From sample collection to data reporting to summer camp instruction, Miles Hagedorn’s hard work has made an impact on better understanding the drivers of water quality in the Belgrade Lakes watershed.

Impact

Miles concluded his Assistant Lake Scientist position with 7 Lakes Alliance at the end of December 2025.  Over the past year and a half, Miles was instrumental in conducting fieldwork, such as collecting water and sediment samples.  Miles’s contributions this past year were a part of a massive effort that saw over 200 lake site visits resulting in more 2,500 water samples.  Sample records track physical, chemical and biological data that are essential to protecting the lakes and streams of the Belgrade watershed.

Dr. Danielle Wain, 7 Lakes Alliance Lake Science Director shared, “I have really appreciated Miles’s positive attitude and willingness to do whatever work needs to be done.”

In the summer of 2025, Miles was entrusted with helping guide Colby College summer research students – a role he filled quite reliably according to 7 Lakes Alliance Lake Scientist Matt Farragher.  Miles also excelled at less glamorous tasks like trudging through streams and culverts and hauling canoes into the woods for remote pond sampling and sediment collecting activities.

Next Steps

Miles, a 2025 Bates College graduate with a degree in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Ecology, plans to continue his career in conservation and is actively pursuing biological fieldwork.

About the 7 Lakes Alliance Lake Science Program

To better understand the drivers of water quality in the Belgrade watershed, the 7 Lakes Alliance, in association with Colby College and surrounding lake associations, conducts water quality monitoring on all seven of the Belgrade Lakes.

Under the supervision of our Lake Science Director, Dr. Danielle Wain, and lake scientist, Matt Farragher, Colby students, 7 Lakes Alliance staff, and volunteers routinely measure temperature and oxygen profiles, Secchi disk depth, and algal species composition (using a FlowCam) to assess the quality of the lakes.