Page 11 - profiles 2019 working copy containing all bios as of Feb 20 final version

reffective. The most important recommendation proposed organizing the
computer workstations into large offices where they would be used 6 to 8

hours a day. The implementation of study recommendations, which included
using the computer workstations 6 to 8 hours a day, combined with their
marginally improved productivity (10-15 percent), made their use much more

cost-effective and saved the Department of Commerce a lot of money.

My study also resulted in three articles, which were published in office
management journals.

I also worked at the Department of Agriculture and, as a Senior Program
Analyst on the Program Evaluation Staff, I was asked to conduct a study of

the Gypsy Moth Program. The Department of Agriculture had a program to
slow and limit the spread of gypsy moth infestations as they migrated from the
forests and woods of northeastern United States (New England and the Middle

Atlantic states) to the south and west down the Appalachians to the South and
Mid-West. Gypsy moths eat the leaves on hardwood trees and this results in
trees dying.

The spread of gypsy moth infestations was controlled primarily by two
methods: (1) spraying with a substance that killed the moth and (2) by
inspecting and regulating the movement of people’s outdoor household
furniture when they moved / migrated from a location that was infested to one

that was not.

My study team compared the effectiveness of methods 1 and 2. Method 1,

spraying, was much more effective than Method 2, regulating outdoor
household furniture. Our study team report recommended that Method 1 be
continued, but that Method 2 be stopped.

The study team report was submitted to Congress and the recommendations
were implemented by the Department. The Gypsy Moth Program became

much more cost-effective, saving the Department of Agriculture money.

I am Patricia W. Viets, a Federal retiree and a Veteran of the United States
Air Force. In 2003, I retired from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration (NOAA) in Suitland, Maryland, where I was a Public Affairs
Officer. NOAA is an agency in the Department of Commerce. I managed a
public affairs program for NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data,

and Information Service, which operates the nation’s environmental satellites

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