Fleet Captain Jessica Odell

Your Commanding Officer aboard the Caroline is Fleet Captain Jessica Odell (they/them)

Hi and welcome! I relocated here to the Isles back in 2006 and have settled in nicely.

I was excited to find a nice Star Trek club to share my geekiness. Somehow I landed the job of being in charge, but that’s ok as I have a great team of people helping out!

A little about me, I suppose. I grew up on both Star Trek and Star Wars and was very excited as a teenager when The Next Generation began. A whole new era of Trek for me to enjoy with my family.

I was fortunate to have Trekkie parents who took us to the movies when we were kids. My favourite thing about Star Trek is the adventure and the problem solving, and I love all of the new shows. Yes, all of them! (Especially Nu-Trek)!

Captain Dawn Lennox

Your Executive Officer is Captain Dawn Lennox (she/her)

Hi, I’m Dawn, Chief Medical Officer of the ship, and now also the First Officer of the Caroline.

I have been a Star Trek fan from a young age, watching the TOS episode Devil In The Dark on a 5-inch black & white television started my appreciation of the show.

When the next generation started, I watched with anticipation every week.  It was during this time that I found other fans and a local club, the USS Destiny, to watch DS9 and Voyager with.

Nowadays, I am an active member of the Caroline, giving support from its humble beginning, at conventions by manning tables, and attending social functions with the other members.  I have enjoyed using the online courses provided by SFI (as my poor CO gets the notifications when completed).

I see Star Trek as being like ice cream, that everyone has a favourite flavour.  I enjoy all Trek, all varieties, the more the merrier.  Grab a spoon and dig in.

Carol Hamill

Your Second Officer is Commander Carol Hamill (she/her)

Hi I’m Carol,

Commander and Chief Science Officer of the USS Caroline.  I remember finding out about a Star Trek group 9 years ago and attending the first launch party of the USS Caroline and the rest is history.  I’ve made lots of great friends, attended comic cons and lots of amazing away missions (group days out and social meet ups). 

I’ve always loved Original Series Star Trek and the movies since my teens and then discovered Next Generation a little bit later and I continued watching the rest of the series and I really enjoy them all right up to the new series.

I also enjoy horror, comedy and most sci fi, Stargate, Battlestar Galactica and Babylon 5.

Dermot Canniffe

Dermot became an engineer overnight late in 2001 and hasn’t been able to wangle his way out of it yet. He eventually came to realise he liked it.

All the really important stuff he needed to learn in life he learned from Picard. 

He lives in the West of Ireland.

John Snelling

Hi – my name is John Snelling. I’m 61 years old and have been a life-long Star Trek fan. 

I remember collecting button badges of the TOS crew that were being given away in boxes of cereal, when I was a child.

There wasn’t a great deal of Star Trek content available at that time – I remember subscribing to a fanzine run by Janet Quarton, who was a personal friend of Gene Roddenberry, and who is attributed with inspiring Gene to name his TNG master nemesis character as “Q”. This fanzine was published quarterly and when it dropped through my letterbox it was ‘devoured’ cover to cover, such was my appetite for ‘Trek’ material. I’d a great friend at Uni who lent me his Star Trek photo novels; I stayed up all night reading them all – cover to cover!

I saw every Star Trek movie on the night it opened at the cinema, except for Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country, because my father died that day. I purposely avoided seeing that movie until I could see it in the cinema and finally saw it on the big screen in the QFT in Belfast as part of a 6-movie marathon. 

Somewhere in the midst of these along came Star Trek TNG. I remember being outraged that they’d ‘stolen’ the theme music from TOS – but the more I watched it, the more I enjoyed it. There were some cracking episodes – and some stinkers too – but then along came “Best of Both Worlds” broadcast on BBC2 (before we had DVDs or streaming). I remember being utterly enthralled waiting for the outcome of the cliffhanger!

I remember there was a Star Trek fan group based out of the Craigavon area – I can’t remember the name tbh – but we got together and organised I suppose what could be referred to as a mini-con at a local hotel and had a good crowd along and we had a couple of media interviews too. 

I met George Takei and Gates McFadden at two different conventions in Ireland, one in Malahide, the other in Bray. 

The years rolled on by and along came DS9, Voyager and Enterprise – and more recently Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, Prodigy and Strange New Worlds. 

I was utterly unaware of the existence of STARFLEET online, in social media, until a friend of mine, Jonathan Fisher, posted that he’d joined the USS Caroline. I just ‘had’ to find out more!

And that’s how I came to join the crew of the USS Caroline. 

Shortly before I joined Starfleet I had the good fortune to visit the Smithsonian in Washington DC and I still take pleasure in seeing my picture taken beside the actual USS Enterprise NCC-1701 that is on display there. 

Whilst wishing I could retire, I’ve not quite managed it – yet! – but my current work schedule clashes with many of the Caroline’s social activities; but one day I hope to get together with my crew mates in person!

And that’s me; counting my blessings to have had a rewarding and mostly enjoyable life so far and hope to continue in the same manner for as many years in the future, as God spares me. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this far and in the words of that classic Star Trek blessing, “Live Long and Prosper!”