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Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California University of California Source of Community Leaders Series Joel W. Hedgpeth MARINE BIOLOGIST AND ENVIRONMENTALIST: PYCNOGONIDS, PROGRESS, AND PRESERVING BAYS, SALMON, AND OTHER LIVING THINGS With an Introduction by John A. McGowan Interviews Conducted by Ann Lage in 1992 Copyright 1996 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the Nation. Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well- informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ************************************ All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Joel W. Hedgpeth dated October 29, 1992. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, 486 Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. The legal agreement with Joel W. Hedgpeth requires that he be notified of the request and allowed thirty days in which to respond. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Joel W. Hedgpeth, "Marine Biologist and Environmentalist: Pycnogonids, Progress, and Preserving Bays, Salmon, and Other Living Things," an oral history conducted in 1992 by Ann Lage, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1996. Copy no. Joel W. Hedgpeth, Salt Point, Sonoma County, 1984. Photograph by Steven Obrebski Pity ddysg im, pa ddunies gain, Wir araitli i aru-yrain? The motto reads, "The squirrel against the world." The original Welsh is "The truth against the world." qwir-- truth qwiwer squirrel They sound very much alike. --JWH Cataloging Information Joel W. Hedgpeth (b. 1911) Marine Biologist Marine Biologist and Environmentalist; Pycnogonids. Progress, and Preserving Bays. Salmon, and Other Living Things. 1996, xiv, 329 pp. Hedgpeth and McGraw family history; childhood in Oakland and the Sierra foothills; studies in biology at UC Berkeley, University of Texas; comments on Monterey Bay marine biologist Ed Ricketts, Steinbeck character and ecologist; founding the Society for the Prevention of Progress, revising Between Pacific Tides; Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 1950s; director, University of the Pacific's Pacific Marine Station, Dillon Beach, 1957-1965; discusses opposition to Pacific Gas & Electric Company's proposed nuclear power plant at Bodega Bay, CA, 1957-1964; director of Oregon State University's Marine Science Center, 1965-1973; pycnogonid (sea spider) research, lifelong and worldwide; research trips to Antarctica; estuarine studies; research and testifying on San Francisco Bay and Delta environmental issues. Introduction by John A. McGowan, Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Interviewed 1992 by Ann Lage for the University of California, Source of Community Leaders Series. Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Bancroft Library, on behalf of future researchers, wishes to thank the University of California Class of 1931 Oral History Endowment and the following persons and organizations whose contributions made possible this oral history of Joel W. Hedgpeth. Special thanks are owed Michael Herz, the Baykeeper project of the San Francisco Bay-Delta Preservation Association, William T. Davoren, and Irwin Haydock for their leadership in organizing the funding. Foundations San Francisco Foundation Mar in Community Foundation David and Lucile Packard Foundation Individuals Carlo and Eleanor Anderson Gordon Gunter Bill Austin Cadet Hand Karl Banse Irwin Haydock Dick Barber Alice Q. Howard Mary Bergen Douglas L. Inman Charles P. Berolzheimer Ray B. Krone Jerry and Faith Bertrand Kris Lindstrom Harold Bissell Wesley Marx Michael Black David T. Mason Thomas E. Bowman Mr. & Mrs. John A. McGowan Margaret G. Bradbury John L. Mohr Gray Brechin William A. Newman Richard C. Brusca Frederic H. Nichols Ralph Buchsbaum Larry C. Oglesby James T. Carlton Barry Paine Lloyd Carter David E. Pesonen James S. Clegg Joseph & Freda Reid Peter and Carolyn Connors Nancy J. Ricketts L. Eugene Cronin Michael Rozengurt William T. Davoren