Kristin Licko

Ms. Kristin Licko is a native of northern Illinois and obtained her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois. She received her master’s degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology from Michigan State University.
Kristin is a toxicologist with experience in material safety evaluations, human health chemical risk assessments, management, and higher education. For over a decade, she has worked to develop and assess safe human health levels for drinking water contaminants at the Water Quality Association (WQA), a third-party certification body that evaluates drinking water treatment products. At WQA, Kristin manages a diverse team with skills that range from project management to technical product reviews and chemical risk assessment. Within the drinking water treatment industry, she organizes a committee with participants from competing organizations to harmonize drinking water contaminant evaluation criteria and risk assessment approaches and reduce duplication of efforts. In addition, Kristin is a voting member of two Joint Committees that develop and maintain drinking water industry standards: the Joint Committee on Drinking Water Additives – System Components and the Joint Committee on Drinking Water Additives – Treatment Chemicals. In this capacity, she has contributed to efforts that have streamlined information and clarified guidance for the drinking water industry.
Kristin also teaches portions of a graduate-level Food Safety Toxicology course at Michigan State University, covering topics that range from risk communication to individual contaminant case studies. Throughout each semester, she guides students in developing a human health chemical risk assessment, encouraging students to understand and justify a weight of evidence approach to evaluating research.
Kristin has been a member of the Society of Toxicology (SOT) since 2013, participating as a member of the Women in Toxicology (WIT) special interest group and the following specialty sections: Risk Assessment, Regulatory and Safety Evaluation, Food Safety, and Computational Toxicology. In 2016 Kristin was one of the first recipients of the WIT special interest group Celebrating Women in Toxicology award.
From a personal perspective, Kristin immensely appreciates the organizations that gave her the opportunity and stability to overcome homelessness and attend college after fleeing an abusive relationship: Bridge Communities and Families Helping Families.

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