Research Highlights
News Releases
WHOI’s 11th President and Director Peter de Menocal. (Photo by Daniel Hentz, © Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) Dr. Peter de Menocal, President and Director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution of has been named a Fellow of the American Association for...
Intense tropical cyclones are expected to become more frequent as climate change increases temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. But not every area will experience storms of the same magnitude. New research from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) published in...
Research simulates dramatic climate impacts for future Antarctic ice sheet melt In a new climate modeling study that looked at the impacts of accelerated ice melt from the Antarctic Ice Sheet (AIS) on future climate, a team of climate scientists...
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) scientists appear in two shorts and a feature film at this year’s Woods Hole Film Festival (WHFF). In addition, scientists will also participate in Q&A sessions connected to three of the festival’s feature-length, ocean-themed entries....
Scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) reveal how microorganisms could survive in rocks nestled thousands of feet beneath the ocean floor in the lower oceanic crust, in a study published on March 11 in Nature. The first analysis of...
A new study by scientists from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) and colleagues shows for the first time how massive flood events in the eastern North Pacific Ocean—known as the Missoula Floods—may have in part triggered abrupt climate changes in...
Researchers from Utrecht University in the Netherlands, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and colleagues found that delta areas worldwide have actually gained land in the past 30 years, despite river damming. However, recent land gains are unlikely to last throughout...
The essential roles that microbes play in deep-sea ecosystems are at risk from the potential environmental impacts of mining, found a new paper by researchers at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), and colleagues. The study...
New research from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) published Aug. 19, 2019, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science provides evidence of the formation and abundance of abiotic methane—methane formed by chemical reactions that don’t involve organic matter—on...
Agency funds five-year effort to understand the potential for life in outer solar system and establishes a new Network for Ocean Worlds The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will invest in a major new research program headquartered at the...
Oceanus Magazine
Finding answers in the ocean In times of uncertainty, the deep sea provides potential solutions By Elise Hugus | November 9, 2020 Deep-sea hydrothermal vents harbor diverse microbes whose enzymes can be used in diagnostic tests, like the ones to detect the novel...
On October 1, 2020, Peter de Menocal assumed the role of President & Director of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the 11th person to hold that title since the Institution was founded in 1930. In a wide-ranging conversation, we meet the...
Celebrating anoceanographic life By Véronique LaCapra Arthur (Art) Maxwell was more than a brilliant ocean scientist: He was a generous, approachable leader who cared deeply about his colleagues and students. “Art was a legend, a mentor, and a trusted friend,”...
Oceans of Change WHOI scientists learn how the ocean shapes—and is shaped by—global climate By Madeline Drexler (Photo by Simon Buchou on Unsplash) “THE SEA NEVER CHANGES, AND ITS WORKS, FOR ALL THE TALK OF MEN, ARE WRAPPED IN MYSTERY.”...
Corals are under a lot stress these days—from pollution, overfishing, sea level rise, warmer seawater temperatures, and the increasing acidity of the oceans. Among these stressors, the impact of ocean acidification is often the most insidious and difficult to detect....
A newborn coral—shaped like a very tiny grain of rice—drifts through the open ocean. It gets one chance to choose a home where it might survive. After settling down, it never moves again. If it finds the right place, the...
“Wait a minute. What is that?” It was February 1977, and Robert Ballard, a marine geologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), sat aboard the research vessel Knorr 400 miles off the South American coast, staring at photos before him....
Board a ship in Los Angeles and head southwest until you lose sight of land. Then keep going, and going, and going, until you reach the middle of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean. There’s nothing to see there but water...
On Aug. 30, 2017, as the morning sun rose over the dusty savanna of West Africa, few were aware that the rustling breeze announced the birth of a terrifying but still unknown event. Who amongst us would recognize the gentle...
Scientists know that gradually rising ocean temperatures can push corals past a threshold and cause them to bleach. But combine this chronic stress with an acute short-term weather shift, and the amplified impacts can be sudden and devastating. That’s what...
