UAB Antarctic explorer tapped for exclusive club

UAB biology professor James McClintock, an expert in polar and marine biology, is best known for his work in Antarctica and has been featured on CNN, NPR and National Geographic.

And McClintock’s efforts have now been recognized in a special way.

He was selected this fall to join the famed Explorers Club, a New York club founded in 1904, according to a UAB news release.

The impressive list of past members includes pilot Charles Lindbergh, mountain climber Sir Edmund Hillary and astronaut Neil Armstrong.

“I’m humbled to walk in their footsteps,” McClintock said.

Old movies and TV shows may foster a romantic image of explorers, but the reality is somewhat different, according to McClintock.

“I see the contemporary explorer more firmly grounded in science and educational outreach,” he said. “However, there is no question that there remains a place for exploration for exploration’s sake.”

The Earth’s uncharted frontiers include the deep sea, which remains largely unexplored, McClintock said.

Credited with 235 scientific publications, McClintock has explored the sea through his work in Antarctica.

“(The region) has proven a treasure trove of discovery, in part because marine life there has received little study due to the challenges of working in such a remote, cold place,” McClintock said.

His work has centered largely on the marine chemical ecology of seafloor communities and the toxic chemicals that determine who eats who or the chemical warfare that takes place to occupy space, he said.

He’s also worked in an Antarctic drug discovery program with other researchers, including UAB biologist Chuck Amsler. 

McClintock said he and the team have discovered chemicals that have proven active against melanoma skin cancer and MRSA biofilms, which help the strain of staph to survive inside the human body.

The last decade, McClintock has studied what he calls “the dramatic impacts” of climate change and ocean acidification on Antarctic marine organisms and has lectured on the subject in Europe and North America.

“Antarctica, like the Arctic, is a barometer of climate change … of what we all collectively face due to a human-induced warming climate and ocean acidification,” McClintock said.

In 15 years working the Antarctic Peninsula, McClintock said he has seen the changes firsthand and wants to help increase public awareness.

“It’s my hope that by telling my story, an objective non-political narrative, I’m making a difference in educating the public at large that we must recognize the magnitude of this environmental issue and act to ensure we, and our children, live on a sustainable planet,” he said.

McClintock was last in Antarctica two years ago, but he plans to return twice in 2017. In January, he’ll lead an educational cruise about climate change for travel company Abercrombie and Kent.

In February, he’ll return to the U.S. Palmer Station on the Antarctic Peninsula to do marine chemical ecology research.

McClintock’s new book, “A Naturalist Goes Fishing: Casting in Fragile Waters from the Gulf of Mexico to the South Island of New Zealand,” has a strong environmental bent and timely information about climate change and ocean acidification, he said.