Donna Ferguson has been the Laboratory Director for Monterey County Public Health Laboratory since May 2016. After receiving a B.S. in Microbiology with honors from California State University, Long Beach in 1986, Donna began her career as a Public Health Microbiologist (PHM) at Orange County Public Health Laboratory (OCPHL). In 1988, she worked at San Diego Public Health Laboratory as a PHM. In 1993, Donna received M.S. in Epidemiology from UCLA and worked at Metropolitan Water District of Southern California on waterborne pathogen detection methods and investigations at drinking water reservoirs. In 2002, she returned to OCPHL to supervise the Water Quality Laboratory and oversee Microbial Source Tracking (MST) related research projects. From 2007 - 2013, she worked as a research microbiologist at Southern California Coastal Water Project on MST studies. In 2009, she received a Lab Aspire fellowship at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and in 2014, Donna graduated with honors with a doctoral degree in Environmental Health Sciences. Her dissertation studies included characterizing Enterococcus species using phenotypic and genotypic methods to assess potential sources of pollution to water and associated human health risks. In 2014, Donna worked at Placer County Public Health Laboratory as the Laboratory Supervisor and Bioterrorism Coordinator. In 2015, she became the Assistant Laboratory Director at Monterey County Public Health Laboratory.

Syreeta Steele, PhD, is the Assistant Director of the San Diego County Public Health Laboratory. Dr. Steele received her Bachelors of Science degree in Microbiology and PhD in Environmental Microbiology from the University of Arizona. Dr. Steele was a recipient of the Association of Public Health Laboratories and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention post-doctoral fellowship from the Emerging Infectious Disease Program. Dr. Steele also participated in the Association of Public Health Laboratories Emerging Leader Program.