by During the summer of 2019, I was able to work at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota Florida for an REU program on Marine Immunology. Mote’s facility is dedicated to both a small public aquarium that focuses on youth education programs while the larger half is the actual research facility itself. Looking at the logo of the aquarium, one cannot help but notice the large great white shark in the center of the circle. The shark is actually symbolic of Dr. Eugene Clark, the founder of Mote Marine Laboratory, and the first women marine biologist who paved the path for many women in marine biology research. Indeed, people in academia praise the male Newton’s and the Aristotle’s of scientific and philosophical progress, but there have been countless women who have contributed to these fields by overcoming many misogynistic barriers. Dr. Eugene Clark’s life and research has been transformative and impactful to not only the field of marine biology, but also to the people in Florida.
In 1922, Dr. Eugene Clark was born in New York City with a Japanese mother and American father. Despite her struggles of being isolated as the only Japanese person in her K-12 education, Dr. Clark had a strong passion about marine biology with her home being adjacent to the New York Aquarium at Battery Park. She graduated with a BA in zoology from Hunter College and spent her summers working at the University of Michigan Biological Station. However, when she applied to graduate school at Columbia University, she was rejected from the college as the committee believed she would leave the school early to focus on raising her children (that she did not have at the time). After earning a Doctorate from New York University, Dr. Clark later continued to work at a variety of scientific institutions such as Scripps Institution of Oceanography and received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Hurghada.
While her educational success and achievements were extremely incredible for a woman at the time, Dr. Clark’s legacy did not just stop with her research. Even writing over 170 scientific articles, she was known to be a woman who would profoundly scuba dive in order to get samples. Moreover, her most ambitious dives were used to study the behavior of sharks. Dr. Clark’s observations of sharks dispelled the myth of their aggressive behavior towards humans as well as the discovery of a natural shark repellent created by Moses sole. This repellent is actually still used today in many beaches in Florida as a way to minimize the interaction of sharks to tourists encountered in shallow waters. Her numerous endeavors of diving in unknown territory lead her to author two successful books Lady with the Spear and Lady and the Sharks. Especially during this era, it was amazing for her to be able to be a lead researcher in a male dominated environment, and also had the confidence to conduct field research in areas that her male colleagues were afraid of.
In 1955, she founded Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida which was focused on providing research to include wildlife and fisheries restoration programs. Today, a large part of Mote is dedicated to bringing back the native Snook population by studying their susceptibility to harmful toxins and bacteria.
As a Japanese American who is also interested in pursuing marine research, I can definitely say that Dr. Eugene Clark’s story of ambition and determination in a field that skewed heavily towards a male dominant demographic is very inspiring. Just as Rosalind Franklin’s legacy on molecular biology, Dr. Eugene Clark has touched the hearts of many, and her legacy has helped educate Floridian residents about the importance of marine wildlife conservation.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenie_Clark
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/may15/eugenie-clark.html