Science

Clark Mote Marine Laboratory founding director, Dr. Eugenie Clark, received the Explorers Club Medal during the organization's annual dinner at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City on Saturday, March 15. The award is the highest honor bestowed by the club, an international society dedicated to advancing the scientific exploration of land, sea, air and space by supporting research and education in the physical, natural and biological sciences.

The Explorers Club medal is given to those who have shown extraordinary contributions in exploration, scientific research or the welfare of humanity. Clark is an ichthyologist who began her studies on the behavior and reproductive isolating mechanisms of fresh-water aquarium fishes. She later combined her love for diving with the study of marine fishes - first by hard-hat diving and snorkeling, and then using scuba and submersibles. She has studied shark behavior in the deep sea from submersibles at depths of 1,000 to 12,000 feet. She has conducted dives off Grand Cayman, Bermuda, the Bahamas, California, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Red Sea and Japan to study the behavior, movements, and population density of large deep sea fishes and fishes of the sand/coral reef interface.