Wheaton College Alumni Magazine Winter 2014 | Page 14

s t i ng t h e W a t e r s
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After three days snorkeling over seagrass beds and coral reefs off the
coast of Belize—and sighting spotted eagle rays, squid, and barracuda—
Dr. Ray Lewis’ marine biology students were ready for an in-ocean quiz.
This meant locating more than 30 different fish, invertebrates, algae, and
plants so the 19 students could swim by each organism, noting their
identification on plastic slates.
“They all remarked afterward that this was one of the most amazing
and unique tests they had taken,” says Dr. Lewis, associate professor
of biology, who co-led the spring break trip with geology professor and
department chair Dr. Stephen Moshier. Biology lab associate Coreen
Ogilvie also accompanied the group, lending special help with the marine
specimens and lab instruction.
In preparation for field study, students learned to snorkel in Wheaton’s
swimming pool and took a marine biology course co-taught by Dr. Nadine
Rorem, professor of biology. The students put their classroom learning
into practice in the Caribbean, breaking into four research groups and
exploring topics that could be addressed by observing organisms in
their environments. The groups investigated fish, conchs, sediments, and
species richness. They presented their findings in April at the Associated
Colleges of the Chicago Area Student Research Symposium.