ARS staffer Deena Patterson honored with UW-Madison employee recognition award
Deena Patterson, horticultural technician with the Agricultural Research Station Greenhouses, is one of five recipients of 2011 UW-Madison Classified Employee Recognition Awards.
Working in the research greenhouses on campus, Patterson has established a reputation for excellence, organizational skill and an ability to solve problems.
Recently, when Ben Brancel, state secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection sought a report on her research area to present to the Legislature, she drafted it. Nominator Edward Hummel, research program manager in her unit, said Brancel described it as “perfect in every way” and “just what I needed.”
Additionally, Patterson conducts an inspection of the mechanical and electrical components in all of the greenhouses four times a year — a process that involves some 900 components.
“She has never failed to find a problem in any of these varied devices,” Hummel said.
Patterson also reorganized the station’s safety program, pesticide record-keeping and researcher occupant information in a way that other campus units look to when organizing their own areas.
Hummel said that Patterson also eagerly takes on a problem-solving role.
“Deena Patterson excels in the fast-paced world of high-intensity research,” Hummel said. “She uses her calm demeanor to cut through to the crux of the problem and get it solved.”
Hummel also said Patterson has been an innovator: building her unit’s website, coming up with a system of tracking receipts from purchases, and developing a checklist for maintenance of vehicles.
“Whether it’s making a door stop … or reorganizing our entire safety program, Deena often comes up with something new that works better,” he said. “ I know that when I assign Deena a task that she won’t just do a good job in a timely manner — she will do a superb job of almost everything she touches.”