Valued partners of Shirley Heinze Land Trust, Kevin & Claudia Wood serve as part of the Volunteer Water Quality Program and as Preserve Stewards of Ambler Flatwoods.
These two LaPorte County residents have contributed vital support to conservation efforts in northwestern Indiana. However, their lifelong dedication to the natural world started long before their time with Shirley Heinze. In fact, it was this passion for the environment that brought them together.
Kevin, born in Alberta, Canada, moved to Montana to attend university there and met Claudia, a LaPorte County native. They bonded over their shared love of nature and environmental work, sharing this experience of their first date:
“Our first significant date was we went to Glacier National Park…at that time, the Bald Eagles migrated through there in the fall,” Kevin said, describing the picturesque scenery at the national park and the majesty of the migrating birds of prey. While studying at the University of Montana, they bonded over fond childhood memories in nature.
Claudia was born and raised in the LaPorte, Indiana area. She says, “I actually grew up spending a lot of time outside and grew up on a lake…we just spent a lot of time on the lake, and on the other side of the road was the woods, and so I was always interested in the natural world.”
Kevin mentions, “I grew up in Canada, in southern Alberta, which is prairie, but my family would spend a month every summer in British Columbia at a big lake…we would spend at least a month fishing and playing in the water.”
These moments shaped their joined path into conservation. In their retirement, they’ve turned to Shirley Heinze Land Trust’s Volunteer Water Quality Program to steward the natural world right here in northwestern Indiana. Currently, their efforts span four stream monitoring sites across the region.
When asked how they’ve benefited from the volunteer program, they expressed heartfelt sentiments. Says Claudia, “One of the things that really stands out is the people you meet.” In the last five years, the Woods’ have worked with staff and interns from a variety of disciplines within conservation. Claudia continues, “It’s really cool to find out how many people in the world are pursuing taking care of our environment.”
The Shirley Heinze Land Trust Water Quality Program, started in 2021, is designed to support the conservation of northwestern Indiana’s essential waters. Shirley Heinze Land Trust combines in-house data collection with a robust volunteer program to collect data on sediment and nutrient levels in local waterways. Through water quality monitoring, volunteers like Kevin and Claudia work with Shirley Heinze to collect data that informs land management decisions and conservation priorities across northwestern Indiana’s protected lands.
Claudia had this to say about the importance of the program: “It gets different organizations involved, and it’s definitely a way to…make people know about these conservation organizations, [and] how they can support them.”
For Kevin and Claudia, spending time conserving and bringing awareness to the natural world is a way of life. In Claudia’s own words, “Being out in nature is healthy for people. So, we’re making it possible, and we’re making it known.
To meet Kevin and Claudia and to learn more about water quality and conservation in your community, join our network of volunteers!