When I first walked into Upper School science teacher Graham Hegeman’s classroom during my freshman year, I felt like I had just walked into an aquarium. A year later, that feeling stays the same. Fish tanks are scattered around the large classroom, lining the walls. Giant paper mache fish hang from the ceiling, covering the windows. An interactive “sandbox” lies in the back left corner that shows the process of erosion. Fishing equipment is scattered against the back table, and his room smells faintly of dirt and salt.
Already, Mr. Hegeman seems different from your average science teacher. And if you meet him, I guarantee that you would not guess what tattoo permanently stains Mr. Hegeman’s left forearm. You might guess an inspirational quote or maybe some sort of intricate pattern. And you would be wrong. As his left sleeve rises, you will see a detailed bony stickleback fish patterned across the underbelly of Mr. Hegeman’s arm.
Anyone who knows Mr. Hegeman could easily detail Mr. Hegeman’s love for not only science but also stickleback, a small bony fish that resides mainly in the Atlantic Ocean. I’d always been curious about Mr. Hegeman’s unique passion and couldn’t help but wonder what, or who, sparked this passion, and what makes these seemingly average fish so interesting. So, I took it upon myself to find out, starting at the beginning.
Mr. Hegeman started his scientific journey young, obsessing over dinosaurs. He told me with a chuckle that his favorite book when he was really little was an atlas of where you find different animals in the world. He loved hiking, canoeing, kayaking, and frankly, anything involving the outdoors. He was always outside, so it was no shock to him that he would eventually go on to major in biology, specifically ecology, and evolution, earning his bachelor’s and master’s degree at Clark University.
During his time at Clark, Mr. Hegeman mentored under Dr. John Baker, his Biology 101 professor. Mr. Hegeman describes Dr. Baker as a funny, charismatic professor who loved to incorporate stickleback into his classroom, traits that I believe parallel Mr. Hegeman completely. This professor sparked Mr. Hegeman’s love for the unique species in the first place.
Mr. Hegeman told me about his first interaction with stickleback. “Over the summer, I was working for the United States Geological Survey, as an intern,” Mr. Hegeman said. “And when we were up in Maine, one of the things that I saw was stickleback in the water.” He quickly emailed Dr. Baker, and Mr. Hegeman smiled as he recalled how quickly Dr. Baker wrote back, asking Mr. Hegeman to catch sticklebacks and bring some back for him. When Mr. Hegeman returned, Dr. Baker asked if he wanted to further pursue studying stickleback and Mr. Hegeman said yes. This morphed into what he would focus on throughout his process of earning his master’s.
Before we got too far in, I asked Mr. Hegeman to tell me a little about what sticklebacks look like. His posture got straighter, and I may be reaching, but I could swear that I saw a twinkle in his eye as he detailed the unique structure of sticklebacks. He first talked about how small sticklebacks are, usually only reaching up to a couple of inches at their biggest. Their average size is two inches, which to put into perspective, is about the width of two fingers pressed together. “They’re kind of what we call a fusion shape,” Mr. Hegeman explained. “So they’re like a long football.” They also have external spines; sticklebacks are actually organized by how many spines they have, the most common being three-spined sticklebacks. “They’re usually green or brown in color,” Mr. Hegeman detailed. “But in the spring when they’re mating the males get a bright blue eye and a red belly color, which is cool.”
When I first saw sticklebacks, the fish that Mr. Hegman hyped up so much in my freshman environmental science honors class, I was honestly a little underwhelmed. It wasn’t until later in the year, when we began learning about evolution that I realized how interesting these tiny fish were. The reason that scientists like Mr. Hegeman love to study stickleback is because they greatly exemplify the process of evolution. Around 10,000 years ago, sticklebacks primarily lived in the ocean and had large plates lining their sides as well as large spines. Then the glaciers receded and sticklebacks swam up rivers into ponds or lakes, only to become stuck there. In these lakes, mainly located in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, sticklebacks evolved to best fit the conditions of the lakes they lived in. Spine length or number, the plates that line their sides, eye diameter, and length are among the many characteristics that evolved. So using sticklebacks from these lakes and comparing them to the sticklebacks in the ocean (as a control), scientists can understand the process of evolution, including how and why living things evolve.
And of course, when I asked Mr. Hegeman why he likes sticklebacks he gave me a classic Hegeman answer: adjectives he’s used to describe sticklebacks in class too many times to count. “They’re also prickly little cute fish,” he said smiling. “I think they’re kind of adorable in their own way.”
After submitting his master’s thesis (on stickleback of course), Mr. Hegeman wanted something to celebrate his accomplishment. So, of course, he decided to get a stickleback tattoo on his arm. He thought about it for only a few weeks and advised me to maybe take a little longer to contemplate getting a tattoo that would permanently stain my skin. However, Mr. Hegeman doesn’t regret his tattoo. “I still love mine,” he said. “I would do it again. Because it has meaning to me. It’s something I worked on for five years. It means a lot.”
At this point, you wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Mr. Hegeman has incorporated the study of stickleback into his classes, just as his mentor Dr. Baker did. Last year, he brought in a collection of sticklebacks from different lakes in Alaska. He gave each group a collection of three-spined sticklebacks from a certain lake, and we had to measure the fish. We used our data to write a lab report, and it was the final lab we did in Environmental Science Honors. When I asked if he would continue this lab, he said yes adding that it was a fun lab for him because it was with a species he was very familiar with and passionate about.
He also shared with me that sticklebacks are what sparked his passion for teaching. After bonding with Dr. Baker over stickleback, Dr. Baker asked Mr. Hegeman to be his teacher’s assistant. Through this process, Mr. Hegeman realized that he would much rather be teaching students science than doing research in biology, which was his original career path.
Throughout his teaching career, which is just getting started, Mr. Hegeman has already inspired many. I talked to sophomores Alexander Gumkowski and Dorian Ciscel, who both had Mr. Hegeman last year for Environmental Science Honors. They both told me how Mr. Hegeman was such a strong and inspiring role model for them. “He shows a lot of dedication to the stuff that he does,” Dorian said, with Alex nodding in agreement. “Whether that be teaching or researching stickleback, and you could even call it, you know, an obsession, he is very dedicated to what he enjoys.”
Finally, Mr. Hegeman left me with this message, something I just can’t shake from my thoughts. “I think that tends to rub off on other people–when you’re passionate about something,” Mr. Hegeman remarked. “Other people can see that spark and get more excited about it.”
