MSU Master's Program Provides Vital Opportunities for Three Water Quality Association Colleagues

Kristin Kerstens, Michael Spiering, and Lesley Stolp work at the Water Quality Association (WQA) in suburban Chicago. But that’s not all they have in common.

In something of a Spartan fraternity, the three have either earned, or are in the process earning, their master’s degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology from the Michigan State University.

The link began simply enough when Kerstens, who earned her master’s degree in Pharmacology and Toxicology in 2018, suggested to Spiering, who had been working at WQA for more than a year, that he consider bolstering his career with a master’s and, well, Michigan State might be the answer.

Later, Stolp, already a well-respected mid-career chemist at the WQA, was looking for a new challenge. Conversations with Kerstens and Spiering convinced her as well that a master’s degree from MSU was an interesting direction.

Today, Kerstens is the WQA’s director of toxicology. She recently promoted Spiering to be the toxicology manager and refers to him as her “right-hand man.” Stolp is a senior analytical chemist who, in simple terms, analyzes the research done by Kerstens, Spiering, and other members of the department.

At WQA, she coordinates a group of evaluators who assign testing for products brought to them by manufacturers to make sure the products do not contribute chemicals to finished drinking water at concentrations that could cause adverse health effects. One of her evaluators is Spiering, and as a senior analytical chemist, it is Stolp’s job to analyze and report back on what chemicals are found in extraction testing.

All three have enjoyed the benefits of the MSU program.

“I loved it,” Kerstens said. “The MSU program was a good mix of really innovative professors who use technology and set up their lectures to be flexible for working individuals.”

She enjoyed it so much she has pursued her own career in online education, teaching courses in food safety toxicology, and convinced Spiering to enroll in the master’s program, from which he graduated in 2022.

“It kind of evolved,” Spiering said. “I have a specific memory from when I started at WQA that I never wanted to go back to school. But after a year or two, I came around to the point that continuing my education was probably for the best. The MSU program really gave me a foundation I didn’t have. I was piecemealing together a self-education in toxicology from various resources but when I went through the MSU program, that was when I really understood the science as a whole.”

Stolp is now in her second year of the program and has already seen what it can mean for her.

“When Michael and Kristin were telling me about the program, I was like, ‘Wow, I’ll have a complete understanding of (toxicology),’” she said. “It’s been a long time since I was in school (she graduated summa cum laude with a degree in biology in 2003), and since my son is almost done with high school, I thought this is a great time to go back and look into pursuing something I always wanted.”

All three work in the Product Certification Program at the WQA in Lisle, Ill. The WQA is a non-profit association for the residential, commercial, and industrial water treatment industry and represents more than 2,500 member companies worldwide.

Their mandate is to ensure that the products produced by these companies – which includes everything from refrigerator water pitchers to the coating on water pipes – are thoroughly tested for targeted chemicals and are safe for humans.

“Anything that touches drinking water, we test it,” Spiering said. “There’s a lengthy list of chemicals that have been evaluated for drinking water exposure and a threshold established, and that list is constantly growing. When we detect a chemical in product testing that doesn’t have evaluation criteria, we have to conduct a human health chemical risk assessment.”

All three had already been working at the WQA when they decided a master’s degree in the field would benefit them.

“I wanted to do something I was passionate about, and studying the environment was that,” said Kerstens, who was juggling a career and raising two daughters. “I wanted to create a better environment for my daughters.”

She did her capstone project for her bachelor’s program as an intern at WQA, where she was offered a full-time position even before graduation. Each has taken something special from the online program and has included it in their work at the WQA.

“I liked college, and I always wanted to pursue a master’s degree,” Stolp said. “But I wasn’t sure what avenue to pursue. So, when I talked to Kristin and Michael about it, some of the things they were doing (at MSU) piqued my interest. And I already know it’s been beneficial.”

“Toxicology is a field I think I’ll be in the rest of my career,” Spiering said. “I’m constantly learning, and I feel I’m still just scratching the surface. Chemical risk assessment is a puzzle where there’s never the same answer twice.”

“I still feel like a part of the (MSU) community,” Kerstens said. “The structure of this program was so phenomenal, and it was so far ahead of the game compared to other programs.”