Dr. Chris Harvey Clark, Director of UBC Animal Care Services, was appointed an International Fellow of the Explorers Club at its May 19 meeting in New York.

The Explorers Club promotes the scientific exploration of land, sea, air, and space by supporting research and education in the physical, natural and biological sciences. Fellowship is extended to individuals who have significantly contributed to scientific knowledge in the field of geographical exploration or allied sciences.

The newest member of the Canadian chapter of the Explorers Club is a scientist, veterinarian, and underwater cameraman and explorer. A trained marine biologist, Chris is one leading experts in the world on the Greenland Shark, a very large northern shark that has been found deep in the St.Lawrence and Saguenay river systems.  He co-chairs the Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group (GEERG), and has written four research papers in peer-reviewed journals on this mysterious fish.

A veteran of numerous underwater expeditions across Canada and around the world, Chris has filmed numerous underwater films with sponsor Peter Rowe, including Sharks of the Great White North, Canadian Geographic: Sea Otters, Black Harbour, and Angry Planet: Under Pressure. Chris’s next expedition, scheduled for Summer 2012, will survey the wreck of the British warship HMS Raleigh, sunk in Labrador in 1922.

Since its founding in New York City in 1904, the members of the Explorers Club have been responsible for an illustrious series of famous firsts: First to the North Pole, first to the South Pole, first to the summit of Mount Everest, first to the deepest point in the ocean, and first to the surface of the moon. Accomplishments by members and fellows are usually evidenced by scientific publications documenting fieldwork or explorations.

For more information about the Explorers Club, visit www.explorers.org.