Jennifer Hoponick Redmon

Jennifer Hoponick Redmon serves as Senior Director, Environmental Health and Water Quality at RTI International and by trade is a Senior Environmental Health Scientist and Chemical Risk Assessment Specialist. Her educational background integrates the scientific and policy areas of environmental chemistry, toxicology, risk assessment, environmental policy, and natural resource management. Ms. Redmon is known for her ability to synthesize complex environmental problems into practical solutions that improve the natural and built environment. Her experience includes a blend of practical field and laboratory expertise, cross-cutting technical knowledge, a love of collaboration, excellent communication skills, and an unwavering commitment to improving public health and the environment over her 17-year career.  She has received numerous awards recognizing her achievements, including a 40 Under 40 Leadership Award from the Triangle Business Journal as one of the “best and brightest business and community leaders.” At RTI, Ms. Redmon leads multi-disciplinary and community-engaged environmental research projects. She is particularly interested in identifying chemicals in the environment, supporting risk communication and mitigation measures to improve environmental health outcomes, and building resiliency in the food, energy, and water nexus.

As the director of the Clean Water for Carolina Kids and Clean Water for US Kids programs, Ms. Redmon’s vision is to eliminate contaminants and particularly lead in drinking water and cooking water where children learn, play, and live. The program includes a citizen science-based mail-out water quality test kit analyzed by our laboratory, paired with an online enrollment, training, tracking, reporting, and communication portal. In 2020, our program and partners received Harvard University’s prestigious Roy Award for Environmental Partnership and the Environmental Business Journal Award for Project Merit. Ms. Redmon is also an advisory member of the State of North Carolina’s Choose Safe Places Advisory Group, whose purpose is “keeping children healthy in the environments where they grow, learn, and play” and is supported by the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Ms. Redmon is a Co-Principal Investigator (PI) on a three-year Environmental Protection Agency grant focused on predicting and communicating exposure risks of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as forever chemicals, in rural private wells. This is the first multi-state PFAS monitoring campaign using citizen scientists in private wells. The integrated modeling, testing, risk assessment, and risk communication approach is expected to substantially improve predictions about PFAS risks in well water and facilitate more informed risk management decisions. She recently completed a U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute for Food and Agriculture Grant in partnership with Duke University to characterize the potential human health and crop health risks associated with the use of oilfield-produced water for crop irrigation. Ms. Redmon is also the Deputy Contract Manager for an Environmental Protection Agency risk assessment contract. From 2011 to 2015, she managed the national coal ash health and environmental risk assessment that formed the scientific basis for federal regulatory rulemaking. She also is co-leading RTI’s efforts to identify risk factors associated with chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology and is a technical lead for two Multi-Site CDC Grants on PFAS.

A skilled technical communicator, Ms. Redmon can synthesize findings into the right voice for the right audience, and she works effectively with external collaborators, clients, and stakeholders. Prior to joining RTI in 2011, she managed multimillion-dollar projects including   environmental investigations, assessment, remediation, risk management, water resource management, soil and water contamination, vapor intrusion, and expert litigation. Ms. Redmon is also a certified hazardous materials manager.

With increased lead poisoning risk during COVID-19, our award-winning program team can help improve access to quality drinking water in schools, child care centers, and homes nationwide. If you have questions visit our Clean Water for Carolina Kids program. If you have questions about our Clean Water for Georgia Kids grant program, forever chemicals in private well water, healthy homes, or you would like to sign up to receive a test kit directly, please visit our main page.