Dr. J. Malcolm Shick
Professor of Oceanography and Zoology
School of Marine Sciences
When Dr. Malcolm Shick arrived for a faculty position interview 35-plus years ago, he was whisked (pun intended) directly to a cake decorating class by then Chair of Zoology, Julian Haynes. Thus began a dedicated sojourn of teaching, research, professional and administrative service, service to the visual and performing arts at the University of Maine and culinary/oenological service to his many friends and colleagues who today hold him in high esteem.
Malcolm enjoys the reputation as a rigorous and rigorously prepared, enlightened, and enlightening teacher of undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Marine Sciences. Ever the Renaissance man and champion of a liberal arts education, Malcolm integrates art and music into his marine biology and introductory biology classes. His passion for such integration resulted in a 2008 article in the Art Journal titled “Toward an Aesthetic Marine Biology.” He believes that his students may appreciate this culturally broadening perspective now or will come to appreciate it with their maturity later. Malcolm received the Presidential Research and Creativity Achievement Award in 1992.
Malcolm investigates how marine invertebrates in shallow seas, for example coral reefs, avoid damage from intense ultraviolet radiation and from active forms of oxygen produced by UV radiation. A variety of marine plants and animals have compounds that serve as natural sunscreens, usually produced in animals by algae living within the tissues of the animals, such as sea anemones and corals. Recently, Malcolm and his colleagues have discovered that genes coding production of the UV protectors have been incorporated from the microbes into some species of animals, a breakthrough finding. His collaborative research takes him frequently to Australia, France, and Monaco, where he also serves on the scientific committee of the Centre Scientifique de Monaco. (Somebody has to do it. His friends usually get photographs of exotic meals.) His research has frequently been supported by the National Science Foundation and the National Geographic Society among others, resulting in more than 75 scientific publications and many more in the works!
Malcolm served as chair of the Department of Zoology from 1993 to 1997 and chair of the Department of Biological Sciences from 1997 to 2000. He is an active participant in affairs of the Collins Center for the Arts, currently serving on its advisory board, and the University of Maine Museum of Art.
The University of Maine has been privileged to have Dr. Malcolm Shick as part of its faculty for the past 35 years. Malcolm, thank you and congratulations!