Lake Michigan draws innumerable tourists to Northwest Indiana every year; but in Brad Bumgardner, it attracted a permanent resident.
Bumgardner is the interpretive naturalist at Indiana Dunes State Park along the Porter County shoreline. He's a lifelong Hoosier, an avid birdwatcher and one of Lake Michigan's biggest fans.
"Lake Michigan is a huge draw," Bumgardner said. "It's so many things in one. It's a recreational resource, industry resource, and natural resource. It contains cultural history and shipwrecks. It influences our climate and our way of life. There are so many stories wrapped into one body of water. You can't find that on any inland lake."
Bumgardner took the job in 2007 after a stint at Pokagon State Park. He is the face of the park, interacting with visitors and running the park's social media accounts. His day-to-day duties cover nearly every aspect the park has to offer, including planning school field trips, staffing the interactive nature center, leading interpretive hikes and, of course, answering emails.
"As the park interpretive naturalist, we are often the frontline folks that people see in the park," Bumgardner said. "We seek to educate and inspire our audience in the natural and cultural resources held within the park. This spreads into many aspects of park operation and includes resource management and our volunteer activities as well."
Bumgardner got interested in nature as a child, camping with his parents. The family would travel around Indiana and the Great Lakes, exploring various state parks and the treasures within.
Even now, working full-time at Dunes State Park, Bumgardner finds himself spending most of his free time outdoors, taking advantage of the region's renowned bird-watching opportunities and finding new spots to pitch his tent.
Having made a career of exploring and studying the best natural attractions Indiana has to offer, Bumgardner is still grateful for his upbringing and the values his parents instilled in him on all those camping trips.
"We were instilled a sense of place with these natural areas and a respect to want to conserve and protect them for the future," Bumgardner closed.