John Waterbury
A Green Thumb for Ocean Microbes
Anyone who has tried to grow orchids or keep a bonsai tree alive will tell you that cultivating plants is not always simple. My thesis research absolutely depended on cultivating certain types of “plants” and…
WHOI Scientists Garner Awards in 2013
As the year 2013 ends, we profile scientists who recently received awards and recognition for their work.
Recycling Rare, Essential Nutrients in the Sea
In the vast ocean where an essential nutrient—iron—is scarce, a marine bacterium that launches the ocean food web survives by using a remarkable biochemical trick: It recycles iron. By day, it uses iron in enzymes…
Tracking Nitrogen’s Elusive Trail in the Ocean
Humans often seem to be unable to fix a problem without creating a new one. We invented DDT to kill mosquitoes and stop the spread of malaria, but almost caused the extinction of bald eagles…
A Most Ingenious Paradoxical Plankton
Everybody has a unique place in the world, a job to do, a niche to fill. When you are a tiny phytoplankter, your place is in the ocean, and your job is photosynthesis. Floating in…