Press Room
WHAT: Scientists will briefly outline the fisheries problem, and some of the outstanding scientific issues that need to be addressed to manage the recovery of stocks, and once recovered, to manage them in a sustainable way. Also discussed will be some important findings so far from current research programs about major oceanographic and environmental factors affecting our nationA?s fisheries, and the possible impacts of those factors on fisheries management. The briefing will close with a description of new efforts between scientists and fishermen to work together to better understand the nature of fisheries and to provide real-time data for models and management tools. A productive question and answer period is anticipated.
(Washington, DC) Robert B. Gagosian, Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), told the Washington Metropolitan Cable Club today that new technologies are completely changing the way oceanographers do ocean science, and that many problems facing society today can be solved if policymakers and others use this knowledge and technology wisely.
The U.S. Navy’s newest oceanographic survey vessel has been named the USNS MARY SEARS in honor of the long-time Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientist and pioneer in oceanography. Mary Sears (1905-1997) was a guiding force in the development of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and a major force in uniting the world oceanographic community while serving both her community and her country.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) has established an endowed chair in honor of local resident and former WHOI scientist Robert W. Morse of North Falmouth. The new chair was established through funds from the Frederick Gardner Cottrell Foundation in Tucson, Arizona.
A 1975 graduate of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution/Massachusetts Institute of Technology Joint Program in Oceanography will be returning to Woods Hole soon in a new capacity. Dr. Daniel H. Stuermer, a chemical oceanographer who has spent much of his career as a research scientist and in corporate management, will assume the duties of WHOI Director of Development October 1.
The nationA?s first human-occupied deep-sea research submersible, the three-person Alvin, turns 35 on June 5, but the tiny sub keeps on going and going. Making between 175 and 200 dives each year to depths up to 4,500 meters (14,764 feet), the sub set yet another record when it passed Dive #3,400 in late May. Alvin and its support vessel, the 274-foot Research Vessel Atlantis, are at work in the eastern Pacific and will spend the summer diving to the ocean floor off the coast of Washington and Oregon. The ship and sub, part of the U.S. National Deep Submergence Facility operated by WHOI, left their home port at Woods Hole, MA, June 2, 1997 and are not scheduled to return to Woods Hole until October 2000.
Officers of the Corporation Elected May 13, 1999
An active volcano rising more than 4,300 meters (over 14,100 feet) from the ocean floor in the Samoa Islands has been discovered by a team of U.S. scientists, providing more evidence to the scientific debate over the formation of hot spot island chains. The volcano, more than 35 kilometers (about 22 miles) across at its base, rises to within 600 meters (about 2,000 feet) of the surface; its peak is marked by a circular caldera some two kilometers (over 1 mile) across and 400 meters (1,300 feet) deep. It is similar in size to Mt. Whitney in California, the largest mountain in the contiguous 48 U.S. states.
The largest bacterium ever found, a harmless organism that grows as a string of white beads large enough to be visible to the naked eye, has been found in coastal sediments off the coast of Namibia by an international research team. In an article in today’s issue of the journal Science, researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Germany, the University of Barcelona in Spain, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts suggest the new genus and species be named Thiomargarita namibiensis(“sulphur pearl of Namibia”).
John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions, will visit Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) April 23 to discuss potential collaboration and to learn more about deep sea research. His visit will follow meetings earlier in the week with Vice President Al Gore and leaders of Congress in Washington, DC, and an Earth Day lecture on sustainable development at the United Nations in New York City.
Oceanographic cartographer Marie Tharp, co-creator of the first world ocean floor map and co-discoverer of the central rift valley that runs through the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, was honored by the Women’s Committee of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) March 30 with the 1999 Women Pioneers in Oceanography Award.
The North Atlantic northern right whale, considered to be the most endangered large whale species, is headed for extinction unless human intervention improves survival, according to a new study by researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and the University of Massachusetts, Boston (UMASS Boston). Their report, the first to obtain rigorous statistical estimates of survival probability of this population, was published today in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”
Three scientists have been recognized by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) for their contributions to ocean sciences research. Drs. Cheryl Ann Butman of the Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department, David A. Caron of the Biology Department and Brian E. Tucholke of the Geology and Geophysics Department have each been named the recipient of an endowed chair at the Institution. Each chair brings financial support for a period of five years, allowing the recipient the freedom to pursue a variety of career interests.
Daniel E. Frye, Barrie B. Walden and Carl 0. Wirsen have been named recipients of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Senior Technical Staff Awards for their contributions to the development of technology and their efforts to guide younger staff in […]
The Office of Naval Research (ONR) has named Senior Scientist Robert A. Weller and Associate Scientist Steven P. Anderson of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) as recipients of its 1999 Secretary of the Navy/Chief of Naval Operations Oceanographic Research […]
Real-time data on coastal storms, on movement of sand that buries harbor entrances and inlets, and on the impact of winds on shoreline processes will soon be available through a new nearshore observatory planned off the south coast of Martha’s […]
Scientists and engineers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and colleagues have successfully created the first permanent deep ocean seafloor observatory in the United States by connecting a junction box to a retired telephone cable on the seafloor in […]
The U.S. Navy has transferred custody of its deepest-diving submersible, Sea Cliff, to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), operator of the National Deep Submergence Facility for the ocean research community. Capable of diving to 20,000 feet, Sea Cliff is […]
World leaders in fisheries oceanography will give an overview of the current state of the worlds’ fisheries in a symposium hosted by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) on Tuesday, August 25, 1998 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in […]
Global ocean observatories and the link they provide to climate prediction and education was one of the topics of discussion today at the National Ocean Conference in Monterey, CA. Dr. Robert B. Gagosian, Director of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution […]