IN MEMORIAM: RAFE SAGARIN

CAMPUS & COMMUNITY In Memoriam: Rafe Sagarin

Associate Research Scientist, Biosphere 2 Carson Scholars Mentor

By Julia Cole, Chris Cokinos, and Chris Scott, Carson Scholars Mentors

Rafe Sagarin’s passion and commitment to environmental scholarship found expression in many endeavors, including his dedication to the Carson Scholars Program. Over the past several years, Rafe’s vision helped structure and build the program to serve three cohorts of Carson Scholars. Rafe mentored in part by example, as a fearless interdisciplinary scholar who took on challenges in science, policy, communication, and outreach. His accomplished and diverse resume—an author, a congressional aide, an intrepid field scientist, a visionary architect of an ocean in the desert, a husband and father—lent him a special gravitas in working with the Carson students. For both the scholars and for his fellow Carson mentors (ourselves), Rafe embodied what we are trying to impart through this program— exemplary environmental scholarship and engagement that reaches far beyond academia. He showed our students how to tell accurate and compelling stories about science in the world. Beyond his personal example, Rafe built a strong individual rapport with the scholars. In our trainings and workshops, he listened closely and offered wise counsel that recognized and elevated the best in each student. In both group and individual meetings, he provided support, advice, and confidence to these students.

As the program moves into its fifth generation of scholars, we have shared many ideas about how to improve, to grow without losing the personal touch, and to make the program meaningful beyond the single year of training. Rafe believed strongly that the program’s success requires that we continue to engage and support Carson Scholars as they pass through and beyond the UA. A vibrant network of engaged environmental scholars, created through the Carson program, will be one of his enduring legacies. Rafe was killed in May 2015 by a vehicle while he was riding his bicycle. He and his influence will be deeply missed.

WWW.UANEWS.ORG/STORY/REMEMBERING-RAFE-FROM-TIDEPOOLS-TO-THE-STARS

RAFE AND HIS DAUGHTERS, ELLA AND ROSA, DURING EARTH DAY WEEKEND AT BIOSPHERE 2 IN 2014.