Weirdschooling: Season 1 Episode 4
Sea Cucumber Poop, Marine Biology and Faith: A Conversation with Christa Jewett, Founder of Saltwater Studies, Inc.
Originally Released September 13, 2023
Special Intro, Sarah: Hey fellow Weirdschoolers, this is Sarah, and Jennie and I felt like it would be a great idea to provide a special introduction to today's episode. Our guest today shares how her own personal faith and religious beliefs have intersected with her love of science, and that's unique. Because in today's world, where it oftentimes feels like there's a great divide between religion and science, we were fascinated to learn that our guest unites her own personal faith with education, across a bridge of being a trained and educated scientist.
On Weirdschooling, we're not interested in creating an echo chamber in which all the beliefs that mirror our own are the ones that are amplified. So when you listen to a Weirdschooling episode, you'll get treated to approaches to learning that will be interesting.
We're interested in fostering community and curiosity and showcasing that the diversity in our listenership and in the world of education is beautiful. Whatever your personal belief or method of education, you are welcome here as long as you're willing to keep your mind open and learn from those who may have ideas that are different from yours.
Kindness and curiosity is key. As you listen, whether you share our guest's faith background or her opinion that sea cucumbers are wonderfully weird, we know that you'll be able to enjoy listening to a talented and passionate educator. Thanks for listening.
Intro: <Original bright piano sea shanty music rising in the background with school bell sound.>
Sarah: Welcome to Weirdschooling. I’m Sarah.
Jennie: And I’m Jennie. We’re parents, friends, lifelong learners and self-proclaimed weirdos.
Sarah: We’ve found that some of the best educational methods have emerged when we let go of conformity and explore the unconventional and unique
Jennie: Because no one’s brain operates the same way and that’s exciting. And what works today may not work tomorrow, and we can adapt.
Sarah: We’re all in this weird and wonderful world together.
Jennie: So let’s learn outside the box! <Original cheerful, organ and piano sea shanty music fading out in the background.>
Sarah: today we are getting to talk with Christa Jewett, who is the founder of Saltwater Studies, a really interesting, organization that, educates us, kids and families all about marine life, but she does so through two perspectives, both biblically based and secularly based, which I think is really interesting. in the world of marine science.
Christa: Hello everybody. I am so passionate about this, about educating, and introducing people to new opportunities to learn. The Lord was just planting seeds in my heart that would eventually lead to Saltwater Studies. I'm actually a marine biologist, and I have a bachelor's and a master's degree in marine biology, and I had a career as a marine biologist. I worked as a project scientist, and the Lord led me to leave that job, and eventually start saltwater studies that offers biblically based and secular marine science education as you mentioned. This is something that's truly a passion project for me.
Sarah: Could you talk about if there might've been a formative experience with nature that kind of fueled this passion to educate kids, or even just your own passion for learning about the environment.
Christa: So God just designed me with the personality that when I find something cool or experience something cool, I want to tell everybody about it. And for me, what really just opened my eyes to the depths of the marine environment was that I went snorkeling for the first time when I was 12.
And I had been raised in the desert, so there wasn't a lot of water around. And I went snorkeling for the first time when I was 12, and when I put on that face mask and went underwater, and this whole new world just opened up. I was fascinated and my mom told me that she could just hear me yelling in my snorkel the whole time, probably scaring away all the fish.
It's amazing I saw anything, but I was just so blown away and it was like this whole new world opened up for me and it was amazing. And I've always had this fascination with the unknown and I love to explore and learn new things. I was like, I just want to know more.
Jennie: 12 is such a formative age too. I wonder if that's part of what allowed it to lock in as an actual like educational path for you when you went to college.
Christa: Possibly. I will say in line with the theme here, I, I love weird stuff. And so when people started to hear, like my friends in high school, heard about my interest in marine biology, I didn't really realize I could make it a career or pursue it until I was maybe like a senior. And so everyone thought, Oh, marine biology. You must want to work at SeaWorld. And I was like, dolphins are cool, but I like the weird stuff.
