WHOI Director of Research to Join Mass. Governor Patrick on Innovation Economy Mission to Brazil

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November 17, 2011

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Executive Vice President and Director of Research Larry Madin will join Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and a coalition of business executives, academic leaders, and government officials on the Massachusetts–Brazil Innovation Economy Mission 2011 this December to pursue job growth and economic development partnerships between Massachusetts and Brazil.

Madin will contribute his expertise to help the delegation assess economic development opportunities that encourage Brazilian companies to invest and create jobs in Massachusetts. During the trip, Madin will take part in roundtables, company visits, and meetings with government and business officials.

“I am pleased to be accompanying the governor and his delegation to Brazil, and look forward to discussions with my counterparts in industry and academia there,” said Madin. “WHOI’s capabilities in ocean science, marine technology and deepwater operations could lead to valuable new opportunities for cooperation in Brazil that will benefit our community in Massachusetts.”

“We are committed to competing for every job in every corner of the Commonwealth, and the world,” said Governor Patrick. “To continue our recovery, we need to position Massachusetts for success in growing markets like Brazil, to drive job growth and catalyze international investment.”

From December 4-9, 2011, Madin will join the Governor’s delegation during stops in Brasilia, Sao Paulo, and Rio de Janeiro, visiting Brazilian companies, universities and government leaders — highlighting all that Massachusetts has to offer to Brazil.

In 2010, bilateral trade between Massachusetts and Brazil topped $475 million – representing more than $396 million in exports to Brazil and more than $80 million in imports to Massachusetts.

The mission will explore growth opportunities within Massachusetts’ innovation-based industries and areas of common interest between the state’s established and emerging partners in Brazil.

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About WHOI
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is a private, independent organization in Falmouth, Mass., dedicated to marine research, engineering, and higher education. Established in 1930 on a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences, its primary mission is to understand the ocean and its interaction with the Earth as a whole, and to communicate a basic understanding of the ocean’s role in the changing global environment.

About Dr. Larry Madin
Larry Madin is a senior scientist and the executive vice president and director of research at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.  Raised in northern California, Madin received his AB degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and his PhD from UC Davis. His main research interests are in the biology of oceanic and deep-sea zooplankton, particularly medusae, siphonophores, ctenophores and pelagic tunicates.  He was among the first biologists to use SCUBA and submersibles to study oceanic plankton in the early 1970s. Some of his recent research has been on the population dynamics and biogeochemical effects of salp blooms in the Antarctic and elsewhere, distribution of macro-plankton and fishes in the Arabian Sea, biodiversity of oceanic plankton in the Sargasso Sea, and development of new instrumentation for sampling and exploration. Dr. Madin was previously the chair of the WHOI Biology Department, and director of the WHOI Ocean Life Institute. He has continuing interests in the biodiversity, ecology, evolution and conservation of oceanic animals, and in the impacts of climate on marine ecosystems.