Maureen McNamara, the Founder and Chief Facilitator of Cannabis Trainers (a corporation founded to create and deliver training solutions for the cannabis industry) chose our lab director for appreciation in their newsletter.
With her team’s permission, we’re posting the full interview below.
Join their mailing list to read other great write-ups like this one, as well as hear about important compliance updates. The sign-up link is at the bottom of their site.
Claire McLeod Ohman, PhD, CMT Lab Director
We are pleased to recognize Claire MacLeod Ohman, PhD, Lab Director for CMT Laboratories.
Claire earned her BA in chemistry from Connecticut College, her MS in organic chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, and her PhD in inorganic analytical chemistry from the University of Colorado. She has also volunteered for the US Geological Survey and for the Dumb Friends League.
Claire is on the Pesticide Working Group, the Colorado Lab Council, and American Chemical Society, she has 3 patents, has co-authored 3 scientific publications, and received the Sewell Prize in Chemistry.
We asked Claire what she likes most about the industry?
I love being around people who are passionate about what they do. We’re on the front lines of the liberal social movement that’s changing the way that people view consumption of cannabis worldwide, and the field is so new that you’re really paving the way for generations to come.
I have worked in different laboratory environments for over 20 years and now I have finally found my passion. The energy and intelligence of the people that surrounds me is phenomenal. As professional scientists, we work in a highly regulated environment and we strive to be accurate each and every time. But these individuals LOVE what they do and that makes our job much more fun. I adore my laboratory family!
Here are the scientists of CMT Laboratories! Notice they follow compliance and wear their badges? Great job team!
We also asked her point of view about the importance of lab testing for cannabis?
Analytical testing of cannabis products is important to protect consumer’s public health and safety. The consumer has a right to know what they are using, whether it is a CBD topical, flower for smoking or an edible for consumption. Making sure that your products contain the right ingredients as listed on the label and that your cannabis is free of mold and microbial contaminants is important. The goal of everyone in a cannabis testing facility is to keep people safe and to make sure that products contain what they say they contain.
Also, my work at the Dumb Friends League animal shelter is not glamorous or heroic by any stretch of the imagination. Basically I clean dog kennels. I’ve had the opportunity to move into dog walking, but I feel so bad for the dogs who are stuck in their kennels and have no choice but to use it as a toilet. They deserve a clean place to sleep just as we do, so every Sunday I put on my rubber boots and gloves and go wash out kennels for 5 hours. It’s the absolute least I can do.
To read more about lab testing at CMT Labs, check out this article that Nicholas Tolstoshev, the community manager for Growers Network, wrote after his tour.