Mary Alice McWhinnie

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Mary Alice McWhinnie (1962)

Mary Alice McWhinnie (born August 10, 1922 in Illinois , † March 17, 1980 in Downers Grove ) was an American biologist and professor at DePaul University . She was one of the pioneers of American Antarctic research . In 1962, she was the first American woman to sail the Antarctic Ocean on a research ship . In 1974 she headed the scientific department at McMurdo Station . She was an internationally recognized expert on Antarctic krill .

Life

Research vessel USNS Eltanin

Mary Alice McWhinnie was born on August 10, 1922, the fourth of six children to David Anthony McWhinnie, Sr. and Ruth Margaret Bran McWhinnie in Illinois.

From 1946 McWhinnie worked at DePaul University, from 1966 to 1968 she took over the management of the biological faculty there. In 1952 she received her doctorate from Northwestern University on The Effect of Colchicine on Reconstitutional Development in Dugesia Dorotocephala .

In 1962, the National Science Foundation selected McWhinnie as the first woman for the United States Antarctic Program . She went on a two-month research trip on the USNS Eltanin , a US Navy freighter that operated as a research vessel on the Antarctic Ocean. There she researched marine invertebrates. In the following ten years she took part in other expeditions, where she led the scientific team on the Eltanin in 1972. For a long time, however, she was denied research on Antarctic soil.

In 1971 and 1972 she finally visited the McMurdo station and in January 1974 she became its scientific director. Together with her assistant, the biologist and nun Mary Odile Cahoon, she spent the Antarctic winter on the station.

From 1975 to 1976 McWhinnie worked in the Palmer station . There she researched the biochemistry and metabolism of Antarctic krill . She became an internationally recognized expert in this field. She undertook a total of eleven research trips to Antarctica, the last one in 1978, often accompanied by her students.

In 1977, she directed the first extensive US study on krill.

McWhinnie fell seriously ill in September 1979 and died in Downers Grove in March of the following year.

Honors

The Advisory Committee on Antarctic Names named McWhinnie Peak in East Antarctic Victoria Land in her honor in 1976 .

In 1980, the Mary Alice McWhinnie Biology Center was named after her on Palmer Station. A laboratory on McMurdo Station also got its name.

Fonts

  • The effect of vitamin D overdosage on the parathyroids of rats. DePaul University, 1946.
  • The Effect of Colchicine on Reconstitutional Development in Dugesia Dorotocephala. , Biological Bulletin, February 1955 vol. 108 no. 1, pp. 54–65 ( online ; PDF; 1.2 MB).
  • with Mary M. Gleason: Histological changes in regenerating pieces of Dugesia dorotocephala treated with colchicine. Biological Bulletin, Vol. 112, No. 3, June 1957, pp. 371-376 ( online ).
  • with Bradley T. Scheer: Blood glucose of the crab Hemigrapsus nudus. Science, July 1958, Vol. 128 no.3315 p. 90.
  • with Sr. PN Saller: Analysis of blood sugars in the crayfish, Orconectes virilis. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology, Volume 1, Issue 2, May 1960, pp. 110-122.
  • The Use of Radioautographic Techniques in the Study of Mineral Metabolism in Animals. The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 29, Jan. 1967, pp. 25-29.
  • with Mary Odile Cahoon Sr., Rosemarie Johanneck: Hormonal effects on calcium metabolism in Crustacea. American Society of Zoologists, 1969, pp. 841-855.
  • with Ralph J. Kirchenberg, Raymond J. Urbanski, Joseph E. Schwarz: Crustecdysone Mediated Changes in Crayfish. American Society of Zoologists, 1972.
  • with Stanisław Rakusa-Suszczewski , MO Cahoon: Respiration of the Antarctic copepod, Rhincalanus gigas. Limnology and Oceanography, American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Vol. 21, No. 5, September 1976, pp. 763-765
  • with CJ Denys: Antarctic marine living resources with special reference to krill, euphausia superba. DePaul University, Chicago 1978.
  • Ross Ice Shelf Project Environmental Impact Statement. University of Virginia Press, 1978
  • with DM Anderson: Major International Polar Research Programs. Advancement of Science, 1978.
  • Polar research: to the present, and the future. Westview Press for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Boulder, Colo., 1978, ISBN 9780891584353 .
  • with CJ Denys: The high importance of the lowly krill. Natural History 89, New York NY, 1980, pp. 66-73.
  • with CJ Denys, PV Angione: Euphausiacea bibliography: A world literature survey. Pergamon Press, New York 1981, ISBN 0-08-024649-4 .

Web links

Commons : Mary Alice McWhinnie  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William James Mills: Exploring Polar Frontiers: A Historical Encyclopedia Volume 1, ABC-CLIO, 2003, ISBN 978-1576074220 , p. 717.
  2. ↑ Gretchen Legler: On the Ice: An Intimate Portrait of Life at McMurdo Station, Antarctica p. 105
  3. ↑ Thomson Gale: McWhinnie, Mary Alice (1922-1980) in Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages 2007
  4. ↑ McWhinnie Peak ( English ) In: Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved May 10, 2013.
personal data
SURNAME McWhinnie, Mary Alice
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American biologist
DATE OF BIRTH August 10, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Illinois
DATE OF DEATH March 17, 1980
Place of death Downers Grove