Michael Potoniec, '19, Serves DuPage County As Environmental Health Specialist
By Tony Scott
Michael Potoniec currently serves as a lead environmental health
specialist with the DuPage County Health Department.
(Photo credit: Michael Potoniec)
Michael Potoniec, ’19, remembers having a discussion with his older sister when he was exploring colleges and majors.
“In high school, I had interests rooted in health care and helping others,” he said.
Potoniec, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in public health, had thought about becoming a physician. His sister, who was pursuing her master’s degree in epidemiology at the time, was telling him about the differences between direct health care and public health, which she had been learning about in her classes.
“I had this revelation and realized that I wanted to help as many people as possible and try to prevent health issues from occurring in the first place,” he said. “Once I had this realization, I knew I wanted to pursue public health and that’s when my journey started.”
Potoniec now works as a lead environmental health specialist with the DuPage County Health Department, training and supervising other environmental health specialists in the county. His job involves inspecting a wide variety of businesses for health violations.
“We conduct various inspections of restaurants, public pools and body art facilities to ensure they are operating within the applicable codes and ordinances to protect public health across the county,” he said. “We also investigate public health complaints related to codes and ordinances that we can enforce such as food borne illnesses, waterborne illnesses at pool facilities, and well and septic complaints at residential homes.”
While the job can be challenging, dealing with business owners and others while conducting inspections, it’s an opportunity to educate.
“These moments grant us invaluable opportunities to practice our communication skills to ensure compliance and educate operators on the importance of safe practices, such as handwashing, even if the conversations can be difficult,” he said. “Building rapport with our operators and creating mutual trust can help make these conversations become easier over time. This requires a great deal of patience and persistence, but the balance of being approachable and professional helps us achieve better outcomes for public health.”
Once he decided to make public health his major, Potoniec opted to attend NIU.
“While I was applying, I noticed that not many schools had an undergraduate program in public health, and I quickly realized that NIU was unique in that regard,” he said.
Potoniec received a merit scholarhip, which he said was a “significant factor” in attending NIU.
“I am incredibly grateful to have been able to attend NIU with that help,” he said.
Potoniec said he didn’t participate in many activities in high school, so he made a promise to himself that in college he would engage in activities that were interesting and impactful for his growth as a public health professional. He was involved in the Student Health Organization, becoming a member of its executive board and ultimately serving as the organization's vice president and president during his time at NIU.
“Together, we at the SHO collaborated and hosted many volunteering events on campus to promote public health,” he said.
Potoniec also found a home in Stevenson Towers in its Health Professions House.
"It was a community that allowed students with similar study interests to live together and have some unique opportunities to connect with staff, volunteer and have a unique community,” he said.
He also became a housing ambassador to act as a liaison between the College of Health and Human Sciences and the residence halls.
“During the rest of my time at NIU, I lived in Health House as a Health House Ambassador to serve as a mentor with my floormates and help foster a community where people could connect, study together and create life-long friendships,” he said.
Potoniec highlighted two mentors who helped him: advisors Becky Pritchard and Sandi Splansky.
Pritchard informed him about the Centers for Disease Control’s Public Health Associate Program during his last year at NIU and encouraged him to apply. The program involves a two-year full-time position at the CDC where public health professionals get on-the-job training helping public health agencies across the country.
During his time with the CDC, he served the community of Tacoma, Washington, doing a great deal of COVID-19 response work.
“I am very proud of the work that I did during that time,” he said. “I am forever grateful for Becky informing me about this program and encouraging me to apply since it helped pave the way for my professional career in public health. Becky gave me the courage to apply for something I thought was a shot in the dark.”
Splansky, the former director of academic advising for CHHS, was his supervisor when he was an ambassador.
“Sandi offered immense knowledge and experience with not only helping me adapt to life on campus at NIU, including academic advising, professional networking and resume building, but also gave me the opportunity for me to become a leader to teach and mentor newer students at NIU as an ambassador to empower them to seize the many opportunities NIU has to offer,” he said.
Potoniec is grateful for the experiences he had while a student at NIU.
“These experiences have taught me to seize opportunities in my day-to-day life so I can continue to grow and prosper,” he said. “Opportunities are always out there, and NIU taught me to chase those opportunities.”
Potoniec also appreciates the ability that NIU gave him to give back to the community.
“NIU gave me an environment to support the community whenever I could through various volunteering events, mentoring my peers in Health House, and helping others get interested in giving back to the community,” he said. “This is something I strive for in my personal and professional life. NIU holds a special place in my heart for all the insightful and inspiring experiences I got to live in.”
This is just one example of how NIU prepares students to become community public health professionals and leaders. Discover how NIU is fortifying our future at niuforward.com.