And so I actually, my field of focus was invertebrates. I love invertebrate animals. They are so bizarre and they're just fascinating. One of my favorite examples in all of the ocean. I just, I love it because it's so weird. It's the sea cucumber. The sea cucumber is capable of eviscerating itself and regrowing its internal organs. So when it's attacked by a predator and gets nibbled on, it's like, Oh, you want a meal? Here are all of my guts. And then it regrows it. What? Like that's nuts. That's crazy. It's absolutely crazy. I love it. And here's something that's even more bizarre.
So sea cucumbers are benthic scavengers, so they move along the seafloor and eat whatever little bits of detritus they can find. And in doing so, they consume quite a bit of sand. As that sand is processed through to their body, they just release it, but they clean it. Like they digest anything attached to the sand.
So when the sand actually comes out as waste material, it actually is much better for other organisms to live in, it conducts currents better, and it's just overall healthy. And so that process is bioturbation, which is the same process that earthworms use, to Improve the health of soil.
Now, you might think, Okay, we're literally here talking about sea cucumber poop. Yes, we are. And the thing that's really cool about it is that when that waste is processed, it has a very high concentration of the minerals that coral reefs need to create their beautiful skeletons. So this is literally an illustration, an example of how God takes something gross, And turns it into something beautiful. It's an illustration of what he says in Isaiah 61, that he brings beauty from ashes. And I love it. Sea cumber poop!
Sarah: I didn't think we were going to be talking about that, but I am so excited that we are. This is fantastic. It's clear that you have, a true depth of knowledge. I'd love for you to share a little bit about your educational journey, and your professional experience, prior to Saltwater Studies, if you could.
Christa: So I have a Bachelor's and a Master's degree in marine biology. And I came down to South Florida to pursue my graduate degree and I ended up staying. I've been down here for over 20 years now, and I have been working in the marine science field for that amount of time. And one of the things that's really cool about marine science is it just gives you such an amazing opportunity to go to such a wide variety of places. And so through my interest and through my professional opportunities, I've been able to travel the world.
I had an internship in Australia, so I actually learned to dive on the Great Barrier Reef. For the record, that is not how you do things because the Great Barrier Reef is so gorgeous. It is so gorgeous. You become so spoiled that you think every time you dive, this is what it's gonna look like.
And so then you go somewhere else and you're like, Wait, what, what is this? Because your first reference point is the Great Barrier Reef. I lived on a boat for a while. And that was really cool. I got to experience a variety of different marine environments that way. I've dove in Central America and other areas, around the world. So I've had a lot of experience, just in a variety of environments
Jennie: while some people believe that religion and science can't work well together, it seems like you have invested a lot of time and energy and passion into bringing your own faith and values into science exploration and education and appreciation. So can you share a little bit more about how you approach that and what that experience has been like for you as an educator and as a person?
Christa: I think it's the best part. And this is what I'm most passionate about. I love the ocean. I love the marine life, but more importantly, I love how it points us to the creator. God was so merciful and so gracious that he made everything that we see to be an example of what we read in scripture as a declaration of his love for us and an opportunity for us to get to know him. And so that's how I view creation. When I first started saltwater studies, it was never my intention to start my own business, and so I felt a little bit, apprehensive, I'll say, and so I spent a lot of time praying about it, so he brought me to Romans 1:20, and it talks about how we can see evidence of who God is, And what he's like specifically, it talks about his invisible qualities in creation, like they are on display.
And I spent a lot of time praying about that because as a scientist, I'm very literal. And so I read that and I was like, well, that doesn't make sense because that's two different phases. How can we see evidence of something that is unseen and what is seen like that, you know, kind of messed with my head. And so as I processed it with the Lord and prayed over it, He just gave me so many illustrations and so many examples to show me that every single name and characteristic described in scripture is on display in creation.
