The success of our study depends critically upon the contributions of field assistants, who learn field research methods while making observations and measurements of loons upon which many of our findings are based. This tireless crew awakens at 4 a.m. each morning and visits 5-6 territories, verifying identities of territory owners and intruders alike by their color bands. They also track reproductive activity of breeding pairs. In the past, some student assistants have conducted field projects that have helped shape goals of the larger project, uncovered new patterns of loon behavior, and sometimes become research papers published in scientific journals.