San Rafael Swell 
Megan Barnes, a chemist in Ultradent’s Quality Control lab for the past 21 years, loves to travel and explore. In fact, she says she spends more weekends on the road visiting a new site or exploring a new national park than she is actually home.

Megan Barnes 

She’s also traveled all over the world, exploring the pyramids of Egypt, the rich history of Athens, Greece, and many other exotic locales. 
Egypt and Greece 

She has a goal to see all of America’s 59 national parks. She’s already checked 42 of them off her list, and will visit eight more this next summer with her brother in Alaska.

 

However, despite having gone coast to coast in search of America’s most breathtaking vistas, Megan says Utah and all it has to offer is still her favorite place to be in the whole world.

 

Of the photo Megan took last year at the San Rafael Swell that appears in Ultradent’s November 2016 calendar, Megan says, “The San Rafael Swell—located just southeast of Price, Utah, is an area I love to visit. It’s got a spot called The Wedge—nicknamed Utah’s Little Grand Canyon, and if you hike down through the swell there are dinosaur prints and a lot of Native American petroglyphs and pictographs.” She continues, “I took the calendar photo down by a river near where we were exploring. Nearby, there’s an old Civilian Conservation Corp swinging bridge that was built during the Great Depression as part of The New Deal to get young men jobs and it’s just really neat. I just find desert landscapes to be gorgeous and the colors we have specifically in Utah are incredible.”

Megan says she ended up applying to Ultradent​ simply because it was “close to home,” and since then it has become somewhat of a second home to her, in her beloved state of Utah.

“I love the company and its family feel. I’ve gone through some tough times while working here …I lost my mom to breast cancer five years ago, and everyone was so very very supportive. They were there for anything I needed and Dr. Fischer always led by example and has been a key part of the Ultradent experience. That’s why I’ve stayed here for so long.”

She adds, “The first time I met Dr. Fischer, he learned my name right away and has never ever forgotten it. At a company this large, that really means something, and that kind of care motivates you to want to do a good job for him.”

Of her job, she says she loves the hands-on element of chemistry that she practices and works with every day. “It’s almost like getting to play with your chemistry set to a certain extent. The people I work with are also so fun.” She continues with a laugh, “We’re an odd breed but when you get us together we have a blast!”

When she’s not at work, Megan, of course, has a passion for traveling. She also loves spending time with her family, her nieces and nephews, and helping to keep fun, happy memories alive since her mother passed.

 

“The first Thanksgiving that my mom was gone, we were all so depressed, so we decided to make every Thanksgiving after that a themed Thanksgiving. One year we did Sci-Fi, this year we’re doing a British theme. It’s so much fun!” she says with smile.

Ultradent​ is lucky to have such an intelligent, caring, fun person on our team. Here’s to 21 amazing years, and hopefully, to many more. ​Thank you for all you do, Megan.