Erica Pederson was a much loved and truly dedicated member of the DNA Sequencing Facility Team. It is with the greatest sadness that we report that Erica passed away on May 1, 2016, after a brief, but a brave, battle with cancer. She joined the DNA Sequencing Facility in August 2010 and quickly became a force to be reckoned with. She was a conscientious, skillful, and meticulous worker who contributed tremendously to the expansion of the facility’s services and instrumentation as well as to creation of our training manual and the updating of our SOP. She helped organize numerous seminars and workshops and acted as the record keeper of all the events for the facility. She was always eager to learn and gain new knowledge and skills and loved to talk about new technologies and gadgets.
At personal level, Erica was a wonderful, warm and compassionate person who cared about the well being of everybody around her, including her four-legged friends. She was always very patient, treated everybody with the utmost respect and nurtured numerous undergraduate students and new staff members.
We all miss her dearly,
Hitomi Asahara and the DNA Sequencing Facility Team
Individual remembrances:
Erica was thoroughly professional and always thoughtful. I will miss her as a co-worker tremendously. —Millicent
Erica was a great person and was always at the center of everything we do. She will be missed by all of us. She is on our thoughts everyday. —Brian
Erica was consistently respectful and encouraging toward myself, and everyone, both professionally and personally. Her gift to me is the belief that the two can coexist. I will deeply miss her. —Dorothy
Erica was always a great role model for me ever since I first joined the facility as an undergrad. She was kind and patient to everybody. She was always here to answer questions from students. She was hard working and constantly acquired new knowledge and skills to make our facility better. She will always be in my heart. —Raechel
Erica was a nice lady and always smiled. She worked very hard and was very knowledgeable in our professional field. I learned much from her and will truly miss her. —Pingping
The short time I have spent with Erica has been priceless. I will always be grateful for all her help and support and everything she taught me. Erica was an amazing and unforgettable person with a great heart. —Kami
I have never seen Erica without a smile on her face. She was so dedicated and so patient while helping me in the lab. I will truly miss her. —Faris
Erica was one of the kindest, most patient and wonderful people I have ever had the honor of meeting. She never failed to make me feel welcomed into the facility. She was also a great teacher and mentor and I will always remember her. —Nisha
Erica was one of the most knowledgeable, passionate, kind-hearted, cheerful and jovial person I have ever known. She was super patient and she taught me all about DNA sequencing. She has been one of the greatest and will stay alive in my memory forever. She will be truly missed. I love her forever. —Shadi
Erica was a kind, patient, and friendly person who helped teach me when I first joined. She came in with smiles and was always happy and ready to help show me how to do things. She was a great person to be around and will be missed. —Cameron
Erica was a lovely and kind friend and colleague to all of us. She was collaborative, intelligent and patient and will be missed greatly at Berkeley. —UCB Cell Culture Facility