4 minute read
Under the sea
Sienna Jackson/ Roundup
Country western music emanates from unseen speakers, relaxing and warm compared to the cool sterility of the laboratory classroom on Sunday, Sept. 12. It would be out of place in any lab class other than that of Professor Raymond Wells.
“It’s the weekend, we should enjoy ourselves while we’re here,” Wells explained to his class.
In classroom 91008 of the new Center for the Sciences building, a group of around 20 students sit comfortably in their swivel chairs as Wells, wearing a baseball cap and sneakers, prepares for the fourand-a-half hour lecture ahead.
They have a lot to cover in one day, because in Biolgy 11A the class only meets twice. The second meeting will take place on Sept. 26, when they go on a snorkeling expedition to the kelp forests off the coast of Catalina Island.
“Kelp forests for me are like being in a gothic cathedral,” Wells said.
Before the lecture begins, a slim girl with brown hair pulled back in a ponytail walks in with a chilled bottle of Starbucks Frappuccino in one hand, and a bag of cookies from a vending machine in the other.
She hands the snacks to the professor as she passes his desk.
“He’s really great, awesome field classes,” said Meagan Truxal, a 20-year-old undeclared major.
Truxal went on expedition with Wells’ Biology 123 class to Bahia de los Angeles in Mexico this summer. She now assists him under supervised work-study, archiving data collected during expeditions.
“He’s a great teacher, really passionate,” she said.
Wells has taught at Pierce since 1983, when only two marine biology classes were offered. Since then, he has expanded those classes into a full curriculum, the Pierce College Marine Sciences Program, of field and lecture courses, all designed by Wells.
“I’ve got the world’s greatest job,” Wells said. “I love what I teach. I design all my courses, so if I don’t like something about the course I can only blame myself.”
Even the new classroom is his brainchild, inspired by the architecture of the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro, where Wells and his family live.
It’s an historical village on the tip of Palos Verdes Peninsula right on the water.
From there, Wells can see the dark silhouette of Catalina from his home, rising out of the sea, shrouded in mist on cold mornings.
But for nearly four years, Wells lived and worked on that island, studying the kelp forests for his Ph.D. in Biological Science, from the University of Southern California and Catalina Marine Science Center.
“I used to look out from Catalina to San Pedro and wish I could order a pizza,” Wells said.
Wells has returned regularly to the kelp forests of Catalina with his field class. Before a lecture on kelp forest ecology began, Wells had to get one thing out of the way.
“We’re going to play the Name Game,” Wells said to the class.
One by one, Wells had the students in the classroom state their name, along with the names of all the others who introduced themselves beforehand.
“It’s very useful to know someone’s name when you say ‘watch out!’” he said.
By the end of the day, the students were chatting amicably with each other, shaking hands and joking, excited for the trip ahead.
“It’s the nature of field classes, and I try to nurture that,” Wells said. “I know of two or three marriages that have come out of these classes.”
Wells keeps in touch with many of his students. Some have repeatedly taken classes with him just for the fun of it.
“I sat in on one of his classes, and I was inspired to change my major,” Jorge Sandoval said, a 24-year-old English major. “Wouldn’t you want to get paid to scuba dive, look at the ocean? It’s more intriguing to me. I’m looking forward to all the trips this guy offers.”
For a professor who had originally been in a pre-vet program at California State University, Northridge, Wells has ended up right where he wants to be.
When asked whether he’s still excited to be returning to Catalina’s kelp forests, Wells replied, “I always am.”
