Neal Banaszak
Neal joined EEOB in 2014 as the Aquatic Ecology Laboratory (AEL) boat captain.
He earned his boat license credentials while working at Stone Laboratory during and after completion of his undergraduate degree in Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife at OSU in the School of Natural Resources and Environment. After college, Neal garnered various skills that have made him an invaluable member of the AEL research team, including spending time as a U-Haul mechanic. His skills enable him to not only captain Lake Erie research vessels, but also to create bespoke field gear as needed, repair broken gear and equipment, and support day to day laboratory operations. Neal is also skilled at sample processing which allows him to spend winter processing fish and invertebrate samples collected during the field seasons.
Neal is friendly and kind to all who work with him and is adept at training new folks on how to work on the boat (including strictly enforcing the no-bananas-on-boats rule!). He is an integral part of the relationship between AEL and our partners in the Division of Wildlife. EEOB is fortunate to have such a reliable, hard-working team member!