[Coral-List] Passing of Ian Macintyre

Tue May 19 13:31:22 UTC 2020

GMorn Coral Listers,

I thought a couple of stories of my working in the field with Ian, on the growth history of Caribbean coral reefs, would be of interest.  As most of you know, UW drilling and excavation always involves a bit of "blood, sweat and tears". 

We had the tripod set up and were drilling on the algal ridge at the Holandes Reef in San Blas, Panama.  A huge set of waves started breaking on the reef front, they swept through our drilling rig, and then carried Ian across the reef flat.  I swam to Ian to offer help, and found him inspecting a deep gash on his leg, from high on his thigh to nearly his ankle in length.  This cut was caused by being swept across a sharp limestone parapet on the lee side of the reef front.  The gash would have been worse if it weren't for the heavy pants we always wore when drilling.  OK, time to abandon the drilling operation and get back to the boat for treatment.  Ian, said "no way, we need to finish drilling this hole now before the tide rises and sea conditions worsen" (paraphrased).  I stood speechless and stunned; we continued drilling and secured the core before conditions worsened.

A second experience, researching Cobbler's Reef on the SE coast of Barbados.  Like the San Blas region in Panama, there was only a narrow seasonal window for working on the exposed coastline of Barbados.  Ian hired a local fisherman and his panga for transporting us along the reef.  He found only one fisherman willing to take on this job.  No piers or docks were available to board the panga.  So, every morning we needed to swim through the breaking surf to meet the panga beyond the beach.  This involved carrying all of our equipment, heaving it up onto the panga, and then hoisting ourselves over the gunnels.  At the end of the day, we then needed to repeat this exercise to get back onto the beach!  I was amazed at Ian's strength and stamina.  I needed his help on more than one occasion.        

Ian's determination, strength and good nature always amazed me.  It was my distinct privilege to have worked with this great scientist and gentleman.

Best to all, PWGlynn  

-----Original Message-----
From: Coral-List <coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> On Behalf Of Toscano, Marguerite via Coral-List
Sent: Monday, May 18, 2020 6:51 PM
To: Coral List <coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Subject: [Coral-List] Passing of Ian Macintyre

Dear Coral Listers,

I sent this out last week as an official notice of Ian's passing but it seems not to have been posted. Here it is again.

Dear Coral Listers,

It is with great sadness and with permission of his wife, that I inform you of the passing on May 14 of Ian Macintyre, who was a renowned coral reef researcher for almost 50 years, a long standing member of the International Society for Reef Studies (now the International Coral Reef Society), and the former editor of the Atoll Research Bulletin (from 1979-2013). He was a research scientist in the Smithsonian Institution's Department of Paleobiology for 45 years, during which he supported many students and post docs, collaborated with many colleagues and reef enthusiasts, and was one of the founders of the Smithsonian's Caribbean Coral Reef Ecosystem program, centered on the Smithsonian field station on Carrie Bow Cay, Belize (established in 1972), a site he helped identify for this purpose and which continues to provide field support for studies on coral reef and mangrove systems.

According to his wife Vicky, between 1971 and 2012, Ian completed 67 field trips, all involving extensive diving, to pursue his research goal of elucidating Holocene coral-reef history and exploring the internal structure of coral reefs. He pioneered a new approach in the 1970s - a submersible diver-operated hydraulic drill, which sparked similar studies of Holocene reef growth worldwide. He was one of the first to recognize the key role of submarine lithification in coral reefs. His numerous scientific contributions also provided new and important understanding in the areas of sea-level history, bioerosion, diagenesis of reef carbonates, sclerochronology, coral growth in relation to water motion and irradiance fields, skeletal diagenesis in calcareous algae, and the formation of stromatolites, mangrove peat deposits, and algal ridges. He felt that one of the great rewards of his career had been the opportunity to participate in a period of major new discoveries in coral-reef research working with colleagues from multiple disciplines. In addition, Ian spearheaded a move to persuade the U.S. Postal Service to issue coral-reef commemorative stamps in 1980.

In June 1996 Ian became the third recipient of the Charles Darwin Medal presented every four years to a member of the International Society for Reef Studies in recognition of a record of sustained, highly significant contributions to reef studies and the dissemination of scientific knowledge to secure coral reefs for future generations. He also served as president of the society from 1983 to 1986, was geological editor of the society's journal, Coral Reefs, and leader of field trips for the 1977 and 1996 International Coral Reef Symposia.

Ian is survived by his wife, Vicky, three children and seven grandchildren.

I was privileged to work with Ian for almost 20 years, and I know many of you have had long, productive research and personal relationships with him. Please do share your memories of a great man whose true passions included his family, his colleagues, and coral reefs and all who endeavored to understand and protect them.

Marguerite A. Toscano, PhD
Quaternary Marine Geoscientist/Research Associate Editor, Atoll Research Bulletin Smithsonian Institution; SERC National Museum of Natural History, MRC 121 P. O. Box 37012 Washington, DC 20013-7012 toscanom at si.edu<mailto:toscanom at si.edu>
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