About the Center

The Francis E. Fowler IV Center for Ocean and Climate is dedicated to the pursuit of new knowledge and solutions at the intersection of oceanography and climate science. Based at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the Center supports interdisciplinary science, ocean, and climate research as well as communications and policy engagement.

This support is provided through fellowships for established scientists to pursue climate-related research. The Center also supports efforts to engage the WHOI community widely in climate science and discussions as well as engage the public and policymakers around ocean and climate issues.

An extraordinarily generous commitment from Francis E. Fowler IV in April 2021 enabled the activities of the Center to commence immediately and paved the way to its establishment as a permanent center of excellence in ocean-climate research.

Leadership

Dr. Christopher Piecuch, Director

Dr. Christopher Piecuch provides vision and leadership for the Francis E. Fowler IV Center for Ocean and Climate. He is tenured Associate Scientist in the Physical Oceanography Department at WHOI and faculty in the MIT-WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography and Applied Ocean Science and Engineering. His research advances understanding of the causes and consequences of global and regional sea-level change. Piecuch has collaborated widely as a member of state, national, and international science teams on a range of topics in sea-level science, resulting in >80 publications in leading peer-reviewed journals. He has engaged heavily in outreach to nonscientific audiences, having appeared in major media outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and National Public Radio; briefed the Office of the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate and Office of Global Change; spoken at a range of museums, schools, and libraries; and convened panel discussions on coastal risk and sea-level rise geared towards policy makers at the United Nations Climate Change Conferences in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt and Dubai, UAE. Piecuch was selected for the Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2026.