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Press Room

WHOI Receives $500,000 Gift from the Green Foundation

March 25, 2004

Philanthropist and Texas Instruments co-founder Cecil H. Green took special pleasure in giving away more than $200 million during his 102 years, a portion of it to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). His generosity to WHOI continues after his death with the announcement of a $500,000 gift from The Cecil and Ida Green Foundation.

Scott Doney

WHOI Scientist Selected As Leopold Leadership Fellow

March 19, 2004

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Scientist Scott Doney has been chosen one of 20 academic environmental scientists from throughout the U.S. and Guam for a 2004 Leopold Leadership Fellow.

For ALVIN its 40 and 4,000 in 2004!

March 1, 2004

ALVIN, the nation’s only deep-diving human occupied submersible, will mark a number of milestones in 2004. In April, the sub, currently at work in the eastern Pacific, is expected to make Dive #4,000. In early June, the sub will celebrate…

Ocean Observatories: A Presence in the Ocean 24/7

March 1, 2004

The growing number of ocean observatories in both coastal and deep waters around the country are providing scientists with a presence in the ocean 24 hours a day seven days a week. WHOI has built and deployed a number of…

VERTIGO: Carbon Cycling in the Twilight Zone

March 1, 2004

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists and their international colleagues will be at sea off Hawaii in June trying to learn more about the ocean’s ability to store atmospheric carbon dioxide. Its all part of a new two-year program called…

WHOI Chosen One of Top 10 Places for Postdocs to Work

February 23, 2004

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is one of the ten best places to work for postdoctoral researchers, according to a recent survey of readers of the magazine The Scientist. WHOI ranked eighth in the top ten US institutions.

New Study Reports Large-scale Salinity Changes in the Oceans

December 17, 2003

Tropical ocean waters have become dramatically saltier over the past 40 years, while oceans closer to Earth’s poles have become fresher, scientists reported today in the journal Nature. Earth’s warming surface may be intensifying evaporation over oceans in the low latitudes–raising salinity concentrations there–and transporting more fresh water vapor via the atmosphere toward Earth’s poles.

New Hybrid Vehicle Will Enable U.S. Scientists to Reach Deepest Parts of the World Ocean Floor

December 9, 2003

For the first time since 1960, US scientists will be able to explore the deepest parts of the world’s oceans, up to seven miles below the surface, with a novel underwater vehicle capable of performing multiple tasks in extreme conditions. Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) are developing a battery-powered underwater robot to enable scientists to explore the ocean’s most remote regions up to 11,000 meters (36,000-feet) deep.

New Piston Corer Will Give U.S. Scientists their Deepest Reach into Sea Floor

December 8, 2003

The longest piston coring system in United States will be built at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, allowing scientists to sample ancient sediment on the sea floor that is potentially rich with information about ocean and climate history.

Scientists Report New Type of Mid-Ocean Ridge in Remote Parts of the Earth

November 26, 2003

Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) have identified a new type of ocean ridge that is spreading so slowly that Earth’s mantle is exposed over large regions of the sea floor. Their findings of a new ultraslow class of ridge, reported in the November 27 issue of the journal Nature, offer a major change in thinking about the formation of the great crustal plates that make up the surface of the earth.

Formation of Lava Bubbles Offers New Insight into Seafloor Formation

November 17, 2003

Scientists studying the formation of the sea floor thousands of feet below the surface have a new theory for why there are so many holes and collapsed pits on the ocean bottom. In a recent article in the journal Nature, the researchers say the holes and pits of various sizes are probably formed by lava erupting onto the seafloor so quickly it traps water beneath it, forming bubbles of steam that eventually collapse as the water cools. The hardened crust then breaks, forming pock marks and glassy black plates of ocean crust with stalactites on their underside.

New Science Channel Program Features WHOI Underwater Vehicles

October 29, 2003

A number of remotely operated and autonomous underwater vehicles developed and operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) to explore the world’s oceans are featured in the new television program “Robots of the Deep,” scheduled for national premier on the Science Channel Friday, November 7, at 9 p.m. EST.

Two Journalists Honored with New WHOI Ocean Science Journalism Award

October 8, 2003

Two veteran journalists today received the first Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Ocean Science Journalism Award for their contributions to the public understanding of oceanography. The award, which comes with a $5,000 cash prize and memento, was presented in two categories, print and broadcast journalism, at ceremonies at the Asia Society and Museum in New York City.

Geological Tool Helps Scientists Map the Interior of the Ocean

August 7, 2003

A new application of a decades-old technique to study Earth’s interior is allowing scientists “see” the layers in the ocean, providing new insight on the structure of ocean currents, eddies and mixing processes. The findings, reported in this week’s Science by a team from the University of Wyoming and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), could be a major step forward in the ability to remotely survey the interior of the ocean.

New Imaging Vehicle Maps Coral Reefs to Determine Health of Reef and Fisheries

July 24, 2003

Deepwater coral reefs in the US Virgin Islands may occupy a much larger area and be in better health than previously thought, based on evidence gathered by a new autonomous underwater vehicle which flies through the sea like a helicopter.

New Location of Deep Convection May Exist in North Atlantic

July 16, 2003

Deep convection, or mixing, of ocean waters in the North Atlantic, widely thought to occur in only the Labrador Sea and the Mediterranean, may occur in a third location first proposed nearly 100 years ago by the explorer and oceanographer Fridtjof Nansen. The findings, reported this week in the journal Nature, may alter thinking about the ocean’s overturning circulation that affects earth’s climate.

Cruise to Top of the World Reveals New Insights into Formation of Earth’s Crust

June 26, 2003

Volcanoes on the floor of the Arctic ocean and fissures that reach directly to Earth’s mantle are findings published in today’s issue of Nature that present new ideas on the formation of Earth’s crust.

WHOI Chemist and Dean to Receive 2003 Ketchum Award

June 25, 2003

Dr. John Farrington, a chemical oceanographer who conducted pioneering research on petroleum in the marine environment and the mobility of contaminants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in seafloor sediments, will receive the 2003 Bostwick H. Ketchum Award from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

Scientists Explore New England Seamounts for Clues to Climate Change

June 5, 2003

Scientists are exploring the New England Seamounts, a chain of extinct, undersea volcanoes about 500 miles off the east coast of North America, searching for clues to climate change in deep sea corals. The public can join the expedition via the web at http://www.divediscover.whoi.edu.

Amy Bower

WHOI Scientist Honored As Blind Employee of the Year in Massachusetts

May 15, 2003

Dr. Amy Bower of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) will be honored today with the Thomas J. Carroll Award for Employment as Blind Employee of the Year in Massachusetts by The Carroll Center for the Blind in Newton, MA.