Service Award: Kim Shaw, 15 Years
Kim Shaw, OCC/WQ Blue Thumb Program Quality Assurance Officer, was recognized at the February 2018 meeting of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission for 15 years of service to OCC and the state of Oklahoma.
Kim came to work for OCC in January 2003 and spent her first two years as a water quality specialist in OCC’s Water Quality division. An opportunity opened in the Blue Thumb Program which allowed Kim to interact with a wider group of people. She transitioned into the role of Blue Thumb Education Coordinator which involves training and assisting volunteers with stream sampling, coordination with conservation districts to hold groundwater screenings, presenting education events such as natural resources days, and numerous other outreach and education activities.
A little more than five years ago, Kim also took on the role of Blue Thumb Quality Assurance Officer which requires managing Blue Thumb data, ensuring that volunteers complete quality assurance training, and continuous review of Blue Thumb sampling efforts and processes to make improvements or corrective actions when necessary.
Kim excels in her role with Blue Thumb and has earned appreciation from her volunteers, our macroinvertebrate taxonomist, and others for everything from her ability to share her wealth of knowledge about streams, to her dedication to service to her volunteers, to her ability to present a well processed taxonomic sample that reduces processing time and the return time for results. It would be difficult to find anyone who can run faster through a slippery stream dragging a seine than Kim. Kim is highly organized and efficient and has a work ethic and dedication to Blue Thumb that is so critical for someone who has worked more weekends than not the last thirteen years.
Kim enjoys spending time outside and especially in helping others to learn to appreciate the creeks she loves. When she does manage to find time for herself, she dedicates some of that time to travel, both inside the U.S. and abroad.