Goldwater Scholar Wriley Hodge '24 at the College of the Atlantic Alice Eno Field Research St...Goldwater Scholar Wriley Hodge '24 at the College of the Atlantic Alice Eno Field Research Station on Great Duck Island, where they have been tracking the nesting habits of the local herring gull colony. Credit: Wriley Hodge ’24

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation recognized Hodge’s work at the COA Alice Eno Field Research Station on Great Duck Island in granting the scholarship. There, Hodge has been been tracking the nesting habits of the local herring gull colony, drawing and painting countless pictures the birds, and, after watching them closely day after day, becoming completely enamored of them.

“When I started doing my research at COA, even though I wasn’t quite on the level of what I would probably say is an average person viewing gulls as flying rats and dirty seagulls, I was sort of indifferent,” they said. “But when you spend summers doing research, in that close proximity to the herring gulls, it really just causes you to fall in love with them. I love those birds now, and I think they’re the most precious, sweet little things in the entire world.”

Wriley Hodge '24, right, and other COA students conduct research on herring gull chicks at CO...Wriley Hodge '24, right, and other COA students conduct research on herring gull chicks at COA Alice Eno Field Research Station on Great Duck Island. Hodge is the winner of a competitive Goldwater scholarship. Credit: Michael HudsonThrough their research, Hodge has sought to understand why the majority of the gulls nest on the rocky shore instead of the inland meadow area, even though both places have the same fledging success rate. Coming up with answers requires the type of close observation and connection with one’s surroundings that comes naturally to Hodge, who has been fascinated by wildlife and drawn to being in nature since they can remember.

Growing up in New York City, they found a surprising amount of “natural world” to observe, “if you wanna split apart human and natural like that,” they said, but craved an educational infrastructure that facilitated outdoor learning.

“Afterschool I would go to Prospect Park and watch the nesting Red Tailed Hawk, but it’s not like COA where the purpose of so many classes is being outside to learn,” they said.

Hodge first learned about COA when they attended the school’s 12-day summer program for high schoolers called Islands Through Time, taught by COA professors, which takes place on campus, Great Duck Island, and at COA Edward McC. Blair Marine Research Station on Mount Desert Rock, 25 miles out to sea. Hodge said the interdisciplinary program emboldened their love of nature and the wild, leaving them feeling like they’d learned more in those 12 days than in their entire junior year of high school.

Affection, an aqua tint etching printed on paper with oil-based ink by Goldwater Scholar Wriley H...Affection, an aqua tint etching printed on paper with oil-based ink by Goldwater Scholar Wriley Hodge '24, is part of an ongoing project called Three Portraits of an Island. The project aims to understand the gulls of the Great Duck Island through the lenses of art, scientific research, and writing. Credit: Wriley Hodge ’24

At COA, Hodge has blended their passions for nature, art, and science, taking many classes in both, and combining them in their summer research on Great Duck. Hodge’s senior project, with the running title, Three Portraits of an Island, aims to understand Great Duck Island and the birds that live there through three different lenses, science (data collection), art (a series of paintings and prints), and a series of essays that will stitch what they’ve learned through science and art together.

“Both science and art, as long as I remember, have been the ways that I like interacting with and understanding the outside world. Drawing things that are in front of me has always been something that I’ve done, and then as I got older, I got more into the ideas of drawing as a way of understanding, drawing as a way of remembering things,” Hodge said. “And then science came into my life as a way of interacting with the natural world and wildlife that I’ve always been drawn to.”

“Wriley is surely one of the best students I have encountered,” COA professor Ken Cline said. “Their meticulous research habits, dedication, and ability to work independently and as part of a team have made them an outstanding field scientist and an asset to COA’s research program. I know they’ll go on to do important work in seabird ecology and conservation.”

During the spring term of their junior year, Hodge is taking COA professor John Anderson’s Island Life course, one senior project credit, and an independent study reading fiction, memoirs, essays, and nonfiction to learn about the seabirds, the people, and the interactions between them in islands in the North Atlantic.

Goldwater Scholar Wriley Hodge '24, left, helps band fledgling gulls at College of the Atlant...Goldwater Scholar Wriley Hodge '24, left, helps band fledgling gulls at College of the Atlantic Alice Eno Field Research Station on Great Duck Island. Credit: Michael Hudson

“I think both science and art can put you in places that break through your preconceived notions about things, or just really cause you to think about something or see something as it is. Because of that, I think herring gulls are the most beautiful birds in the world and I think that love can come out of art and science,” said Hodge.

That love extends to Great Duck Island, where Hodge said that spending half the day doing research and the other half painting is a dream come true. They hope to find something as perfect somewhere else after they graduate.

“I don’t think that science or art or anything should be done in the search of exotic places, you helicopter in and you leave, and you know nothing and you don’t care about it,” they said. “To properly do science you have to become a resident of the place and fall in love with it and become as much a part of the landscape as that which you’re studying.”

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was established by the U.S. Congress in 1986 to support the education of scientists, mathematicians, and engineers. It awards up to $7,500 for the last one to two years of undergraduate study. Wriley Hodge is the 18th Goldwater Scholar in COA’s history.

Wriley Hodge '24 at the COA Alice Eno Field Research Station on Great Duck Island. Their work...Wriley Hodge '24 at the COA Alice Eno Field Research Station on Great Duck Island. Their work there has helped them win a presitgious Goldwater scholarship. Credit: Michael Hudson