How the Ocean Works
Underneath and Overlooked: Groundwater
Matt Charette has been pulling off the sheetrock in Earth’s basement to reveal a hidden plumbing system that pumps water into the ocean. Rivers carry most of the rain that…
Shifting Tactics in Shifting Shoals
The best-laid plans of scientists often go awry when they actually get into the field.…
A Serendipitous Seafloor Sample
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation. The pillow lava display and coffee…
In Search of the Pink and White Terraces
The dazzling Pink and White Terraces on the shores of Lake Rotomahana at one time…
Exhibit Spotlights Sea Butterflies
Artist Cornelia Kubler Kavanagh is passionate about exploring the ocean’s great unknowns. Via her latest…
Are Jellyfish Populations Increasing?
Delicate but armed, mindless yet unstoppable, jellyfish sometimes appear abruptly near coasts in staggering numbers…
A Newfound Cog in the Ocean Conveyor
A decade into the 21st century, scientists have confirmed the existence of a new and…
To Catch a Hurricane
On Aug. 25, 2011, the line projecting Hurricane Irene’s path up the East Coast barreled…
On the Trail of Mercury in the Ocean
I returned from Hawai’i in mid-December with 700 bottles of seawater. The bottles hold what…
Powerful Currents in Deep-Sea Gorges
On my first major research cruise, the ship was hit by a hurricane. On the…
Searching for Life on the Seafloor
Smaller than a fingernail, like bits of downy red feathers, baby tubeworms cling to a…
Tracking an Elusive Chemical: Estrogens
On a crisp October morning, our small boat bobbed gently 10 miles offshore. The sun…
The Ocean’s Tiny Chemists
Once as I was flying cross-country over the middle of the United States, the woman…
Shifting Sands and Bacteria on the Beach
Most coastal communities in the United States test the water at beaches for the presence…
Once More Unto the Rift
In the beginning, there was the Garden of Eden. It was a lush primordial oasis…
Shallow Water Diving
multimedia, why scientists use SCUBA in shallow water
Another Piece in the Arctic Puzzle
It’s spring again, and while most of us are putting away our winter coats and…
Oil, Microbes, and the Risk of Dead Zones
In the scramble to get to the Gulf of Mexico to study the Deepwater Horizon…
Engineer Par Excellence: Donald Koelsch
Dave Ross should have been sleeping. He was on a research ship in 1975, at…
Of Wings, Waves, and Winds
“Great albatross! The meanest birds Spring up and flit away, While thou must toil to…
Exploring the Arctic in the Midst of Change
Chief Scientist Bob Pickart and his 26-member science team were in the hangar at the…
Stanley Watson
Biologist, businessman, benefactor (Courtesy of WHOI Archives) Institutional buildings are usually named after a person…