Patti Wood 2018 Trailblazer Award Recipient

As part of the nation’s Women’s History Month celebrations, each Nassau County Legislator selects a woman of distinction within their respective districts. These women have all gone above and beyond the norm, whether with regard to volunteerism or within their respective professions, usually both.

"Patti was the perfect choice for this year’s Trailblazer award,” DeRiggi-Whitton said. “She has worked tirelessly for decades advocating for and educating on myriad environmental hazards and solutions.”

Wood co-created the BabySafe Project that educates pregnant woman about potential risks to fetuses from wireless radiation exposure. With Patti’s assistance, Legislator DeRiggi-Whitton’s office drafted legislation requiring that signs be posted throughout all Nassau County buildings informing people about nearby wireless modems (radiation can pass through walls).

Patti was also instrumental in legislation drafted by DeRiggi-Whitton’s office that became law in 2015, which bans the use and sale of snow melt made by fracking waste products. New York City adopted this law almost verbatim.

Wood has prepared environmental education material for the New York State Department of Health and other organizations and is regularly requested at many forums as a guest speaker. She has also received dozens of awards over the past 20 years for her work.

For more information about Ms. Wood’s work and the environmental projects with which she and husband Doug are involved, visit grassrootsinfo.org.

(In photo) 2018 Nassau County Trailblazer Award recipient Patti Wood (left) with County Legislator Delia DeRiggi-Whitton during the March 12 awards ceremony.