Peter M. Narins

---

 

The teaching gifts of Peter Narins can best be appreciated in the dead of night, crawling through the pitch-black rain forests of Puerto Rico, tape recorder in hand, trying to capture the grumpy mating calls of the tree frog Eleutherodactylus coqui. Unafraid of a little mud, Narins endures the same indignities and discomforts as students enrolled in his highly successful field biology quarter. “One thing you can be sure of,” a student wrote, “was that Dr. Narins was right alongside us, on hands and knees, in hopes of taping the oh-so-elusive calls of the male coqui. When we became discouraged, whether it is due to a bad night in the field or malfunctioning equipment, Dr. Narins was always there with a word of encouragement.”

The field biology quarter is just one of a number of innovations that Narins has been instrumental in establishing during his years at UCLA. Not only does he lend his brilliance to college teaching, but he also has taken a keen personal interest in the overall educational system in the United States, actively working to effect changes. By helping to plan and carry out UCLA’s Summer Science Institute for high school teachers, for example, he not only showed teachers better ways to prepare students for college, but he also fostered much needed dialogue between high school and college educators. By all accounts, Narins has the knack for stimulating students, maximizing their potential and infecting them with the pure joy of science and discovery, all while maintaining the highest academic standards.