A new environmental science minor arrives at Flagler during a season of political and economic change

“Can I swab a shrimp?”

A young woman in chest-high waders is ready to join the activities of her companions, who are gently swiping cotton along specimens: anchovies, tiny crabs, shrimp. On a strip of shore by the dam at Guana-Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve, Flagler College assistant professor Terri Seron’s biology students have gathered little squirming things from a net with latex-clad hands.

Fans of the hit ABC series “Lost” probably don’t realize there’s a connection between Flagler College and the show’s resident bad guy Benjamin Linus, played by Michael Emerson — unless, of course, they were at Flagler in the 1980s and took a drawing class taught by the now-famous actor.

A close friend of Art and Design Professor Don Martin, Emerson has visited the campus several times to talk with students since shooting to stardom. So as this highly anticipated season of “Lost” gets rolling, Flagler Magazine asked 2006 alumnus and “Lost” fanatic Tom Iacuzio to catch up with Emerson and discuss everything from teaching at Flagler to playing a character who loves to make viewers squirm.

New history professor brings passion for Southern history and Civil Rights to Flagler

Look to the walls of J. Michael Butler’s office and you’ll learn pretty quickly about his research interests. Posters for Lynyrd Skynrd hang next to public signs from the segregation era. There’s a Robert E. Lee ceramic Jim Beam flask, a Frederick Douglass hand puppet and a vial of “authentic” Elvis sweat.

A history buff with a penchant for studying Dixie rock, Butler might be best known for his interest in civil rights, which has been his primary area of research over the years. This mild-mannered Southern gentleman with a heavy Alabama accent becomes animated when talking about history.

Alumnus Greg Teisan, ’88, returns from military duty in Kabul

In the civilian world, Greg Teisan works as a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company. But in Afghanistan, he held responsibilities that ranged from organizing a bazaar for local merchants to coordinating polio and tuberculosis vaccinations for thousands of people.

During his year as a major in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps, the ’88 Flagler alumnus spent most of his time arranging training, supplies and other logistics for medical missions and emergency health care. Teisan had been a member of the National Guard for nearly 20 years, living in South Carolina with his wife and two children, when he was asked to deploy to Afghanistan.

Audio Slideshow: Alumnus Greg Teisan Narrates His Year in Afghanistan

It began 40 years ago with a plan that must have seemed a bit crazy to some: Take a former luxury hotel that had seen better days and convert it to an all-women’s liberal arts college in the heart of the Nation’s Oldest City.

One is an accomplished historian and long-distance runner. One’s a retired Florida Army National Guard Captain and management whiz. The third is a career educator with a quick laugh and a charming southern drawl. Three distinct personalities, three distinct careers.

“I still get a rush every time it happens,” Thomas Graham said. “Every time I see a student out in the world, achieving something, and I realize that’s the same quiet girl who sits in the back of my class. These students are high achievers — they’re doers. I’m always pleasantly surprised by the capabilities of my students.”

Nearly 300 students compete to have their works exhibited

The new Crisp-Ellert Art Museum hosted Flagler’s first juried student art show this spring, giving students from all majors a chance to show off their talent, have their work judged by professionals and – in a few cases – make some money.

Archaeologist and adjunct professor Michael Arbuthnot shares his underwater adventures

The claustrophobia set in when Michael Arbuthnot was about 700 feet underwater, crunched into a space barely seven feet wide with Hollywood director James Cameron. At that depth, the last traces of sunlight disappear.

Their tiny submersible descended to the ocean floor with 5,600 pounds of pressure per-square-inch crushing against it. Outside, strange creatures occasionally drifted by in the sandy abyss until out of the darkness, the giant hull of an “unsinkable” ship emerged — the Titanic.

Communication professor talks about his days as a journalist in Havana, Cuba, meeting Fidel Castro and his thoughts on the future of the communist island

There’s a marker on the tip of Key West that proclaims Cuba a mere 90 miles south of American soil. As tourists stare out across the water trying to catch a glimpse of the communist nation, it seems as if the gulf between these two nations is bridgeable and small.

But distances can be misleading, as communication professor Tracey Eaton will tell you, and there is much more between the two countries than just water and miles.

In Tasha Walden’s classroom, six fourth-graders sit around a table in silence. When Walden asks a question, three arms dart up to answer. When one girl is picked, she walks to the Smart Board, touches a set of numbers and slides it across the screen.

“Put the numbers in order from least to greatest,” Walden says. As she talks, her hands are a flurry of movement, stretching apart on the word “from” as if pulling taut a piece of string. When a student gazes at his notebook-sized white board, Walden taps the desk in front of him to get his attention. When the whole group works together to find an answer, she smiles and cheers, “Yaaaay! Good job,” her hands rising above her shoulders and fingers wagging…