So it's like the Bible is God's story. And creation are the pictures that go along with it, the illustrations that accompany it to help us to better understand. And we even see that in scripture. When Jesus taught, he regularly used examples from the natural environment to help illustrate a point. And so for that reason, when I read something in the Bible, I look for the example that I can see in creation and that's how I tie those two things together.
You know, like I was just sharing with sea cucumber waste and how it's an illustration of Isaiah 61. I think for example, the ocean just in and out of itself is an incredible demonstration of God's character, like the depth. The mystery, the majesty, the power. One of the things that I love to do with my students, especially those that live here in South Florida is show them videos of waves off the coast of France, because those waves easily are 80 plus feet, here in South Florida, if you get like a four foot wave, it's a huge day, but if you're looking at these waves and as they like, just smash on the side of these lighthouses or these rock structures, it's almost like you can feel the impact as you're watching, and so I think it's just a wonderful opportunity for us to go, take a moment and just look at the ocean and get a tiny little glimpse of the power of God. It's just incredible. So that's how I integrate it.
Jennie: Well, it's so apparent listening to you speak that you've, you have such deep knowledge of scripture, deep knowledge of marine biology and I wanted to kind of circle back to something you'd said about the idea that you feel like the world is the illustration of the Bible. And I was wondering how that principle guides you when you're teaching your two different classes you have a biblically based class that you offer in Florida, but you also have a secularly based class.
Christa: So for my secular classes, I teach the same biological content, but I just don't speak of the Lord. So that's how I design it. I'll just talk about the different features of different animals. And I use words like designed. Like we can see intention and how this animal was made, you know, I don't say like, oh, it just happened, but I kind of try to plant seeds that make them wonder, and so I have had some situations where students have come and asked me about that. And so I'm like, well, this is what I believe. So if they ask me, I'm able to have those conversations with them and say, well, this is what I believe.
Sarah: It almost seems like you approach education as a responsibility. And I'm wondering if that feels true, in the way that you present information about marine biology, or when you present the relationship that you see between marine biology, and God.
Christa: I definitely feel a great responsibility. I am a person who is committed to truth. And so because I am committed to truth, it's very important to me that I teach truth, the Bible is very clear. Not many should desire to be teachers because we will be held accountable for the words that we say. You know, like I don't need to extrapolate. I don't need to grab something from the sky and try to turn it into an entertaining, sound bit. I just need to speak the truth because God's got enough.
Jennie: I was wondering. from this place that you teach from, if you've seen up times when maybe a student who is a secular learner who maybe comes from a different faith background from you and you use a word like design or something that allows them to think about it in their own way, have you seen them apply their own value system to it and like understand it in a more deep way? And then similarly, have you ever seen a child from, from like a strictly biblical educational background have their eyes open to like, Whoa, the world is so big and like, it is so awesome. And so do you see kind of room for an ebb and flow, a sharing of knowledge across that line that maybe makes it a little less rigid.
Christa: That's a really interesting perspective. I have seen in my biblically based classes, something that, that you shared, you know, that they have been overwhelmed, by just the amazing nature of what God created, one of the things that I've seen, and this is where I really think that there is an opportunity for common ground is that in speaking with a lot of the different people who. Are in my secular classes. It's interesting to hear why they choose that. And part of the reason a lot of times. I don't know if I can say a lot of times, but one of the points that I've heard is, you know, they do believe in God, but they have had a negative experience with the church, you know, or they've experienced church hurt, or they've experienced hurt from someone who claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ. And so for that reason, they are wary about anything that is labeled biblically based. I just think it's an awesome opportunity to use something like science to create a common ground, like, hey, you know, even though we have different perspectives, we can agree that sea cucumbers are cute, cool, you know? Like, we can find shared common ground in that, you know, like, check out these animals, aren't they amazing?
