At the bottom of the earth, aboard an expedition ship crossing the rocky waters of the Drake Passage between Argentina and Antarctica, ornithologist Rodrigo Tapia might be giving a lecture on seabirds that begins with the poem “ The Rime of the Ancient Mariner .” It’s the haunting story of a sailor who kills an albatross and is forced to endure supernatural punishment at sea, ultimately learning a hard lesson about humanity’s responsibility to the world. “It’s a very good allegory of the relationship between man and the environment,” Tapia says, pointing to the moment when the albatross is senselessly executed—“this blessing of nature ends”—and everything changes. “That’s the spirit of that poem, really,” Tapia says. “The relationship between man and nature and how … in the end, the guy realizes his mistake.” For Tapia, poetry helps bridge emotional understanding and scientific knowledge during his lectures. “That's the beauty of literature,” he says.…