Education

Ph.D. McGill University, 1967
B.S. Queen's University, 1957

Research Interests

I am a carbonate petrologist/sedimentologist whose primary research objective at Smithsonian has been to document the Holocene (postglacial) history of coral reefs and to understand its relation to the planet's most recent rise in sea level. This has been a many-faceted and multidsciplinary exploration encompassing studies of submarine lithification, carbonate diagenesis, the skeletal mineralogy of reef organisms, bioerosion, and Holocene sea-level history. To this end, when I arrived at Smithsonian in the early 1970s, I developed the first submersible hydraulic drill used in the study of reef history. It enabled me-and subsequently, many others-to collect cores from reefs at their entire depth range. This material has provided valuable information on the internal structures of reefs and allowed the scientific community to make enormous strides in its understanding of the depositional history of western Atlantic reefs. Today we not only know how these reefs have coped with rising sea levels, but we have enough data on their accumulation rates to develop computer models indicating which environmental parameters have had the greatest influence on both their survival and demise.

Like all discoveries about our planet, this information has intrinsic scientific value, especially because reef systems play an exceedingly important biologic role, second in complexity to rainforests. Past processes and the past history of coral reefs suggest that reefs are not as fragile as once thought. Indeed, my studies over the past two decades and those of others demonstrate that some reefs have survived catastrophic rises in sea level associated with very rapid pulses of meltwater. Our computer models suggest that even in the face of possible global warming and its hypothesized rises in sea level, coral reefs should survive most scenarios. With the flooding of broad reef flats in the Pacific, they may actually flourish. At the same time, some drastic regional changes-such as the devastation in Belize lagoons caused by white-band disease in the 1980s or bleaching caused by high temperatures in the fall of 1989-are not reflected anywhere in the 3,000-year-old historic record that we have compiled and may be related to human activity. Put succinctly, the total findings of my work confirm that a sound understanding of nature's forces is essential to the preservation and sound management of the world's natural resources. This is not just a mantra of today's scientific community. It is a reality that should be understood by all humankind.

Research Assistants, Current and Former Post-doctoral Fellows, and Students

Post-Doctoral:

• Kenneth A. Rasmussen (1989-1991) Northern Virginia Community College
• R. Pamela Reid (1986-1988) University of Miami
• Richard R. Graus (1976-1977) Northern Virginia Community College

Pre-Doctoral

• Robin G. Lighty (1976)

Positions Held:

• September 1987 - Present. Division Supervisor, Sedimentology.
  Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution.
• September 1982 - September 1987. Chairman, Department of Paleobiology, Smithsonian Institution.
• July 1971 - September 1982. Geologist, Department of Paleobiology,
  Smithsonian Institution.
• July 1970 - July 1971. Research Collaborator, Smithsonian Institution.
• July 1970 - January 1971. CITRE Program Manager, Office of Environmental Sciences, Smithsonian Institution.
• June 1967 - June 1970. Research Staff, Duke University Marine
  Laboratory, Beaufort, North Carolina.
• September 1963 - June 1967. Teaching Assistant, McGill University.
• September 1960 - July 1963. Calgary Division, Shell Canada Ltd.
  Stratigrapher in Exploration Department under L. V. Illing, working
  on the Mississippian of southern foothills belt, Rocky Mountains,
  and on the Devonian of southern Alberta.
• June 1957 - September 1960. Regina Division, Shell Canada, Ltd.
  Stratigrapher in Exploration Department, working on Mississippian
  and Devonian of Williston Basin.
• April 1956 - September 1956. Field Geologist, Shell Canada Ltd.
• April 1955 - September 1955. Field Geologist, Ontario Dept. Mines, Canada

Societies and Editorial Service:

• Council Member - The Atlantic Reef Committee
• Adjunct Professor - Curriculum in Marine Sciences, University of North
  Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC and Dept. of Geology, University of Pennsylvania
• President - International Society for Reef Studies (1983-1986)
• Editorial Referee - for Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and
  Ecology
• Associate Editor, Journal of Sedimentary Petrology (1979-1983)
  Geological Editor - Coral Reefs - Journal of the International Society
  for Reef studies (1981-1993)
• Co-Editor - Atoll Research Bulletin (1982-1993)
• Coordinating Editor - Atoll Research Bulletin (1993-

Honors:

• 1977 Honorable Mention in the Outstanding Paper Award for Journal of Sedimentary Petrology.
• 1994 Honorable Mention for Excellence of Poster Presentation at the 1994 SEPM/AAPG Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado.
• 1996 Darwin Medal from the International Society for Reef Studies at the 8th International Coral Reef Symposium in Panama. This medal is offered every four years to a scientist whose career is distinguished by outstanding contributions to coral-reef research.
• 1997 Key to Metropolitan Dade County, Miami, Florida. Presented by Mayor Alex Penelas "in recognition of Macintyre's research on coral reefs that assists local governments with their plans for conservation".

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Publications

Aronson, R.B., Macintyre, I.G., Precht, W.F., Murdoch, T.J.T., and Wapnick, C.M. 2002. The expanding scale of species turnover events on coral reefs in Belize. Ecological Monographs 72: 233-249.

