Managing the many requests for public tours of FHL has always been a challenge, but several years ago a dedicated volunteer, Rita Pampanin, created an FHL docent program from scratch and has educated and entertained hundreds of visitors with the help of co-collaborator Carolyn Eberhard. They manage the planning and communications as well as organize the volunteers for the tours. They work to constantly update their own knowledge about FHL and have assembled a useful binder of facts. All this effort greatly expands FHL outreach, leading to happy and better-educated visitors from both on and off island.

Best,
Dr. Megan Dethier, FHL Director
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Celebrating Five Years of FHL’s Docent Program

by Rita Pampanin and Carolyn Eberhard

Visitors to Friday Harbor Labs may have noticed two familiar faces in University of Washington caps (and a nudibranch backpack), leading groups through the campus and in and out of the research labs.  We are Rita Pampanin and Carolyn Eberhard, the founders and leaders of FHL’s docent program.

The program began in 2021 when I, Rita, drawing on more than five years of experience as a docent at the UC Bodega Marine Lab in Sonoma County, California, proposed the idea to Megan Dethier shortly after relocating to San Juan Island.  With Megan’s support, I enlisted my friend and colleague, Carolyn Eberhard, and together we established the docent program at FHL.

Over the past five years, we have provided educational tours to a broad and diverse range of visitors, including local schools, scouting organizations, visiting scholars, ecological tour companies, sailing and flying clubs, university donors, and representatives from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.  Our tours cover the history of the campus, an overview of ongoing research, visits to the dock, and hands-on encounters with marine life at the touch tank in the Fernald lab.

Tales from the Tours

Touring with groups, in general, means being a host.  For those who have never been to the Labs, it can be an experience filled with amazement, curiosity, and inspiration.  Most of our tours happen in the summer months, with well-traveled groups such as those from the National Geographic Society, Road Scholars, and high school and university visits from around the PNW.  These groups arrive with certain expectations for a unique experience, and we do our best to ensure they’re met.  We’ve developed relationships with particular FHL research labs that have become essential to that effort.  One of our most requested tours, for example, is the Hodin Lab for their work with Pycnopodia, the sunflower sea star.  With the lab’s sea star recovery program and its recent role in identifying the cause of sea star wasting disease making headlines, groups feel privileged to visit and learn from the team.

Then there are the tidepool tank in the Fernald laboratory, the dock, and lab 3.  Many visitors have never seen the marine animals that are our watery neighbors here on San Juan Island.  The best word for their reaction is “mystified”: by the variety of sea stars, anemones, nudibranchs, urchins, crabs, and a perennial favorite, the sea squirts!  We’re frequently asked whether all the animals are actually local, simply because of how diverse the collection looks. Speaking of diversity, when FHL classes are in session, groups love engaging with the diverse students, who willingly share their projects and their hopes for the future in science.

A recent tour for a Seattle group included a presentation by Dr. Olivia Graham on seagrass in the Salish Sea, a stop at the Hodin sea star lab, and a visit with Dr. Deborah Giles and her whale-poop-sniffing-dog Eba to discuss the Southern Resident orcas.  Suffice it to say, the group was overwhelmed and amazed – we love that.  Then there are the occasions when a casual conversation with a resident researcher like Dr. Charley O’Kelly, Dr. Sandy Wyllie-Echeverria, or Dr. Karly Cohen materializes mid-stroll around campus.  On one recent walk down to the docks to see the critters living on the boat fenders, we came across a team from the SeaDoc Society performing a necropsy on a baby seal.  For the non-squeamish, it was fascinating.  When the R/V Kittiwake docks after a collection trip, it instantly diverts everyone’s attention; whatever we were looking at suddenly can’t compete with the live wonders found in its deck tanks.

One day in 2024, our tour stumbled upon the first-ever prepared release of Pycnopodia sea stars raised in the Hodin lab.  Cameras were flashing, and a Seattle TV news station covered the event live; we love seeing FHL in the news!

In short, like snowflakes, no tour is ever the same and we’re always on the lookout for the uncommon moment that defines FHL as an active marine research laboratory.

We both wish to extend our sincere thanks to the FHL staff and researchers whose generosity and willingness to share their time and expertise have been instrumental in making each tour engaging, informative, and enjoyable.  We’re often told that our docent program is a meaningful part of the FHL community, and look forward to continuing this work for years to come.  If any San Juan Island-based readers are interested in joining the docent program, contact Jodi in the FHL office (jodivy@uw.edu) or Rita directly (ritapampanin@gmail.com).

Finally, this docent team is always looking for new ways to connect the community with the exciting science happening at FHL, and Science Uncorked is one of our proudest creations yet.  With the help of Dr. Deborah Giles and others, we’ve created a series of talks that brings lab scientists out from behind the bench and into a relaxed, informal setting every third Saturday of the month at a venue in town.  At these events, the featured scientist gives a short talk and then neighbors can ask them questions, swap stories, and get to know the people behind the research – over a glass of wine if desired.  Often great science conversations happen outside the lab!  Details for these outreach events can be found at scienceuncorked.com.

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