WRI Lead Scientist Susan Sorini has received the highest award of one the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world. Officials of ASTM International presented her with the Award of Merit on February 3, in Las Vegas.

ASTM International is made up of more than 30,000 members from industry, government and academia who work to develop consensus standards in 100 industrial and management sectors, ranging from construction materials and environmental assessment to medical devices and property management systems.

Sorini has been a member of ASTM International for more than 20 years and has been chairman of Committee D 34 on Waste Management since 2006. This 270-member committee addresses characterization, storage, treatment, recovery and disposal of wastes from industrial and other sources. Sorini also chairs ASTM Subcommittee D 34.01 on Sampling, Monitoring, and Characterization.

By law, government agencies are directed to use consensus standards such as those developed by ASTM. The Committee on Waste Management maintains a close relationship with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the development of waste management standards through a Cooperative Agreement.

From 2003 to 2005 Sorini served as a member of the ASTM Committee on Standards, the organization’s highest governing body, and in 2005 was awarded the ASTM Committee on Standards Service Award.

The Award of Merit recognizes exceptional leadership; unusually productive service in ASTM committee work; and outstanding contributions in research and testing, leading to new standards development.

A Committee D 34 member, Whitney Skaling, president of Soilmoisture Equipment Corp., wrote in an e-mail to Sorini, “Your award tonight from ASTM leaders represents my belief in someone who is exceptional, and I, like many others working under your leadership, appreciate all you do for the D 34 organization, its members, and ASTM as an organization.”

Sorini has been a scientist at WRI for 25 years. During this time, she has authored or co-authored more than 70 publications, been named as an inventor on four U.S. patents, and received two Industrial Innovation Awards from the American Chemical Society.