The NHCA Narrative: Elizabeth MastersonBy John M Johnson NHCA member This edition of the Narrative highlights our conversation with NHCA member Elizabeth (Liz) Masterson, PhD, CPH, COHC. Liz received her Master of Public Health degree from the University of Kentucky and her PhD in Environmental Health/Epidemiology from the University of Cincinnati. Liz recently served seven years on the National Hearing Conservation Association (NHCA) Executive Council, serving three of those years in the Presidential Trio. Liz is a Co-Coordinator of the Hearing Loss Prevention Cross-Sector Research Program for NIOSH, and currently co-chairs the NHCA Website Task Force.
In fact, Liz first desired to become a teacher and then studied psychology in hopes of becoming a clinical psychologist. After working as a contractor for NIOSH supporting other programs since 1996, during PhD courses in 2010, Liz was hired as a federal worker and assigned to work on a new hearing loss surveillance project. Liz says, prior to this assignment she knew nothing about hearing loss prevention and nothing about the related research. “I was randomly assigned to that project, but as an epidemiologist you can work on almost any research subject. It’s one reason that I love the field.” Liz recalls, “when I started working on the project, colleagues said, hey, you got to go to NHCA. I said, what the heck is NHCA? They said I had to go to the annual conference, so I did.” Liz described her first conference as a wonderful and informative experience saying the people were lovely, helpful, and telling me that I needed to get my Certification in Occupational Hearing Conservation.” Liz says she welcomed this very helpful advice since she wasn’t an audiologist. But, Liz says, tongue-in-cheek, “I’m basically a junior audiologist at this point thanks to Christi Themann, who is also part of the NIOSH Hearing Loss Prevention Cross-Sector Research Program, encompassing professionals working on various hearing loss prevention projects across NIOSH.” Liz explained that she absorbed many lessons from Christi and her talented and welcoming team members that included Chucri (Chuck) Kardous, David Byrne, Pamela Graydon, William (Bill) Murphy, Thais Morata, and Liz’s team leader at the time, Geoff Calvert. This is where, as Liz recalls, “I got knee deep into the work of surveillance and the systematic collection of data and analysis, and its dissemination in a way that hopefully allows normal people to understand…showing the trends and the high-risk groups. We started doing papers and presenting and just growing in the field.” And grow she did by compiling and composing many excellent presentations and research publications now available online. Of those who inspired Liz, many stand out including Marie Sweeney, her branch chief who mentored her in leadership and other higher-level thinking. “I’m now in leadership roles at NIOSH and previously at NHCA and that didn’t just happen––somebody had to teach me how to lead. Marie was very supportive of the things I wanted to do. She would tell me, you want to take on this? Oh, you want to take on that role too? You go for it! And in that spirit of support and guidance Liz highly encourages others to get involved with NHCA activities and attend the annual conferences and Fall Virtual Educational Summit, join a committee, be in the conversation, and build relationships with our passionate members. Liz strongly suggests, “if you want to be with the leaders in the field of occupational hearing conservation, join the NHCA, this is where the experts are!” She particularly encourages young people to join and learn from the hearing loss prevention giants whose shoulders we all stand upon. Especially important to Liz is the annual Fall Virtual Educational Summit. Liz recommends everyone attend. This year it will be held on September 9, 2026 @ 11:00am (ET) The Summit features cutting edge experts in their field of expertise providing the NHCA membership with some of the latest developments in research and best practice solutions. Liz said she intends to continue to attend the annual conferences and Fall Virtual Educational Summits to glean the knowledge that NHCA provides, and to enjoy the relationships. The next NHCA Annual Conference is tentatively scheduled for April 2027 in Orlando, Florida. Messaging is important to Liz, who doesn’t think it is getting through to the right populations explaining that the safety and health professionals know how to protect their hearing. It’s the general public who needs to be informed. Reminiscing back to her youth, “what did we learn when we were young? We were taught loud is fun, that firecrackers are fun, that concert I attended was fun, so they beat it in our heads that it’s not really fun unless it’s loud, and if you’re putting in hearing protection there must be something wrong with you.” Liz believes prevention needs to be taught at every level of school. She cites the work of Deanna Meinke at Dangerous Decibels http://dangerousdecibels.org as a great way to introduce prevention in the early stages of education and as a leading source of hearing loss prevention lessons for school curriculum. Going forward, Liz will aim to follow the NIOSH mission to develop new knowledge in the field of occupational safety and health and transfer that knowledge into practice. “I’m going to try to produce with limited time and resources the most impactful surveillance and research results possible, and try to get that into the hands of as many people as possible.” Liz plans to utilize alternative content distribution options like social media, trade publications, and posting on the newly updated NIOSH website to get the message out. When able to get away from her busy and fulfilling work, Liz schedules fun. She enjoys the theater, concerts, and dinner with friends. She loves animals and nature, enjoys walking with friends, and attends Temple worship services. Pet peeve: That hearing loss doesn’t receive the attention it deserves when it can be so profoundly life changing! Thanks, Liz, for your occupational hearing loss prevention contributions and dedication to upholding the NIOSH Mission and for sharing your OHC message with our readers. Disclaimer: any thoughts shared by Liz are hers and do not necessarily represent the official position of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. |
Like many of our NHCA members, occupational hearing conservation was not on Liz’s radar during her early education, but a career with NIOSH was on her Mom's radar, who herself worked at the agency. Liz explains, “Mom told me from a young age, you need to work for NIOSH, you need to be a scientist, you need to be a project officer” but Liz thought, “ I hate science, I hate math, it’s not happening! Not in a million years did I think I’d be here."