And I think it kind of takes away some of the boundaries that people feel have been erected by actions they've seen by the formal church, showing someone love, encouragement and understanding and meeting them where they're at and saying like, Hey, I understand, you know, sometimes people do have negative experiences with Christians or with, a dogmatic belief system, but let's talk about the heart of Jesus Christ and how much He loves you and how much He cares for you and how He has an intention and design and a plan for your life as well.
Sarah: I think so much of what we as people who are focused on kids, see so much of in the world right now is the idea that there's this giant division, and I think there is in some ways, for sure. I think we can't pretend that there isn't. But I think that there's this idea that it has to be all one way or all this other way. And I think what you're speaking to could really, be felt by people no matter what their beliefs. And I think that that's really beautiful, the idea that, as even just say a secular educator, you are there with intention, you are there with love, you are there with an open heart to share something that is really special and meaningful, and to maybe guide that child into finding deeper knowledge or deeper curiosity.
And that's what I am hearing from you, whether it is that you're talking about Just the pure scientific evidence of an animal or whether it's the way that you talk about what that creation means to you. And I think that's really special. I have not seen something like this in, in many formats. Really just the idea that, we can all learn together in a group no matter where we're coming from.
Jennie: How do you define success, educational success, or just in success in general, at saltwater studies?
Christa: I think one of the first things I look at is did I instill a sense of joy and enthusiasm for the natural environment? Did I pass that along? Do they have respect and appreciation for what they see? Do they notice more about what's around them now as a result of what they've learned in my class?
I think another point of success is speaking to them as individuals. How did they feel going through my class? Did they feel minimized or reduced in any way or did they feel celebrated, enjoyed, promoted, encouraged, uplifted? And so I really look at that. And that's something that's very important to me because I think that so many kids are homeschooling because they might have a different way of learning. And they received challenges in a traditional schooling environment as a result of that. And so the Bible is so clear that God created every single one of us, the way that he intended us to be created, and that's worthy of being celebrated. And so I really hope that my students come away feeling appreciated and celebrated and accommodated.
Like if there's any way that I can help them to learn better, then I try to do that, and that's one of the reasons why saltwater studies programming, when I first started, it was just super simple. I went to the beach and I talked about what we found, you know, and as parents gave me feedback regarding their kids and their learning needs, I've expanded my resources available to them because it's really important to me that I have something for visual learners, for auditory learners and for kinesthetic learners. There's something for everybody. And one of the things that I really like about, I do, science just seems to have a tendency to attract kids that are on the spectrum, which I think is awesome. And I love the fact that I get to teach in an outdoor setting.
So if they need an attention break, They can step away and then come back, you know, because my classes can be a bit intense. I provide a lot of scientific information, but if they need to take a break, you know, take a moment go look at that lizard, you know, and come back.
Sarah: That's really special. Has there been one real standout experience that you've had in class?
Christa: It wasn't this past school year. It was the school year before it was a group of relatively new students. And we, um, we're going through this area where there's a pedestrian bridge that goes over the opening to a lagoon. It's a great place to see marine life. And so most of these kids had never been to one of my classes before, so they don't really know how things go down and how the Lord just blesses us with favor. And so we walk across the bridge. And our plan for the day had been to go snorkeling and, there was a water advisory and we weren't able to go.
And so I was like, well, you know what, let's just go in and look off the bridge and see if we can see anything. And I, like in my heart, I was a little discouraged cause I so wanted them to be able to go snorkeling and it was a beautiful day and I was really bummed that we couldn't go.
And so I prayed out loud in front of my kids and I was like, “Lord, if you could send us a manatee or maybe a spotted eagle ray today, that would be really cool,” and we just waited, oh my goodness, a couple minutes later, one of the moms is like,“What's that? What's that out there?” Here comes a big spotted eagle ray. And it comes straight out of the inner, out of the inlet, turns towards us, does a turn along the bridge, swims the whole length of the bridge so every single student got to see him, and then turn around and left. Just like God saying like, “I just brought it for you.” And I was like, “Do you guys remember, you guys remember that I prayed for that?”
