Edwyna Spiegel helps students take water samples aboard the R/V Rachel Carson.

For most of her 80 years, Edwyna Spiegel has dreamed of being a marine scientist. Due to circumstances beyond her control, her life took a different path — but this August, with the help of the UW School of Oceanography and Wish of a Lifetime from AARP, she finally had the opportunity to participate in an authentic research cruise experience aboard the R/V Rachel Carson.

Wish of a Lifetime from AARP grants life-changing wishes for older adults, helping them age with hope, joy and purpose. When considering how to fulfill Edwyna’s wish, they knew that the UW’s renowned oceanography program would be a perfect fit.

“I’m honored that they approached us, and I’m so happy that we were able to help grant this wish,” said Sasha Seroy, assistant teaching professor of oceanography in the College of the Environment, who served as chief scientist aboard the research cruise that hosted Edwyna. “It was a really unique opportunity.”

Students on the MATE Floats! research cruise look at zooplankton on the deck of the R/V Rachel Carson. From the lab to Puget Sound

Edwyna’s marine science experience took place over two days. She spent the first day touring the School of Oceanography, including a visit to the historic Puget Sound Model; a trip to the Ocean Technology Center, where students get hands-on experience with advanced ocean research technologies; time in the UW Float Lab, where researchers build floating sensors that track changes throughout the world’s oceans; and a real-time remotely operated underwater vehicle dive with UW oceanography professor Deborah Kelley, as part of the VISIONS 26 research cruise.

The second day of the experience was the result of serendipitous timing: Edwyna’s wish happened to coincide with a summer workshop known as MATE Floats!, which would be culminating in a day-long research cruise aboard the R/V Rachel Carson — with some extra spots onboard for her and her daughter to join. The workshop, hosted annually by the UW in partnership with MATE, a flagship program of the Marine Technology Society, and funded by the National Center for Autonomous Technologies, is a five-day immersive experience for community and technical college students from all across the country.

“Oceanography and ocean technology are pretty specialized fields, so it’s not always easy for students to get hands-on experience with them,” Seroy said. “The goal is for them to build new skills and confidence in their own abilities so they can pursue a career in the field if they’re interested.”

A student tests a water sample for dissolved oxygen in a lab aboard the R/V Rachel Carson. Hands-on science

After departing the dock at the UW, traversing the Ballard Locks and setting off into Puget Sound, the students on the Carson settled in for a whirlwind day of ocean science. Activities included casting a CTD (conductivity, temperature and depth) device to take water samples at different depths; running lab experiments to test for the amount of dissolved oxygen and chlorophyll in each sample; collecting plankton in nets to observe under the microscope; and using a sediment sampler to get a snapshot of the seafloor.

“Edwyna was so enthusiastic, and she was involved in everything,” Seroy said. “She helped the students take samples from the CTD, she spent a lot of time looking at phytoplankton under the microscope, and she even ran a chlorophyll sample herself with some guidance from one of our TAs.

“In some ways, Edwyna wasn’t all that different from the other students. This was their first at-sea research experience, too, and they were learning in the same way she was learning. The students loved talking with her, and it was great having her onboard.”

Edwyna Spiegel and her daughter, Lyda Fong, on the deck of the R/V Rachel Carson. ‘An experience I will never forget’

For Edwyna, this cruise represented more than just a fun day out on the water. Her love for the ocean and marine biology goes all the way back to childhood.

“My parents’ house was on a bay, and we had a little dock,” she said. “I would lie on the dock and watch the barnacles, and when they opened up and their little fans came out, I thought, oh my goodness, how incredible!”

Edwyna followed that sense of awe to the University of Hawaii, where she entered a marine biology program — but in her senior year, newly married and pregnant, she was turned away from further studies due to gender-based discrimination. Pressing the issue proved impractical at the time, and she decided to move on from her aspirations of becoming a scientist.

For her, this experience meant coming full circle to realize that childhood dream.

“It was so wonderful, I don’t even have words,” she said. “It’s something I never thought I would ever have a chance to do. For the University of Washington and AARP to put this together is a blessing.”

And when asked if she had a favorite part of the cruise, she didn’t hesitate.

“The people,” she said. “Everyone was so friendly, and they were all looking out for me. Getting to look at all the marine life and learn about the sea was phenomenal, but the people made it an experience I will never forget.”

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Story by Will Shenton. Photos by Will Shenton and Janelle Raymundo.