Under the relentless shine of the midday sun, the Friday Harbor Marina appears to shimmer as we crest a small hill on the edge of the University of Washington laboratories. It’s the perfect respite from a morning of sitting in the lab grading final exams. Tom Mumford, a tall, lean man with a silver beard and kind brown eyes set in a face rich with lines that trace the path of a wide smile, leads the way nimbly as we trek over to a small bench overlooking the view. “This is Koz!” Tom proclaims as we arrive, gesturing to the small metal plaque set into the back of the bench in memoriam of a life well lived. Tom knows that everything, from the grass – now brittle and dry – to this seemingly lonesome bench, has a story to tell. So does he.
We sit on Koz’s bench, and Tom begins to tell me about his life as a marine scientist: he, like many of us, was immersed in science from the very beginning whether he realized it then or not. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, Tom was raised away from the sprawl of the city on a family farm. His first relationship with science was founded on agriculture and livestock, supplemented with adventures to the nearby woods where he satisfied his natural curiosity through exploration and foraging. In school, his dreams of becoming a scientist were given form by his 3rd grade science teacher, who dedicated a space to keep many insectoid creatures for students to observe, even in a school so small it combined two grades – each composed of 10 students or less – to a single room. Similarly, Tom attributes his first love of the ocean and marine science to the many childhood trips he took to his maternal grandparents’ house in Cape Cod, exploring the tide pools and walking along the sandy shores. That famous smile creeps into his voice as he describes these memories to me. Tom’s family, however, did not share his enthusiasm for natural science and held different plans for him. From early on, he was heavily encouraged to follow the footsteps of his paternal grandfather, a medical doctor.