Field Notes

September 22, 2021

How Boat Captains enable us to do lake research

Read Time: 1 minute

During the summer of 2021 (as in many previous summers), we relied upon a group of dedicated lake residents to conduct lake sampling: our esteemed Boat Captains!

Boat Captains are Lilly Center volunteers. They take the research team out on the 14 lakes we sample every week during the summer. Many of them are on-call, in case we need extra help getting out on a lake.

“I appreciate our boat captains because they take time out of their days to help us get the data that we need, but it goes beyond just that,” said Jodi, a research team member who has worked at the Lilly Center for nearly four years. “I have never felt more welcomed and loved while I am working. Each boat captain has their own special way of making us feel cared for,” Jodi added. Some captains offer cool drinks on hot days; others bake cookies for the team to enjoy during lunch.

“Our boat captains make sampling 100 percent more fun! I always looked forward to seeing them every week of the summer,” Jodi said.

Thank you to our growing list of go-to captains!

  • Alex Barrett
  • Chuck Brinkman
  • Jack Dabbler
  • John Earnest
  • Larry Emmick
  • Becky Fox
  • Jerry and Cindy Gackenheimer
  • Bill Gordon
  • Tim Hahn
  • Jeff Herdrich
  • David Johnston
  • Omer Kropf
  • Lissa Krull
  • Anne Leuer
  • Pete and Peggy Lieffring
  • Mike and Debbie McCarty
  • Max Mock
  • John O’Neill
  • Mike Wyrick
  • Jerry Rea and Jan Hackleman-Rea
  • Al and Kathryn Schmidt
  • Lon Sloan
  • Jack Sutton
  • Diane Quance
Lilly Center hires former student as full-time research technician

Would you like to become a Boat Captain?

If you live on one of the 14 lakes the team samples, reach out to Jed Harvey to put your name on our list for the summer sampling season.

Contact Jed