Carolyn Lambert, captain and visionary for the LifeBoat project, moved to Pittsburgh in 2002. Inspired by the City of Three Rivers, she began to dream about a life on the river. In her studio, the LifeBoat Project was conceived as Carolyn transformed empty yogurt containers and masking tape into a series of little houseboat models. She imagined living aboard these tiny vessels, hearing fish jump out of the water and taking a swim simply by opening the houseboat door. That impulse became the energy for this project: creating a space for dialogue on the Ohio River. Lauren F. Adams grew up on a pig farm in rural Snow Hill, North Carolina, where she enjoyed playing hide and seek with her older sister in the cornfields. Perhaps this is why she spends time in Pittsburgh, PA., pursuing her Master of Fine Arts studies at Carnegie Mellon University by drawing meat cuts and reading Mary Douglas' Purity and Danger. When not running through rows of vegetables, Lauren writes lines o' code (view her website at www.lfadams.com) and organizes braids of hair. Travis Anderson is currently an itinerant carpenter who lives in New York City. A design consultant and fabricator for the LifeBoat while he still lived in the Burgh, and he will be moving again soon to attend a Master's program in Architecture University of Washington. Besides boats and hammers, Travis enjoys cycling throughout city neighborhoods and trys to survive in New York as a Red Sox fan. Mark Bernard designed and wired the solar electrical system for LifeBoat as well as assisted in the reconstruction of the boat. He has been offering technical and creative assistance to artists since he was a teenager, with mechanical engineering, sound, video and programming skills. Among many projects, he developed a realtime musical performance / composition system (a precursor to the Max programming language) for avant-garde musician Richard Teitelbaum, and has designed and fabricated a multitude of industrial robots. His present income is derived from developing ecommerce web sites through his business in Rosendale, NY. http://www.embernet.com Robin Hewlett will be the first mate from August 13th to August 27th. She is an artist whose favorite media include places, stories and time. Robin has been away for ten months from the States and it will be a full year away by the time she joins the LifeBoat. Much of her time has been spent teaching art and working with Human Rights organizers in a small town along the Thai-Burma border. After her time in the on the Ohio, Robin will return to the origin of that mighty river--her beloved hometown of Pittsburgh, PA! Tim Kaulen collaborated on the design of the bimini's rain walls. A key motivation in his art practice is learning from people and their communities. He is inspired by the numerous elements that make up the character of a region, particularly those in Pittsburgh, where his interest in the urban landscape has been nurtured for over eighteen years. By building with recycled materials in carefully chosen environments, the resulting work embodies historical residue and becomes a new social element in the urban landscape. To see Tim's sculptures check out http://www.kaulen-art.com/ Jennie Keinard, our in-house design intern, signed onto this venture out of her love €for the water cycle, life jackets, potluck dinners, The Life Aquatic, and the color blue. She graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in fine art and psychology, and plans to work in the graphic design field. She will continue to create her own artwork and works in the Baltimore area. check out her website at: http://andrew.cmu.edu/user/jkeinard/index.html Thomas Sean Kelleher collaborated on the design of the galley and spearheaded its fabrication. He is a recent graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and an architect with Desmone and Associates in Pittsburgh. With a healthy respect for sustainable design, Tom brought his knowledge of boating interiors and lightweight materials to the collaboration. In his spare time Tom enjoys working on the restoration of his 1956 sailboat and on expanding his photographic portfolio. Jen Kramer, the #1, I'll-do-anything-and-everything-for-the-Lifeboat person, divides her non-LifeBoat time between online customer service and gardening. If you need to know anything about queer punk rock from the Pacific Northwest, circa 1995, Jen's your gal. She began working on the LifeBoat project in February 2005 when it was in its formative stages, and has done everything from carpentry, to stuffing envelopes, to sound editing. She is planning a fruit tree farm in the abandoned lot across from her new house, and then she'll be asking for some help. Jeff Maki is the webmonkey for the LifeBoat Project. Formally educated as an information technology professional in a liberal arts context, his work continues to exist in the arts, centered around technical and social systems. Tools and experience range from computer programming to spatial data analysis; photography to ethnography. He has an unhealthy desire to learn more about systems of any kind--even ones "terrorists" like to learn about--the electrical grid, the air traffic control system and the like. http://www.webopticon.org Theresa Mangold, our research and grant-writing intern, is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in English at Duquesne University. She jumped at the opportunity to join the LifeBoat team because she feels that it is a great chance to involve her skills as a writer and editor in a fun and meaningful project. Until her best-selling novel/screenplay hits the bookshelves/theaters, she hopes to put her writing and research skills to work in a professional environment, either as a copywriter or editor. Marisa Manheim will be the first mate during the month of September. She is an aspiring ethnographer and woman-about-town. She lives for adventure and interesting human interaction and Carolyn has promised her both. She is looking forward to to experiencing the life of a river rat and the meeting the communities along the Ohio river. Siobhan Rigg will be first mate on the LifeBoat from the 12th to the 24th of July. Siobhan Rigg is an interdisciplinary artist living in Washington, DC. Much of her work is public and situation or site specific. Her work in video, sound,performance, and web-based media explores local relationships through experimental forays between personal conversations, and recycled literary, documentary, and media materials. www.sarigg.net Malkah Spivak-Birndorf loves summer, water, and the midwest. she lives in pittsburgh and teaches biology and environmental science to kids who are deaf and hard of hearing. in her spare time she engages in conversations in either english or american sign language.