Alumna and marine biologist Rachel G. Jordan shares her transformative experience at SPU, leading her to weave faith and science in a new book. She will give a public lecture at SPU on Wednesday, Oct. 8 in Demaray Hall 150. More details to come.
Breakfasts in Gwinn Commons with Professor of Biology Eric Long quickly became a lifeline for Rachel (Johns) Jordan ’17 when she came to Seattle Pacific University in 2014.
They’d order omelettes and he’d grab a bowl of Lucky Charms. They’d sit in the back and Jordan, an ecology major, would “pelt him with questions” about faith and science.
“I felt like I had to make a choice between my faith and a career in science, which I felt God had called me to. I didn’t know how to reconcile the two, so I reached out to Eric,” she said. “He was so trustworthy and empathetic and funny about it and that’s what I needed.”
Long provided an extensive list of reading materials, which she dug into ravenously.
Later that spring, Jordan’s General Biology class visited SPU’s Blakely Island Field Station in the San Juan Islands in the Puget Sound. While still on the ferry, she turned to Long and asked, “What does it take to get a job out here?” He told her about the student caretaker position and she promptly applied and was selected.
On the island, she’d wake early to make breakfast and sack lunches for guests, then stuff her pockets with homemade cookies and spend the day exploring. She tagged along as part of classes and field research where she captured damsel flies and bats, fished and crabbed, and read her Bible in a wooded wilderness.
“It was a really formative summer that gave me the deep thinking time I needed,” she said. Jordan took advantage of many opportunities at SPU, including undergraduate research on sea anemones and a study abroad trip to Belize where she dove 130 feet with Tim Nelson, professor of biology, as her dive buddy.
After graduation, her curiosity about creation and faith carried her around the world — from earning a master’s in marine biology and ecology at James Cook University in Australia, to completing biblical studies in Germany, to working as a coral biologist for the U.S. National Park Service in Florida.
“Rachel follows her crazy dreams and does a lot of cool things,” Nelson said. “Studying the barrier reef system in Australia, working in the Dry Tortugas, and writing a book are impressive if done singly. She’s done them all.”
Jordan is excited to give copies of If the Ocean Has a Soul to her former professors when she visits SPU this fall. In the book, she tells of her encounters with God through everything from scuba diving alongside giant clams in the Great Barrier Reef to nursing sick betta fish back to health when she worked at a pet store after graduate school.
The book has received positive attention and Jordan’s been interviewed by well known podcasters such as Esau McCaulley and Annie F. Downs. But for Jordan, the most exciting part has been the messages on Instagram from college students and other Christians wrestling with faith and science. “It feels really special to be in a position where I can come alongside them, encourage them, and offer resources,” she says.
Jordan remembers sitting in Emerson Hall in her single room during her senior year feeling alone and googling “Christian marine biologist.” Nothing popped up. Now if you type that into the search bar, you’ll see “Rachel G. Jordan” and a thumbnail photo of her with a sweet smile and a coral, ready to be a guide through “the deep waters of faith and science.”
(Follow Jordan’s faith and science community on Instagram.)
