The making of ‘Under the C’

UTC student and reintroduction assistant Seth Little, left, and a pair of UTC alumni—senior aquarist Danny Alexander and curator of fishes Matt Hamilton—pose with Scrappy in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium. Photo courtesy of Doug Strickland/Tennessee Aquarium.

Matt Hamilton wasn’t doing the Power C quite correctly.

“It was looking more like a ‘Rock On’ sign. I had to get a tutorial on the correct way to hold my hands and fingers,” he joked.

Hamilton, who graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 1997 with a degree in environmental science, was trying to power up during a photo session at the Tennessee Aquarium.

As part of Homecoming Week’s “Under the C” theme, Hamilton—the Aquarium’s curator of fishes—and fellow UTC alum Danny Alexander recently spent a couple of hours participating in a photo shoot. Current UTC student Seth Little, a general biology major who works at the Aquarium as a reintroduction assistant, also took part.

Photos were shot with Mocs mascot Scrappy in front of exhibits on the Indo-Pacific Reef, Secret Reef and Lemur Forest.

“I was excited and honored to join a few fellow Aquarium staff members in the UTC alumni photo shoot with Scrappy,” said Alexander, who graduated from UTC in 1996 with a degree in environmental science.

In 1998, he was hired full-time at the Aquarium, where he now is senior aquarist.

For him, the photo shoot was a fun voyage back in time.

“It was like being on a quaint Hollywood set, hanging with some friends from the past and getting some photos with our old pal Scrappy,” Alexander said.

“It was hard not to envy Scrappy … still as charming as ever and not aged a bit.”

Little, a graduate of nearly McCallie School, said it was fun to pose with Scrappy.

“Moreover, I think my favorite part of it was that I was representing both my school and my work, both of which I greatly love and enjoy,” he said.

Doug Strickland, the Aquarium’s communications content creator and photographer, also took photos of the UTC football helmet with ring-tailed lemurs, a radiated tortoise and in the Secret Reef—held by volunteer diver Jimmy Lowrey.

Photo gallery courtesy of Doug Strickland/Tennessee Aquarium

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Secdret Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Secdret Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Secdret Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy touches a Southern Stingray in Stingray Bay at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Alumni and Senior Aquarist Danny Alexander, left, and Curator of Fishes Matt Hamilton pose with mascot Scrappy in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy explores the Lemur Forest at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy touches a Southern Stingray in Stingray Bay at the Tennessee Aquarium.

A Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta) with a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

A Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta) with a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet.

A Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta) with a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy explores the Lemur Forest at the Tennessee Aquarium.

A Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta) with a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy explores the Lemur Forest at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga student and Reintroduction Assistant Seth Little poses with mascot Scrappy in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

A Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta) with a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet.

Volunteer diver Jimmy Lowrey holds a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet in the Secret Reef at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

Volunteer diver Jimmy Lowrey holds a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet in the Secret Reef at the Tennessee Aquarium.

Volunteer diver Jimmy Lowrey holds a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet in the Secret Reef at the Tennessee Aquarium.

A Radiated Tortoise (Astrochelys radiata) with a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Alumni and Senior Aquarist Danny Alexander, left, and Curator of Fishes Matt Hamilton pose with mascot Scrappy in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Secdret Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

A University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet in the Secret Reef at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga student and Reintroduction Assistant Seth Little poses with mascot Scrappy in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

Volunteer diver Jimmy Lowrey holds a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet in the Secret Reef at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Secdret Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

A Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta) with a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy explores the Lemur Forest at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Secdret Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Alumni and Senior Aquarist Danny Alexander, left, and Curator of Fishes Matt Hamilton pose with mascot Scrappy in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga student and Reintroduction Assistant Seth Little poses with mascot Scrappy in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

Volunteer diver Jimmy Lowrey holds a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet in the Secret Reef at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy explores the Lemur Forest at the Tennessee Aquarium.

Volunteer diver Jimmy Lowrey holds a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet in the Secret Reef at the Tennessee Aquarium.

Volunteer diver Jimmy Lowrey holds a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet in the Secret Reef at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

A University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet in the Secret Reef at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

A Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta) with a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Secdret Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Alumni and Senior Aquarist Danny Alexander, left, and Curator of Fishes Matt Hamilton pose with mascot Scrappy in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

A Radiated Tortoise (Astrochelys radiata) with a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet.

A Ring-tailed Lemur (Lemur catta) with a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Secdret Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

Volunteer diver Jimmy Lowrey holds a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet in the Secret Reef at the Tennessee Aquarium.

A University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football helmet in the Secret Reef at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Indo-Pacific Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga mascot Scrappy poses in front of the Secdret Reef exhibit at the Tennessee Aquarium.