student in the room, but she agreed to go with me anyway. Besides, I told her, they’re serving pie.

The six women on the panel represented a huge variety of avenues (academic to industry), specialties (biophysics to geology) and professional styles. During introductions, one panelist declared, “I had a job in a lab and was depressed. When I was stuck in a library all day, I was totally excited.” She now works with an organization to recruit more women into STEM fields. The woman sitting beside her runs a research lab and declared, “I love the bench quite a bit, and I don’t want to be in an office reading!” Continue reading “Inspiring the Next Generation of Scientists”

Letter from Uganda: A Promega International Internship Scholarship Recipient Shares her Experiences

Posted on by Karen Burkhartzmeyer

Sydney Roberts, left, at work at a rural community outreach health clinic outside of Kabale, Uganda where she helped conduct basic health screenings. Here she is measuring a woman’s MUAC (midupper arm circumference).
Sydney Roberts, left, at work at a rural community outreach health clinic outside of Kabale, Uganda where she helped conduct basic health screenings. Here she is measuring a woman’s MUAC (midupper arm circumference).

We were inspired by a letter we recently received from one of the recipients of the Promega International Scientific Internship Scholarship. The scholarship supports undergraduate students at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. who are undertaking an international internship aimed at using science to improve the quality of life in the world. Students from all scientific fields are eligible but preference is given to those whose internships use molecular biology techniques. Students must be based in a country other than their own for at least six weeks and cannot be in a country where the recipient has already spent significant time.

Sydney Roberts, a junior at UW Madison majoring in Community and Nonprofit Leadership with a certificate in Global Health, was awarded the Spring 2018 Promega scholarship. As a result, she’s spending her spring a long way from her hometown of Cedarburg, WI. Sydney is currently working in Kabale, Uganda, a town in the southwestern part of the country near the border of Rwanda, as an intern with the Kigezi Healthcare Foundation (KIHEFO).

KIHEFO operates a primary care clinic, HIV/AIDS clinic, Nutrition and Rehabilitation center, and works with rural community groups. Sydney is supporting local staff members as they treat clients, provide counseling sessions for families affected by disease, and work on global health initiatives that support prevention of these diseases and health complications. She has only been in Uganda for a few weeks, but she says her experiences have already been life-changing. Continue reading “Letter from Uganda: A Promega International Internship Scholarship Recipient Shares her Experiences”

Secrets of the Promega Cookie Elf

Posted on by Karen Burkhartzmeyer

Working at a manufacturing company like Promega means quite a few people here spend their days obsessing (rightly so) over things like bulk production, product finishing and quality assurance. As the holiday season approaches, however, many Promega Madison employees also begin obsessing (rightly so) over some extremely important manufacturing going on in Elaine York’s Wisconsin kitchen.

Elaine is married to Chuck York, Vice President of Manufacturing Operations at Promega. Each Christmas, she bakes thousands (yes, thousand with an “s”) of made-from-scratch Christmas cookies of every variety, artfully arranged on around 50 platters, which Chuck then brings to work to share with his lucky coworkers.

Today was that wonderful day at Promega!

“I enjoy doing it and he enjoys giving them,” says Elaine, an avid baker who has been creating delectable treats for over 40 years. Continue reading “Secrets of the Promega Cookie Elf”

Where Science and Art Meet: The 2017 Holiday Card

Posted on by Karen Burkhartzmeyer
The Promega Holiday Card
The Promega Holiday Card

University of Wisconsin-Madison undergraduate Celia Glime didn’t think she was creating a design for the 2017 Promega holiday card while doing lab work last winter for her introductory Chemistry 104 class. She was simply doing her homework.

Celia explains she was studying the progression of three chemical reactions in test tubes when she decided to take out her smartphone and snap some photos to use for her lab report. (Bonus points if you can tell from the photo what’s causing each reaction. Answers below.)

“I ended up creating an art project instead,” she says.

Celia, who at the time was considering a major in genetics and a minor in visual art, had been keeping an eye out for instances of science in real life. Her mentor on campus, Professor Ahna Skop, a geneticist and artist herself, had recently told Celia about the annual University of Wisconsin Cool Science Image Contest, sponsored by Promega. The contest aims to bring together the worlds of science and art by recognizing the technical and creative skills required to capture images or video that document science or nature.

Celia did exactly that.

Continue reading “Where Science and Art Meet: The 2017 Holiday Card”

Rwanda – Africa’s Next Biotech Hub

Posted on by Karen Burkhartzmeyer
Promega sponsored a preconference workshop for grad and undergrad students at the University of Rwanda’s biotechnology campus in Huye, the capital city of Rwanda’s Southern Province.

More than twenty years after the Rwandan genocide when some 800,000 people were killed in just 100 days by ethnic extremists, Rwanda is on a path to not only healing and order, but also technological advancement. Now politically and functionally stable, which is an exception to the rule in east Africa, the country is recognizing that biotechnology is one of the key drivers to help improve the health and well being of its citizens. Rwanda is focusing on providing the resources and training needed to grow its capabilities in biotechnology, and could be on track to become an African biotech hub.

Rwanda, and its biotech push, caught the attention of Promega by way of customers working with its Belgium-Netherlands-Luxembourg (BNL) branch office. Researchers who are also African ex-patriots working at Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), a French-speaking private research university in Brussels, Belgium, invited Promega to attend a conference in Rwanda earlier this month organized by the Society for the Advancement of Science in Africa (SASA) and the Rwanda Biotechnology Association focusing on translational science and biotechnology advances in Africa. Promega was a main sponsor of the conference along with US medical device manufacturer Medtronic.

Continue reading “Rwanda – Africa’s Next Biotech Hub”

First We Eat: #LifeatPromega, The Culinary Experience

Posted on by Karen Burkhartzmeyer

The Promega Culinary Garden
In the Promega garden. (L to R): Logan Morrow, gardener; Nate Herndon, Promega Senior Culinary Manager; Mike Daugherty, Promega Line Cook and Gardener

First we eat, then we do everything else.–MFK Fisher

Swatting away mosquitoes one July morning in the garden on the Promega Madison, WI, campus, Senior Culinary Manager Nate Herndon leans down and pulls back the leaves of a squash plant, revealing the bright yellow flowers that in a couple of hours will highlight a seasonal special on the lunch menu at one of the company’s cafeterias: green onion-cream cheese stuffed fried squash blossoms served on a grilled jerk pork tostada with black beans and cilantro sauce. Herndon explains that dishes made from scratch with high-quality, locally sourced (and sometimes unexpected) ingredients are the rule at Promega Madison kitchens, where it’s not uncommon to find entrees like house made ramp garganelli with oyster mushrooms and asparagus, braised beef ragu with house made buckwheat parpadelle pasta and baby kale, or fried perch tacos.

Food is an extension, a daily demonstration, of our overall commitment to sustainability, the community and employees

Many companies are realizing the benefits of upscaling their corporate cafeteria offerings. Some are engaging employees with ever-changing theme lunch menus or energy drinks on tap. Others are echoing the popular farm to table movement. But Herndon explains that Promega’s sensibilities surrounding the importance of food goes way beyond simply following popular trends. Continue reading “First We Eat: #LifeatPromega, The Culinary Experience”