Joshua Kerber and Gary Hodgden Named Recipients of the Susie Shimek Radon Hero Award

Joshua Kerber and Gary Hodgden Named Recipients of the Susie Shimek Radon Hero Award

Pictured above from left to right: Lisa Bruedigan, Joshua Kerber, Gary Hodgden, Kim Steves

CRCPD congratulates the winners of the 2025 Susie Shimek Radon Hero Award – Joshua Kerber (MN) and Gary Hodgden (IEA and Midwest Radon).

At the 2025 IEA Radon and Vapor Intrusion Symposium, in Fort Worth, Texas, in October, Joshua Kerber and Gary Hodgen were named as the two recipients of the Radon Hero Award. The Susie Shimek Radon Hero Award is given annually to someone who has dedicated time and commitment to creating sustained radon risk reduction through the implementation of good practices, developing and supporting consistent messaging, and collaborating with partners to promote change. Nominations are submitted to the CRCPD E-25 Committee on Radon for voting, and the winner(s) are then reviewed and approved by the Board of Directors. In their selection of Mr. Kerber and Mr. Hodgden, CRCPD noted:

Joshua Kerber
“Josh has led the state of Minnesota to be a national and international leader when it comes to radon protection and radon regulation. Josh has been a member and now chairperson of the E-25 Committee on Radon since 2013. During the four years Josh has been the E-25 Chairperson, he has dedicated hundreds of volunteer hours toward promoting radon risk reduction and increased technical capacity for radon. His ongoing activities include serving on the National Radon Action Plan leadership council, acting as the CRCPD liaison to the Indoor Environments Association (formerly known as AARST), representing CRCPD on the President's Moonshot Roundtable on Cancer Prevention, providing training and education on radon, and leading the E25 members and advisors to accomplish their charges. Joshua leads E25 as they work on development of a state and tribal track for radon at the annual radon symposium, developing comments on federal and international guidance and regulatory documents on radon, providing assistance to states and tribes on radon program development and enhancements, building technical capacity for radon within the states and tribes, and most importantly, in the fulfillment of the goals and objectives for the CRCPD cooperative agreement for radon with the U.S. EPA. Josh has also represented the CRCPD on multiple projects with the IAEA. Josh also currently serves as the chairperson of the SSR-R Regulations for Radon Committee.”

Gary Hodgden
“Gary has exemplified what it means to be a Radon Hero. He has been involved with radon risk reduction since the discovery of radon in the late 1980’s both through his work as a radon professional, in support of the IEA/AARST professional organization, and in support of states. Gary’s work has always been supportive of state radon programs and the CRCPD, and he has been instrumental in ensuring that the states and radon professionals continue to grow into a positive collaborative relationship. Gary has never hesitated to provide assistance and support for radon endeavors when asked, often with no financial benefits for him. Gary has always had a mission to ensure that IEA (formerly AARST) and the CRCPD maintained a strong partnership and had positive interactions. This was especially demonstrated during the early years of AARST (~1995-2010) when Gary maintained an Associate membership with CRCPD and volunteered as an Advisor to the E-25 Committee on Radon. Gary regularly attended the in-person E25 meetings – traveling to them at his own personal expense – in an effort to ensure that accurate information was shared with CRCPD about AARST’s endeavors and technical and scientific growth in the radon field. Through his work, the E25 Committee was able to evolve into the active group of experienced radon scientists that it is today with a close working partnership with IEA/AARST.”