And so I was happy. Five minutes later, someone else is like, “Wait, what's that?” And we look, here comes a manatee. Same thing. Like, just to do like a little swim by. And one of the moms was like, “You prayed for those?” And I was like, yeah. And she was like, “Oh!” It was so cute. So I have thousands of stories like that, like just really cool stories. And I think it's an awesome opportunity for, again, the kids to recognize. There's a God who hears them, who sees them, and who wants them to know him.
Jennie: Well, it seems like you have really taken your passion and your knowledge, in so many different ways into the world, how can our listeners interact with you and learn more about what you do and, what you have coming up and what resources you offer?
Christa: Thank you. So information regarding upcoming classes and all of that is available on my website saltwaterstudies. com. I also have social media available on Instagram and Facebook. I'm on Instagram more than I'm on Facebook. And one of the things that I love to do is, People love to send me pictures of stuff they've seen at the beach. And they'll ask me like, “Ms. Christa what's this?” So I absolutely love that. If you have something that you want identified, I love doing that stuff.
Feel free to send it to me. On Instagram is probably the best way to get it to me. Something else I'm really stoked about that I'm going to be working on, my poorly neglected YouTube channel, the poor thing. One of the things the Lord has put on my heart is to create some biblically based content for the underwater environment. And so I've been actively shooting underwater video and I'm going to be working on producing an online YouTube web series that'll be available that it will be biblically based. And so that is one of my priorities for this next coming school year. So that's something I'm looking forward to doing. And, I'm excited to see what that looks like. So I'm praying about it and, working on that. So that's something that I'm really excited about because there's not much out there that's available, that's biblical based.
Jennie: And you have a podcast, Beneath the Waves.
Christa: Yes, I have a podcast as well. It's Life Beneath the Waves. It's a resource that's available for my auditory learners. I have written two workbooks now on, sixteen different animals or types of animals that we see in South Florida. And I read the lessons that I've written for my auditory learners.And then as a bonus for some of my older students, there's the podcast that was mentioned earlier, the episode, you know, So You Want to Be a Marine Biologist. And so it's just a biblically based perspective for someone who might be interested in a marine biology career. And that's because I think a lot of people might go through that phase, but they don't know exactly what marine biologists do.
Jennie: Oh, thank you so much for all of those. And of course, we'll link to all of these on our social media pages as well to make it super easy for listeners to learn all about the great things that Christa is doing, as well as to know where you can find our episodes and listen. But now I think that it's time for us to transition into what I think is always a very entertaining part of our episodes, which is our Weird of the Week. And I love we get to do Weird of the Week with a guest because we get even more weirdness and even more awesomeness. So this week, who wants to go first with their Weird of the Week?
Sarah: I will because mine is not that exciting. My daughter, one of her favorite things for breakfast is very basic cinnamon toast. You know, sugar, cinnamon, butter, toast, there it is. And we all like to laugh, because my husband one time was in just a very, he was so tired. He had worked very late the night before and was making her cinnamon toast and accidentally used cumin instead of cinnamon. And she took a bite and she said, why does this taste like dirty feet?
So, it's been a long family joke about. dad's terrible cinnamon with air quotes toast. Now fast forward, several years later, I was very tired. And I was making cinnamon toast and I went to go deliver it to my kiddo when I realized. Why does it smell like Mexican food in here? And luckily for her, before I actually gave it to her this time, I realized that the mistake that we'd all been sort of gently teasing my husband about all these years, I had just done the same thing.
I don't know what it is about the cumin and the cinnamon in my house. But just watch out if we are going to offer you anything with either of those two spices, because it might not be correct.
Jennie: My Weird of the Week is kind of a weird when my son, my youngest son, has been really, growing in his ability to read and more than that, his passion about reading. Yesterday, we ended up having the opportunity to go on a long car ride together, just the two of us. And usually he wants to talk about video games or not talk at all and just listen to a podcast or music or nothing. But I was greeted to the very unexpected and thus weird invitation to ask me anything you want about the book series I'm finishing, 39 Clues.
