When Sarah arrived at Yale University she immediately engaged her Principal Investigator (Dr. Elimelech in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences) to improve her lab’s safety culture. She volunteered to serve as the lab safety co-manager. Sarah created simplified biomedical waste posters that were unique to her lab. To improve their effectiveness, these posters relied heavily on images over words. She developed a lab safety checklist to onboard new researchers, so that before starting work they would complete all their relevant EHS training, including a review of their lab-specific biomedical waste protocols. Sarah initiated a five-minute safety briefing at every lab meeting, at which time she reviewed basic safety information pertinent to their laboratory. Sarah invited EHS specialists to join them in these briefings. She even created a lab Wiki page to host the safety information, specific to their laboratory. She has since moved to Dr. Peccia’s research group, and is implementing the same great improvements there. Sarah’s efforts have grown Yale’s safety culture. She has helped all of her colleagues gain a solid foundation in laboratory safety, and created a strong partnership with Yale EHS. Yale EHS is proud to award Sarah Kwan the Dariusz Czarnota Award of Excellence. Sarah is a true lab safety champion.