A lifelong fascination with Antarctica and maps has helped create a new exhibit at the University of Texas at Arlington that traces 500 years of exploration of the remote continent.
Longtime NBC 5 meteorologist David Finfrock began donating his Antarctic map collection to UTA Special Collections in 2023. More than 300 maps, games and pieces of historic memorabilia now make up the exhibit, “Frozen Frontiers: 500 Years of Mapping Antarctica.”
“This tells the whole story of mapping Antarctica so we can actually trace developments over time and see how cultural and scientific discoveries impacted the way we depict Antarctica on a page,” UTA cartographic archivist Madeline Lowry said.
Finfrock’s fascination with Antarctica began long before his more than 50-year career at NBC 5.
“I have been fascinated by Antarctica since I was a kid,” Finfrock said.
As a young letter writer, stamps offered Finfrock a connection to places he had never visited. Collecting stamps eventually led to collecting maps — another interest that would help shape his future.
“I have long been interested in maps; that’s one of the things that led me to become a meteorologist. I got to work with weather maps every day,” Finfrock said.
Some of Finfrock’s earliest maps were his own creations.
“These are actually maps that I drew at the age of 16,” Finfrock said.
Finfrock was born in 1953, at a time when portions of Antarctica remained unexplored.
“I was born in 1953 and at that time parts of Antarctica still had not been explored,” Finfrock said.
In 2002, Finfrock fulfilled his lifelong dream of experiencing Antarctica in person. One encounter with a chinstrap penguin became a particularly memorable part of the trip.
David FinfrockDavid Finfrock
“So I was sitting on a rock, and this chinstrap penguin waddled up about arm’s length from me,” Finfrock said. “And the first day back on the air I wore that beard; some of the viewers said I should keep it, but the news director said no.”
Now, Finfrock’s collection is helping others explore Antarctica without making the expensive journey to the remote continent.
“I wanted the collection to be used for future knowledge,” Finfrock said.
Finfrock’s donated maps, including some that are more than 500 years old, have all been digitized, allowing people around the world to view the collection.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication.