Hi, I’m Jill Bartolotta. I work for Ohio Sea Grant College Program and I am an educator for them. I live in Willoughby Hills, Ohio. I am about a 20min in drive from the lake. My parents were really active in getting my brother and I involved in the outdoors. From a young age, I got really involved with paddling. It just became my passion. Just being able to go out onto Lake Erie in a kayak or in a canoe just really helped to connect me to the nature environment.

Then as I started taking classes about science, about some of the natural resources issues, I thought this is a great place. We need to protect it, we need to keep it healthy. I think the people who are out there paddling are so connected to the water source that they would be a great group of people to start that education with because they are so aware. Being out on the water is my most important tool for learning. I learn so much about the lake just through paddling and I’m able to share that with the people that I speak to every day. In the summer, I will there almost every day.

I’m ready to go out again even in the winter, I’ll just drive down and walk on the beach. My office is right down the street. If I start feeling restless or get frustrated or stressed I go to the beach because that is my place of calm and relaxation.