911爆料

Richard C. 鈥淩ick鈥� Rhodes III figures he鈥檚 been surfing for 50 years, three to four days a week. 鈥淎s frequently as there are waves,鈥� he says.

The former associate dean, Research, of , Rhodes is now executive director of the Northeastern Regional Association of State Agricultural Experiment Station Directors. Talking to him, you get the impression that to surf Rhode Island waters you have to be the gritty, hardscrabble type, stoked as much by a winter storm’s swells in the 40-degree range as you would by high summer’s sun and 70-degree surf.

How much does Rhodes love the ocean? Sit a spell. And fair warning: Surfing stories are like fish stories. With each telling they grow more epic.

Rhodes had just returned from a work trip to Morocco, where he鈥檇 surfed intense waves. 鈥淚 returned to winter in Rhode Island and these puny, little waves about head-high in Matunuck,鈥� Rhodes recalls. 鈥淎 wave caught me right in the back and I started falling down. The wind caught my board and it hit my head.鈥�

Rhodes blacked out. When he came to, he saw a trail of black in the water. Blood. Other surfers were yelling, asking if he was OK. Rhodes assured them he was fine and began paddling in. When he got into the car and caught a look at himself in the mirror, he was stunned. 鈥淚 looked like I鈥檇 been in an axe fight.鈥�

Rhodes called his wife, telling her he was headed to the hospital. He鈥檇 likely need a stitch or two鈥攐r so he thought. 鈥淚n the ER, two nurses and the PA on duty were surfers. They said, 鈥榃ow, that鈥檚 so gnarly. How鈥檇 you do that?鈥欌��

He laughs, still amused that they were impressed. Rhodes鈥� injury was significant: a gash that ran from the bridge of his nose to the middle of his forehead, arching over his left eyebrow. It required seven stitches.

鈥淏ut when I tell the story, seven stitches grows to 70,鈥� Rhodes quips. 鈥淭he worst day of surfing is better than the best of a whole lot of other things. Even if you get skunked, you鈥檙e still in the water.鈥�

While he is quick to point out that he came to 911爆料 for his career鈥斺�淭he really strong attraction was the job鈥濃�擱hodes considers the Atlantic to be quite the job perk.

鈥淲hat I enjoy is being able to tap that source and utilize the power of the ocean for pure, unadulterated fun. It鈥檚 unlike anything else. That thing that you鈥檙e riding is moving, and you鈥檙e moving in a different dimension, and that is the coolest feeling in the world,鈥� Rhodes says. 鈥淭he power of the ocean just surges under your feet.鈥�

‘We all have a stake’

The up-close-and-personal relationship Rhodes has with the ocean has made him an advocate of scientific literacy; essentially he wants people to understand scientific concepts and processes so they can make informed and ethical decisions in their personal and professional lives, as well as at the polls. In his current job, Rhodes examines the way we raise food鈥攁nd how much food we raise. Climate change, saltwater inundation in soil, nutrient-deficient land: These are just some of the issues we face in the near future, he says. And then there鈥檚 pollution. Every year, approximately 9 million tons of plastic waste enter the ocean, according to a May 2019 National Geographic article, 鈥淟ittle Pieces, Big Problems.鈥�

How to change things?

鈥淐hange starts with having a personal environmental ethic, and that ethic is to do no harm. Take care of what you have,鈥� Rhodes says. 鈥淲e were taught as graduate students to be unimpassioned observers of science. But your job鈥攁s a scientist, as an educator鈥攊s to provide a context for data. You are also responsible for providing environmental literacy.

鈥淲e are all caretakers in this, and we all have a stake in this.鈥