Macintyre, I.G. 2001. Atoll Research Bulletin Golden Issue 1951-2001. Atoll Research Bulletin 494: 1-272.

Macintyre, I.G., P.W. Glynn, and R.S. Steneck, 2001. A classic Caribbean algal ridge, Holandes Cays, Panama: An algal coated storm deposit. Coral Reefs 20:95-105.

Aronson, R. B, Precht, W. F., Macintyre, I. G., and Murdoch, T.J.T. 2000. Coral bleach-out in Belize. Nature, 4:36.

Aronson, R.B., Precht, W.F., and Macintyre, I.G., 1999. Holocene history of mass mortalities on Caribbean reefs: Abstracts for the A.G.U. 2000 Ocean Sciences Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 24-28, 2000. Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union, v. 80, p. 98.

Macintyre, I.G., 1999. An overview of the Holocene history of Western Atlantic coral reefs: Abstracts for the A.G.U 2000 Ocean Sciences Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, Jan. 24-28, 2000. Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union. v.80, p. 98.

Aronson, R. B., Precht, W. F., and Macintyre, I. G. "Extrinsic control of species replacement on a Holocene reef in Belize: The role of coral disease." Coral Reefs 17:223-230.

Graus, R. R. and Macintyre, I. G. "Global Warming and the future of the Caribbean coral reefs." Carbonates and Evaporites, v. 13:43-47.

Steneck, R. S. and Macintyre, I. G., and Reid, R. P. "A unique algal ridge system in the Exuma Cays, Bahamaas." Coral Reefs 16:29-37.

Macintyre, I. G. "A Diver-operated Submersible Drill for Studying the Geological History of Coral Reefs." In Proceedings of the American Academy of Underwater Sciences 1996 Scientific Diving Symposium (1996): 167-174. Edited by Michael Lang and Carole Baldwin. Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution, 236 pages.

Macintyre, I. G., and Reid, R. P. "Crystal Alteration in a Living Calcareous Alga (Halimeda): Implications for Studies in Skeletal Diagenesis." Journal of Sedimentary Research A65 (1)(1995): 143-153.

Macintyre, I. G., Reid, R. P., and Steneck, R. S. "Growth History of Stromatolites in a Holocene Fringing Reef, Stocking Island, Bahamas." Journal of Sedimentary Research 66 (1)(1996): 231-242.

Macintyre, I. G., and Reid, R. P. "Crystal Alteration in a Living Calcareous Alga (Halimeda): Implications for Studies in Skeletal Diagenesis." Journal of Sedimentary Research A65 (1)(1995): 143-153.

Cortés, J., Macintyre, I. G., and Glynn, P. W. "Holocene Growth History of an Eastern Pacific Fringing Reef, Punta Islotes, Costa Rica." Coral Reefs 13 (2)(1994): 65-73.

Reinthal, P. N., and Macintyre, I. G. "Spatial and Temporal Variations in Grazing Pressure by Herbivorous Fishes: Tobacco Reef, Belize." Atoll Research Bulletin 425 (1994): 1-14.

Macintyre, I. G. "Stromatolites Associated with Coralgal Communities in Holocene High-energy Reefs: Comment." Geology 21 (10)(1993): 955-956.

Macintyre, I. G., Cortés, J., and Glynn, P. W. "Anatomy of a Dying Coral Reef: Punta Islotes Reef, Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica." In Proceedings of the Colloquium on Global Aspects of Coral Reefs: Health, Hazards, and History (1993): 261-266. Compiled by R. N. Ginsburg. Miami, Florida: University of Miami, 420 pages.

Rassmussen, A. K., Macintyre, I. G., and Prufert, L. "Modern Stromatolite Reefs Fringing a Brackish Coastline, Chetumal Bay, Belize." Geology 21 (3)(1993): 199-202.

Macintyre, I. G., Glynn, P. W., and Cotés, J. "Holocene Reef History in the Eastern Pacific: Mainland Costa Rica, Caño Island, and Galápagos Islands." In Proceedings of the Seventh International Coral Reef Symposium, Guam, 1992 2 (1994): 1174-1184. Edited by R. H. Richmond. Mangilao, Guam: University of Guam Press, 1240 pages.

Macintyre, I. G., and Reid, R. P. "Comment on the Origin of Aragonite Needle Mud: a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words." Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 62 (6)(1992): 1095-1097.

Reid, R. P., Macintyre, I. G., and Post, J. E. "Micritized Skeletal Grains in Northern Belize Lagoon: a Major Source of Mg-Calcite Mud." Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 62 (1)(1992): 145-156.

Macintyre, I. G., and Adey, W. H. "Buck Island Bar, St. Croix, USVI: A Reef That Cannot Catch Up With Sea Level." Atoll Research Bulletin (336)(1990): 1-7.

Macintyre, I. G., and Marshall, J. F. "Submarine Lithification in Coral Reefs: Some Facts and Misconceptions." In Proceedings of the 6th International Coral Reef Symposium, Townsville, Australia, 8th-12th August 1988 1 (1989): 263-272. Townsville, Australia: 6th International Coral Reef Symposium Executive Committee, 286 pages.