WHOI Funding and Awards --> Ocean Institutes

Establishment of the Ocean Institutes at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Robert B. Gagosian
September 8, 2000

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is embarking on the founding of four Institutes that will change the nature of the Institution and perhaps the way enlightened research organizations function in the future. These Institutes will greatly enhance our basic research effort and the pure science at the heart of WHOI's past success. They will increase interdisciplinary activities by convening the best scientists working in oceanography, and establish a global leadership position by addressing issues that affect the future of humanity.

Woods Hole's greatest strength is that our entire focus is oceanography, as opposed to universities, which have diverse and competing goals and needs. The new Institutes will only serve to strengthen what we already do best; they will bring specialists in innovative technologies together with superior scientific minds in a cooperative, interdisciplinary setting, centered on issues concerning the world�s oceans.

At a time when a growing number of people are aware that the oceans play a significant role in the health of the planet, we have an opportunity to act as a direct link between scientists, policy makers, and the concerned public. The demand for knowledge is ever increasing, and our goal is to eliminate lengthy turnover time from science research to readily accessible and useful information. In order to facilitate the communication of new scientific data and analyses to a broader audience, our Institutes will bring together expert scientists and influential public leaders in a broad and constructive forum.

The four Institutes will cover the areas of global climate change, coastal studies, marine life, and deep sea/earth dynamics. Their creation serves a dual purpose: to systematically address pressing scientific and inherently relevant societal questions and to provide funding for basic research that does not fall under the rubric of traditional government sponsorship. The official naming of each Institute has yet to be determined, but after months of conscientious attention to the needs and structure of the current Institution, the internal administrative and financial planning has been accomplished.

Coastal Ocean Institute
The Institute for Coastal Studies will direct its research efforts toward issues con-cerning the shoreline, estuaries, and the ocean out to a depth of approximately 1000 meters. Projects will address the health of estuarial life, the effect of pollution on coastal ecosystems, harmful algal blooms, beach erosion, storm events, and the dynamics of the surf zone. The Institute will work in coordination with our already existing Rinehart Coastal Research Center and include the use of coastal observatories like the one we are constructing on Martha's Vineyard, and platforms such as the planned SWATH vessel.

Deep Ocean Exploration Institute
Deep Sea exploration and Earth Dynamics are the concentration of the fourth Institute. Research will include studies on the geology of the seafloor, deep ocean hydrothermal vents, underwater volcanoes, giant submarine landslides, the geological evolution of the planet, and detecting the presence of oil, gas and mineral resources to determine feasible use. Ocean engineers, geologists, biologists, chemists, and physical oceanographers, will continue to work in cooperation with existing facilities for deep-sea research, such as the National Deep Submergence Lab (NDSL) and the Ocean Bottom Seismometer (OBS).

Ocean and Climate Change Institute
Scientists involved with the Ocean and Climate Change Institute will explore the role of the oceans in the earth’s climate and weather. They will pursue studies of atmospheric variability over short- and long-term periods, ocean circulation and its relation to climate systems, geological and historical records of dramatic climate changes, and the role of human activities in global warming. A major goal will be to improve climate observation and prediction.

Ocean Life Institute
The Ocean Life Institute will focus its attention on the largest environment on Earth and the one with the greatest diversity of life. This Institute is intended to stimulate and support biological research in the deep and open ocean. It will include the exploration of marine habitats and discovery of new species, studying the interactions between living organisms and their exotic environments, unraveling biological evolution, and elaborating on the behavior and biology of marine animals.

Government funding, while essential to our past progress, is becoming increasingly inadequate when it comes to interdisciplinary studies. Federal agencies are set up to direct funds toward research in specific disciplines such as geology, chemistry, physics, and biology. Oceanography necessarily includes research in a multitude of scientific disciplines and engineering in order to truly understand the dynamics of the oceans and the life within them. Although our scientists and engineers have always worked together across department boundaries, the inclusive and focused nature of the Institutes will enhance crucial interaction.

We anticipate that the creation of these four new Institutes could change the way education and research is carried out in the United States. By sponsoring thematically driven symposia, lecture series, seminars, and summer research programs, focused on specific societal issues related to the oceans, we intend to produce a free-thinking atmosphere where interdisciplinary cooperation reigns, training for future oceanographers thrives, and successful communication transpires between the science community and the curious public. Essentially, the Institutes will help to establish the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as the premier leader in oceanographic knowledge and the international hub of scientific research on the oceans. Visits and participation by international scientists, writers and policy makers will advance the cause of oceanographic research worldwide.