Candice Kucera has learned a lot about water and wastewater treatment in just four years with the city of Cedar Rapids. Now as a lab services water quality analyst, she shares her passion and knowledge and to help others appreciate water quality the way she does.

“I enjoy teaching everybody about water,” she says. “Where their source water comes from, what happens to the water they flush down the toilet. And I really want to show young people how they can get into the profession.” Her dedication to clean water was recognized with the 2024 Laboratory Excellence Award from the Iowa Water Environment Association.

“Candice takes pride in her work,” says April Lam, utilities lab supervisor. “She enhances the lab team’s communication and the flow of everyday work. Her dedication and hard work are exhibited as her team turns to her for answers to questions. There’s always a smile on her face, and she’s very easy to work with.”

Early Direction

Kucera grew up in Solon, a farming community not far from Cedar Rapids. She got interested in lab work through high school courses, then earned bachelor’s degrees in earth science and environmental science from the University of Northern Iowa.

At the university, she served as a water research lab assistant, collecting and analyzing monthly water samples from nearby Dry Run Creek. She managed samples and data results and worked to keep the lab clean, organized and efficient.

She also received a U.S. Department of Agriculture-Natural Resource Conservation Society internship in Waterloo, where she collaborated with landowners to implement conservation reserve programs and control invasive species.

She learned about strip farming, saturated buffers and cover crops as ways to mitigate farm runoff. She also collected water samples and used Excel and ArcMap programs to estimate the costs and select locations for CRP contracts.

After graduation, Kucera worked as a lab technician in Ames, focusing on soil samples for pH, organic content and nitrate-nitrogen. Meanwhile, she completed OSHA hazard communication and personal protection equipment training.

Both Sides of the Fence

Then, with some of her extended family living in Utah, she moved to the Salt Lake area and worked as a quality-control analyst in a microbiology lab. She returned to Iowa to take a position with the state hygienic laboratory in Coralville. It was there she met Lam, who was dropping off samples.

Not long after, she joined the Cedar Rapids team. “I’d had a hard time finding a position starting out,” Kucera says. “This job was as close to my field as I could find.” In her current position, she handles water analysis at the wastewater and drinking water treatment facilities.

The water pollution control facility includes primary, secondary and tertiary treatment and is one of the few advanced treatment facilities in the state. It has won a number of Gold Peak Performance Awards from the National Association of Clean Water Agencies for permit compliance.

On the drinking water side, the city uses a multistep treatment process and UV disinfection to provide clean water to about 72,000 customers. For several years, the city has won Iowa’s best-tasting water award. Together, the city’s analytical labs process over 1,000 samples per month.

Quick Learner

Kucera has advanced far in her short time at Cedar Rapids Water. “She has taken strides to improve the laboratory and offers suggestions to increase the efficiency and safety of the work environment in the field,” Lam observes.

“She’s responsible for updating our standards and improving our QA/QC procedures. She has gone above and beyond to learn about our ion chromatography machine and the functionality of the complex equipment.”

As a primary analyst, Kucera works with six other lab analysts. Her critical thinking, independent work ethic and ability to troubleshoot draw high marks from her colleagues. “Her dedication in the laboratory is exhibited as her team turns to her for answers to questions,” Lam says. “In turn, any questions she has, she treats as learning opportunities that she’ll apply the next time she runs into the same issue.”

Lam adds that Kucera helps her teammates if they fall behind on tasks and goes above and beyond to keep the laboratory in good standing: “Other departments enjoy working with her, and she serves the community well in all different levels. Her internal and external customer service is excellent. She’s really great in training others.”

Award Winner

Kucera received her award at the annual Iowa WEA conference last June — a meeting where she learned a lot. She wasn’t expecting to be recognized, “But as they read off the qualifications and accomplishments, I realized it was me!”

In a relatively male-dominated profession, she’s proud to be one of several women who now hold important positions. “I love the team I work with,” she says. “And I love the opportunity to learn about other departments within the city. We’re building on the city’s values.

“Everyone’s willing to jump in and help. That’s huge.”

When not analyzing samples, Kucera gets outdoors as often as possible, enjoying the environment she helps protect: “I love camping, hiking and kayaking.” Beyond that, she and her fiancée are busy renovating their home.

But still her first love is education and transferring her appreciation for sustainability and the water environment to others inside and outside her organization. She is eager to have visitors tour the lab.

“I want to let others know the importance of our lab,” she says. “It’s encouraging when we have kids and young adults stop by and learn about our programs. I enjoy talking with them. We’re just a small part of the process but we play an important role in our community.”

When asked where she’d like to be five years from now, Kucera says she wants to continue working on clean water resources, sustainability and environmentally friendly projects like runoff mitigation. Whatever she does, it’s a safe bet she’ll still be focused on education: “Helping everybody understand how important our environment is.”