Founder and Board President

Dr. Sherry Mitchell-Bruker has worked as a hydrologist to preserve, protect, and manage water resources for over thirty years. Her career in environmental research, consulting, and management has taken her from Indiana to the Everglades, the Sierra Nevada, and back home to Indiana.

Now retired from the federal government, she continues to share her skills and passion for the aquatic world through teaching and community service. Sherry is happiest when she is outside sailing, kayaking, gardening, hiking, biking, or camping.

Watershed Coordinator

Maggie Sullivan is a professional engineer and an experienced community organizer who holds a degree in Agricultural Engineering from Purdue University. She has worked for over fifteen years in the fields of environmental consulting, local agriculture, and environmental education. Her volunteer service includes over ten years serving as board president of various non-profits, most recently with Bloomingfoods. She enjoys hiking, glamping, creating wildlife habitat, Girl Scouts, and organizing women’s retreats. She can be reached at

EMAIL

Vice President

Cheryl is an archaeologist and research scientist in the Department of Anthropology at IU who specializes in the prehistory and early history of southern Indiana and the Eastern U.S. Since 2013 Cheryl has served as an At-Large Member of the Monroe County Council, with particular interests in public safety, youth enrichment, and economic development — including what the lake offers to residents and visitors for swimming, boating, and fishing. She enjoys gardening, raising dogs, cooking for family and friends, and being with her grandchildren.

Secretary

Keith has enjoyed hiking, biking, kayaking, camping, and swimming in and around Lake Monroe for over 50 years. A retired MCCSC math teacher and former hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, he now spends much of his time volunteering for non-profit organizations in the community. Keith and his wife, Julie, have lived most of their 47 years together in the Lake Monroe watershed.

Treasurer

Joe Ryan taught university economics and then had a career as a USAID Foreign Service Officer before retiring in 2014 to Bloomington, his native place. He now teaches about international economic issues at IU.

His interest in environmental matters was heightened by heading USAID/Peru’s office assisting biodiversity protection in the Peruvian Amazon and adaptation to the loss of Andean glaciers. A former French horn player, Joe enjoys classical music.

Board Member

Kelly is the business owner of Drift Botanicals. Drift produces plant based cleaning formulas in refillable containers with the focus being keeping plastics out of our landfill and our watershed. Moving down to Bloomington from Northern Indiana Kelly has enjoyed the natural beauty of our national forests and lakes for many years. She loves kayaking, hiking and camping with her family. Being an advocate for the Lake Monroe watershed is a role she enjoys greatly and feels a great sense of duty in protecting the natural resources in our community.

Board Member

Christy A. Crandall, PhD, a native Hoosier, grew up in Brown County. She attended Indiana University Bloomington, graduating in 1984 with a B.S. in Geology and an Area Certificate in Environmental Studies from SPEA. Christy received an M.S. in Watershed Sciences at Colorado State University in Fort Collins CO in 1994 and a Ph.D. from Florida A&M University, in 2021. Christy’s forte in hydrology and as an ecological scientist is collecting, analyzing and modeling to protect water quality and identify pollution and other threats. She has worked in the Everglades National Park, the front range of Colorado, and throughout Florida and Georgia. Her employers include the National Park and Weather Services, the U.S. Forest and National Park Service, and the U.S. Geological Survey (20 years) and Florida A&M University. Christy taught environmental and geology classes at Tallahassee Community College. Christy is a part-time science advisor for Conservation Concepts, LLC, an environmental lobbying group in Florida. She has 2 adult sons who live in Florida. She lives with her spouse and their two dogs and cat in her childhood home in Brown County. She is very excited to be on the Board and Science Committee of the Friends of Lake Monroe to contribute to increased water conservation and quality.