And because this is just like going to reach him better. And so he's been listening to it. He has, he is on to book 11 of 39 Clues. I highly recommend it. He's like, you can ask me anything. I know everything about it. And I was treated to a 45 minute long car ride with all the details and what character would you want to be friends with conversations and, tell me all the details.
And it was just a delight. It was just a really fun educational win. And I know that he didn't like read the paper copy of it, but having a conversation about books with him was a real treat. Love that.
Christa: That is so cool. I mean, that's definitely a win with, like, all caps.
Sarah: It really is. Oh my gosh. Well, you not only accomplished the passionate about reading thing, but also having a really nice conversation with a kid thing. That's also a win.
Jennie: Yeah, it was pretty good. So I'm interested, Christa, what is your Weird of the Week or, or just in general, weird, wonderful bit you want to share with us?
Christa: So I just wanted to share one of the weirdest things I've ever seen, so it was like me and my students and then one other dude and we were at this beach where there are some very unique individuals that have a tendency to visit this beach and so you never really know what you're gonna see.
So it's kind of the beach of weird too. And so we're sitting there and I'm talking to my students and we're in a circle on the beach. And this guy, I don't know, he's maybe like 50 feet away from us. He starts yelling, and so I'm like, “Okay, kids focus here. Like everyone's different. Like we don't know what he's doing over there. He's having a moment,” and, you know, he turns around and he sees us and he's like, “Did you see that?” And I'm like, “No, I'm teaching here. Like, I don't, I didn't see what, what you were yelling about.” And he was like, “A seagull flew by and dropped a sea turtle on the beach.”
And it was this little hatchling that the seagull had picked up, dropped it on the beach. He was perfectly fine. My students got to go over, check him out. They named him Shelton. And so Shelton got to go off into the ocean and live his very best life. And what was really cool about that is that we had just prayed for God to show us cool things. And the topic of the day was sea turtles. So God literally sent us a sea turtle by seagull mail. Now, I mean, it was, it was really cool. Just being out, you never know what you're going to see.
Sarah: Well, Christa, thank you so much for taking the time to be here with us today. And before we sign off, is there anything else that, you want to share with our listeners, as they go into their week and hopefully are going to make it a weird one?
Christa: I hope so too. Weird can be so exciting, right? You know, if everything was just normal, it'd be kind of boring, I'm just so blessed to be here again.Thank you so much. And for your listeners, I just really wish them to have an incredible week and I just pray that they will be inspired, that they will be directed by the Holy Spirit and they will bring joy wherever they go and just have incredible memory moments where they're like worthy of banking those and being like, wow, these are things I'm going to remember because these are the special things about homeschooling that bring life to my life.
Jennie: And I want to thank you too. I've really enjoyed this conversation and learning from you. This conversation has really highlighted for me the importance of passion and education and thank you for sharing and modeling your faith and also for providing a kind of scientific middle ground where we can all agree, no matter where we come from or what our background is or what our approach is that, you know, Cucumber poop is cool, right? There's a cool middle ground for everybody.
Outro: <Original bright, organ and piano sea shanty music rising in the background.>
Sarah: Weirdschooling is a My Kind of Weird Productions podcast and is co-created by hosts Sarah Woolverton-Mohler and Jennie Ziverk Carr with music by Brooks Milgate.
Jennie: You, your ideas and feedback MATTER, so like, subscribe and leave a review! Share your weirdschooling experiences or challenges on our social media channels at instagram, facebook, or our website at www.weirdschooling.com.
Sarah: We’re here for you– so feel free to join our engaging Weirdschooling Community Facebook group for inclusive, open-hearted idea sharing and camaraderie.
Jennie: You’re dismissed to go be the weirdest brick in the wall of this wonderful world!
<Original bright, organ and piano sea shanty music fading in the background with school bell sound.>