Virginia Scardigli Paul K. Dayton Doris Sloan Douglas R. Diener Mr. & Mrs. Felix E. Smith Alyn C. Duxbury Robert B. Spies Evan C. Evans III Edgar M. Tainton Phyllis M. Faber Margery & Fred Tarp Daphne Fautin Eleanor S. Uhlinger Rimmon C. Fay B.E. & Toni Volcani Harold Gilliam Craig J. Wilson TABLE OF CONTENTS--Joel Hedgpeth PREFACE i INTRODUCTION- -by John A. McGowan ill INTERVIEW HISTORY xi BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION xiv I FAMILY HISTORY AND BOYHOOD INTERESTS 1 Mother's Familythe McGraws 1 Nellie Tichenor McGraw Hedgpeth- -Joel's Mother 9 Joel Hedgpeth, Mountain Blacksmith 10 Some Early Memories and a Traumatic Injury 13 A Family of AuntsFamily Stories 16 Early Interest in the Natural World: Ants, Seashells, and Childhood Reading 22 Book Collecting, Book Critiquing, and Music 28 Boyhood Wanderings in the Sierra Foothills, 1920-1921 34 Father's Tenuous Tie to the IWW 42 Solitary Time in Nature 45 II FORMAL EDUCATION, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL THROUGH THE UNIVERSITY 47 Public Schools, Homes, and Family in Stockton and the Bay Area 47 Palo Alto Military Academy, 1922 56 Junior High and High School in Oakland 57 A Summer Idyll 61 San Mateo Junior College, 1929-1931 62 Studies at UC Berkeley, Class of 1933 65 English from George Stewart 67 Zoology Studies 70 Choosing Marine Biology, and Sea Spiders 71 Professors S. F. Light and Joseph Grinnell at Berkeley 77 The Controversial Professor Lund at the University of Texas 80 A Boyhood Interest in Shells and Sea Creatures 83 More on College Studies in Zoology and Biology 87 III ECOLOGICAL THINKING, ED RICKETTS, AND PROGRESS 90 The Concept of Ecological Communities in Marine Biology 90 Ed Ricketts, a Marine Biologist and Steinbeck Character 93 An Ecologist and Systematist 96 Revising Between Pacific Tides 97 Ethology: A Recent Development in Ecology 101 Ricketts and the Influence of Between Pacific Tides 104 "Philosophy on Cannery Row" --Ricketts, Steinbeck, Joseph Campbell 107 The Society for the Prevention of Progress 113 Various Articles and Papers Noted 117 Jinglebollix 120 Ed Ricketts' Innovative Work 122 IV BEGINNING A CAREER AS A PROFESSIONAL BIOLOGIST 127 An Introduction to Pycnogonid Studies 127 Evolution of the Treatise on Marine Ecology and Paleoecology 131 Research Biologist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Editor of the Big Red Book 135 Cold War Concerns of Naval Intelligence at Scripps 137 Responsibilities of Editing the Treatise on Marine Ecology 142 Association with College of the Pacific 149 More on Graduate Studies in Texas 151 V DILLON BEACH AND BODEGA BAY, 1957-1965 156 Director of the Pacific Marine Station at Dillon Beach 156 Alden Noble 156 Charles Berolzheimer's Contribution 158 Classes and Oceanographic Studies at the Station 160 National Science Foundation Program for Teachers 166 Other Studies and Researchers in Tomales Bay 169 Proposed Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Nuclear Power Plant at Bodega Bay, 1957-1964 173 Potential Hazards of a Nuclear Plant 176 Public Involvement in the Controversy 178 University of California's Involvement 181 Opponents to the Power Plant 187 More Citizen Activists 191 Leaving Pacific Marine Station 194 VI MARINE SCIENCE CENTER AT OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY, 1965-1973, PYCNOGONID RESEARCH, AND ANTARCTICA 196 Program, People, and Problems at the Yaquina Biological Laboratory 196 Working with Bill Fry at Dillon Beach on Pycnogonid Research 204 A Research Program in Antarctica 207 Some Interesting Characteristics of Sea Spiders 208 Tourists at Palmer Station 213 Studying the Impact of Scientific Activity on the Antarctic Environment 216 Hedgpeth Heights 222 More on Oregon State University 224 "Steinbeck and the Sea" Conference 227 Retirement 230 VII ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH ISSUES OF SAN FRANCISCO BAY AND DELTA 231 Estuarine Studies 231 An Encounter with the Archdruid 233 Estuaries in Texas 235 The Sea of Azov 236 Research on San Francisco