Campaign for Our Ocean Planet accelerates ocean science and solutions at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

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Woods Hole, Mass. (Oct. 19, 2026) — The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) marked the one-year anniversary of the public launch of its Campaign for Our Ocean Planet with the announcement of a record year in philanthropic support for ocean science and solutions. “We are thrilled to acknowledge more than $110 million in new philanthropic commitments secured over the past 12 months,” said Campaign Chair and WHOI Trustee Sarah Johnson. “The philanthropic community is stepping up in a major way and helping to ensure continued leadership in ocean research, engineering, and education.”

These results include four transformative gifts of $10 million or more since October 17, 2025, including:

• A $10 million grant from an anonymous Boston-area foundation to support critical upgrades to WHOI’s dock facility, ensuring that ocean scientists from WHOI and elsewhere will continue to have access to the sea for decades to come.
• A $20 million gift from Michael and Georgette McConnell to establish the McConnell Flagship Initiative for Ocean-Climate Solutions.
• A $10 million gift from The Diller – von Furstenberg Family Foundation to advance public awareness of and support for ocean issues.
• A $25 million gift to establish the Schiller Center for Reef Solutions from Phil Schiller and Kim Gassett-Schiller.

In addition to these eight-figure contributions, WHOI has secured ten new $1 million - $5 million commitments, totaling nearly $22 million over the past year.

Altogether, the Campaign has secured more than $510 million in new philanthropic commitments since its stealth launch in 2021, building significant momentum around WHOI’s efforts to expand the frontiers of ocean discovery and technology, protect ocean wildlife and ecosystems, confront challenges such as ocean pollution and climate change, inform smart ocean policies, and support the interests of millions of people who depend on the ocean for their lives and livelihoods.

“These new gifts, and the collective impact of our Campaign efforts, reflect the extraordinary breadth of what is possible when philanthropy invests in ocean science,” said Peter de Menocal, President and Director of WHOI. “Each of these new commitments contributes materially to advancing WHOI’s mission to understand the ocean and unlock its potential for humanity. Together, they strengthen the scientific enterprise needed to understand our changing ocean and meet the challenges ahead.”

The WHOI dock project

WHOI is replacing its 60-year-old Iselin Marine Facility dock on Water Street with the Complex for Waterfront Access to Exploration and Research (CWATER), to support research ships, autonomous underwater vehicles, equipment testing, and dive operations.

McConnell Flagship Initiative for Ocean Climate Solutions

The McConnell Flagship Initiative for Ocean Climate Solutions is a major effort focused on advancing the science and technology needed to responsibly evaluate marine carbon dioxide removal and address the challenges of measurement, reporting, and verification that stand in the way of scaling solutions in this area. The $20 million initiative will also provide strategic leadership and coordination across WHOI’s related research, technology development, and external collaborations, while providing resources to advance emerging ideas.

The four-year initiative is organized around three components:

• Leadership: A dedicated team to guide strategy, coordinate research and partnerships, and connect scientific work with policy, communications, and broader collaboration.
• The Moonshot: High-risk, high-reward research and technology development focused on next-generation tools for monitoring marine carbon dioxide removal, including new approaches to ocean sensing, observation, and autonomous platforms.
• The Innovation Engine: Flexible funding to support promising ideas, accelerate emerging research, and help turn innovative ideas into new research and technology opportunities.

“We are thrilled to be able to support innovative research, technology, and field studies at the frontier of this important field of research,” said Michael McConnell. “This generation owes it to our children and grandchildren to do what we can, and the opportunity to work with WHOI to develop safe and scalable ocean-based climate interventions is truly exhilarating.”

The Diller – von Furstenberg Ocean Project: putting the ocean at the center of public conversation

A $10 million philanthropic commitment from The Diller – von Furstenberg Family Foundation will establish The Diller – von Furstenberg Ocean Project, a concerted, multi-pronged effort to increase public engagement around the ocean and its potential to help address planet-scale challenges. This is one of the largest gifts ever recorded to advance ocean science communications.

The project will serve as a bridge between WHOI’s world-class ocean science and the broader public sphere, expanding the reach and relevance of its work, making the ocean more visible, and making complex science more accessible and compelling.

The seven-year project will draw on WHOI’s distinctive combination of science, engineering, marine operations, communications, and public engagement to translate scientific knowledge into compelling stories and opportunities for connection.

Key goals of the Diller – von Furstenberg Ocean Project include:

• Visibility: Bringing the importance and wonder of the ocean into public view.
• Engagement: Creating deeper connections between people and the ocean.
• Thought leadership: Bringing ocean science into public conversations and decisions.
• Sustaining impact: Building lasting capacity for ocean engagement.

“If we want to protect our planet, we have to change how we see the ocean,” explained de Menocal. “The ocean must move from the edge of the map to the center of conversations on science, sustainability, and solutions.”

Schiller Center for Reef Solutions

The WHOI Schiller Center for Reef Solutions is a new, institution-wide virtual center designed to accelerate innovative science, technology, and interventions to help protect and restore coral reef ecosystems worldwide. Phil Schiller and Kim Gassett-Schiller pledged one of the largest philanthropic commitments in WHOI’s history, and the largest dedicated to coral reefs, to establish the center with a goal of sustaining long-term scientific leadership and innovation. The Center will bring together expertise from scientists and engineers from across WHOI working in robotics, data science, chemistry, ecology, physics, acoustics and other areas of coral reef-related science and technology development, including marine policy, and build on decades of leadership in labs, on reefs, and in communities worldwide.

Tens of thousands of gifts, one ocean

Since January 2021, more than 60,000 gifts and grants have been made in support of the Campaign for Our Ocean Planet. Together they illustrate a groundswell of public support for ocean science, engineering, and education.

“Solving our ocean planet’s biggest challenges requires more than one source of investment,” said Sam Harp, WHOI’s Vice President of Advancement and Chief Marketing Officer. “Meeting the moment requires sustained investment from government agencies with ocean science and technology mandates, such as the National Science Foundation, NASA, NOAA, and the US Navy. It also requires visionary and transformational giving from major philanthropists, foundations, and private companies. And it requires the support of thousands of individual advocates and donors who help advance our mission in myriad ways.”

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About Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ocean research, exploration, and education. Founded in 1930, WHOI combines science, engineering, and marine operations to understand the ocean and its role in the Earth system and to advance solutions to challenges facing the ocean and society. WHOI scientists and engineers investigate the ocean from the seafloor to the atmosphere, developing technologies and knowledge that expand our understanding of the planet and help address pressing environmental challenges.