SHE SMELLS TANGERINE: There's a bird called the crested auklet that smells like tangerine, especially during its breeding season. In foggy weather you can actually smell them before you see them. A Saratoga daughter is trying to figure out just what the significance of the auklet's odor is.
Of course we know the tangerine smell is an enhancement, a lure for mating. But there's even more to it than that. Or at least that's the belief of Julie Hagelin, who is living in the Eskimo village of Savoonga on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea.
No one has ever studied the olfactory characteristics of birds before, especially birds around water. Usually a stench greets the viewer near water, not an aroma of tangerines. This is Hagelin's third year in Alaska, and she's studied the auklets in other areas of the world as well, including the Aleutian Islands.
She teaches at Swarthmore College and lives with two of her students in a cabin with basic conditions in Savoonga. The teacher has adapted so well she's even learned to speak the pigeon English used by the Eskimos. Recently she received the ultimate compliment from a young villager: "Julie, you're just like an Eskimo."
When she was growing up, the family did a lot of camping, says Hagelin's father, Ron Hagelin. The family includes mother Linda and Julie's twin, Paul. The twins graduated from Saratoga High in '87, and--after earning undergrad degrees--both won Thomas Watson Fellowships for a year of study abroad.
Julie's degree was from Pomona with a double major of biology and German; Paul's was at Harvey Mudd with a degree in engineering. He went to Germany to study robotics; she went to New Guinea, Australia, New Zealand to study--yes, birds.
Further degrees followed: Julie's doctorate is in ornithology from U. of New Mexico, where she studied the desert quail's mating and behavioral patterns for six years. A bear got into the pen where she was raising the quails and ate them, which accounted for the length of the work.
Paul earned a masters at Loughborough U. of Technology in England and then a doctorate in mechatronics at UC-Davis. He has 20 patents and has founded three companies. He now works for SiTime, which makes oscillators for watches, and lives in Saratoga. His own remaining company, Power Flare, makes road flares.
The twins are the offspring of teachers--Ron taught at Buchser High School in Santa Clara for 30 years and was a naval aviator during the Korean War before that. Linda teaches marine biology at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and science methods at SJSU--to teachers.
She recently received the President's Award from the National Marine Educators Conference in Hawaii, an award that so surprised her, "I was blown away."
In earlier years she taught at Van Meter in Los Gatos and in Saratoga schools in the gifted program. Linda and Les Landin also taught a special program at West Valley College called Mind Trek. She has co-authored six books with fellow educator Landin, with such titles as 100 Science Activities.
Don't the Hagelins make the rest of us look like we're merely spinning our educational wheels?
READY FOR '06: Saratoga Historical Foundation's first annual Garden Tour was such a stunning success that the group has properties already lined up for 2006 and boutique vendors awaiting a return, says Yvonne Mendy, event chairwoman. Flamenco guitarists and plein air painters added to the festivities.
Garden hosts were Darrell and Lauren Boyle, Willys and Betty Peck, Fred and Sharon Andres, Tweet Krassowski, Cynthia Typaldos, John Irwin, the Murphy Family and Betsy McTiernan. Organizers were Peggy and Chuck Schoppe, Nancy and Doug Anderson and Marilyn White.
Part of the SHF vision is to get Saratogans involved in sharing the history and beauty of Saratoga.
FOR THE BIRDS: To toast its new director and celebrate its outgoing leader, the Santa Clara Valley chapter of the Audubon Society holds a fundraiser Aug. 7, 1-5 p.m., at the home of Patti and Bill Hughes on Summit Road, Los Gatos. Brenda Torres-Barreto, a leading environmentalist, is the new director.
Craig Breon, who has served the group for 10 years, is the retiring executive director. The event includes dinner, catered by the Grillmasters, live music, live birds and an auction. Tickets are $50 apiece or $80 per couple and can be ordered through SCVAS at 408.252.3747.
SEVEN KIDS MARK SEVEN DECADES: Five of Joan Gomersall's seven children and 13 of her 16 grandchildren threw a gala recently to mark her 70th birthday. The invitation was printed with a globe underlay, a very fitting logo for the Gomersall name.
Her late husband, Ed, was president of Saratoga's Sister City and Joan was president of that group herself--a couple of presidents ago. Her son John was in the first student group that went to Japan. To underscore Joan's devotion to worldwide travel, the wine glasses at the party were embossed with airport codes.
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By Mary Ann Cook