Staff Spotlight: Lynn Mulkeen — Environmental Monitoring and Community Support
Across Cape Cod, much of the work that protects our environment and supports community well-being happens quietly behind the scenes. Lynn Mulkeen’s role is a vivid example of this — a position that bridges environmental field science and human services, covering ground from Provincetown to Bourne and from landfill perimeters to living rooms.
As lead staff for the Landfill Monitoring Program, Lynn oversees the ongoing surveillance of groundwater, surface water, and soil gas levels at landfill sites throughout Barnstable County. The work is physical and hands-on: measuring water levels in wells, purging them by pump or by hand to ensure sampling accuracy, collecting samples for lab analysis, and using field meters to track methane and oxygen levels at perimeter monitoring points. Each town presents its own combination of site conditions, well configurations, and parameters — and several hundred samples are collected every year.
Lynn is also the principal contact for the Cape Cod Hoarding Resource Network, a role she stepped into more than a decade ago after attending what was then the Cape Cod Hoarding Task Force training. Today, the program provides guidance to municipalities navigating cases involving residents with hoarding challenges, as well as direct support to individuals and families seeking help. Lynn conducts home assessments, develops plans, and works alongside residents through the difficult process of sorting and discarding — building cooperative agreements between tenants and landlords or housing authorities to help people maintain stable housing.
Education and community training have become an increasing focus. Lynn facilitates Buried in Treasures, a multi-week peer-supported workshop for people working to manage clutter challenges, and has trained additional facilitators to expand access to the program. The Network also offers “Friends and Family” workshops to help loved ones better understand and respond to hoarding behaviors.
It’s a role that requires scientific precision and deep human compassion in equal measure — and Lynn brings both to every well site and every home visit.
