To say Carla Griffin is an avid bird watcher is not quite accurate. A more apt description probably would be passionate.
As a researcher with The Earthwatch Project, Griffin studies and tracks golden eagles on Scotland’s Isle of Mull and reports her findings to the project’s principal investigator.
Griffin is mathematics and science chairman at Southwest Mississippi Community College. She has been going to Mull since 1998. Her latest expedition is scheduled for this summer.
“(Husband) Gilbert and I were invited back by Dr. Paul Haworth, the principal investigator. We want to see how the eagles are doing,” Griffin said. “We’re combining our study with our vacation. I’m doing my homework reading up on the eagles and their habits and trends in the eagle population.”
Through a grant from the S.A. Rosenbaum Foundation, 10 Mississippi teachers attend an Earthwatch Expedition at various locations throughout the world. Griffin said Scotland and its bird population was a natural.
“When I got involved with the Earthwatch Project, I knew I wanted to do something with birds,” Griffin said. “In the project book, I saw trips to study hummingbirds in Ecuador and different birds in Central and South America. When I turned the page, I saw photos of the eagles on Mull. There were pictures of beautiful, green mountains. The ocean was sapphire blue and the rocky beach was black because of bath salts. It was such a beautiful scene that I thought that was where I wanted to go.”
Griffin said she has been to Mull each year since 2001, averaging about three weeks per visit.
To get to Mull, visitors must take a 30-minute ferry ride to the island.
“Eagle study is out in the middle of nowhere,” Griffin said. “We hike about eight miles per day. You’ve got to do some hiking if you want to get where the eagles are.”
Griffin said the scenery is unbelievable.
“It’s just amazing,” she said. “I read somewhere the scenery in Scotland causes one’s soul to gasp.”
During the 2011 trip to Mull, Griffin said they got in plenty of exercise.
“We do lots of hiking and hill-walking,” Griffin said. “We walked a little over 200 miles in the month we were there.
Griffin said the warmest it’s ever been in Scotland is 82 to 84 degrees. The average temperature in the summer is 68 degrees.
“I love to travel to Scotland,” Griffin said. “I haven’t been to many other places, but I love Scotland. When I was there the first time, I fell in love with Scotland. I almost feel I was called to go to Scotland.”
When Griffin isn’t scouting out the eagles, she said she has seen some of the country’s historic sites and tourist destinations, including the 5,000-year-old Stone Age village of Skara Brae, various ancient castles, the abbey where the heart of Robert the Bruce reportedly was buried, and Loch Ness.
“We do the nature watch, but we do go see a lot of historic sites,” Griffin said. “We did go down to England a couple of times and saw Hadrian’s Wall, which was built in 121 A.D. We didn’t see any magical monsters at Loch Ness.”
Griffin said she and her husband have identified 106 species of birds around their Walthall County home, but she said Scotland is a special place.
“I went to Scotland by myself the first time,” Griffin said. “The whole time I was there, I said Gilbert needs to be here. It is such a beautiful place.”
Griffin has taught at SMCC for 21 years. She received her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1988 and earned her master’s degree 1990.
“Everybody should have a job they love as much as I love mine,” Griffin said. “It’s very special to see my students go on and be successful. It can’t get any better than that.”
