Public health champion: Biologist Franco Mariotti honoured

The Sudbury and District Health Unit has presented Franco Mariotti with its inaugural Public Health Champion Award.

Mariotti, a biologist and retired staff scientist at Science North, is a shining example of a public health champion, a press release said.

A lifelong resident of Sudbury, Mariotti has devoted countless hours to promoting and protecting environmental initiatives.

“Today we recognized a true champion for his passionate contributions and accomplishments toward environmental health,” said Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, Sudbury and District Medical Officer of Health.

“We are very fortunate to have environmental health advocates like Franco in our community.”

The selection was based on demonstrated achievements toward positive public health in the areas of environmental health in the categories of leadership, collaboration, innovation, and creating opportunities for change.

Mariotti’s community involvement includes working on the Sudbury Soils Study, taking part in the Healing the Landscape planning and steering committee, EarthCare Sudbury Advisory Panel, and many other worthy initiatives. He is also a founding member and co-chair of the Junction Creek Stewardship Committee.

“Being recognized as the first Public Health Champion is truly an honour,” said Mariotti, in a press release. “No one person is able to achieve the level of improvements that have occurred in our community over the recent decades without having the meaningful engagement and collaboration of many dedicated supporters.”

The award recognizes one individual or one organization that has made outstanding contributions toward promoting and protecting public health in the Sudbury and Manitoulin districts.

For the inaugural year of this award, the health unit chose to recognize an individual or organization working within the realm of environmental health.

Many health unit staff work to promote and prevent disease in several environmental health program areas, including safe water, food safety and prevention of infectious diseases.