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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

Tracking an Elusive Chemical: Estrogens

Tracking an Elusive Chemical: Estrogens

December 2, 2011

On a crisp October morning, our small boat bobbed gently 10 miles offshore. The sun glinted off the dark blue surface of Massachusetts Bay and directly below us, all of Boston’s sewage was surging into the ocean. Back on shore…

The Ocean's Tiny Chemists

The Ocean’s Tiny Chemists

November 23, 2011

Once as I was flying cross-country over the middle of the United States, the woman in the seat next to me remarked: “You know, in Nebraska when there’s a game in Memorial Stadium, it becomes the third largest city in…

Every Chromatogram Tells a Story

Every Chromatogram Tells a Story

October 12, 2011

Where is this mountainous landscape? Actually, that’s the wrong question. It’s a landscape, all right, but it’s a chemical landscape: You’re looking at oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill. Each colorful peak depicts an individual chemical compound in the oil…

Research Road Trip

Research Road Trip

September 14, 2011

 

Psychotherapy for Plankton

Psychotherapy for Plankton

September 9, 2011

The scene: A diatom is out of its oceanic habitat and on a couch, talking to a therapist. The diatom is stressed. It can’t ever seem to get enough nutrients. And it’s feeling underappreciated …  Diatom: People just don’t seem…

News Releases

USS Arizona provides blueprint for addressing oil leakage at thousands of WWII shipwrecks

October 2, 2025

The findings underscore the USS Arizona’s dual role as a solemn memorial and a “living laboratory.”

Ken Buesseler

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Ken Buesseler receives AGU Honor

September 24, 2025

Buesseler joins a distinguished group of scientists, leaders and communicators recognized by AGU for advancing science.

A new look at an old pollutant

September 2, 2025

A WHOI-led study tracks mercury across the western Pacific

New report highlights plastic pollution as a grave and growing danger to health and announces an independent, health-focused global monitoring system

August 4, 2025

While the impacts of plastic pollution on human health and the environment are growing, the report finds, increasing harm due to plastics is not inevitable.

Award-winning environmental documentary Out of Plain Sight to make Cape Cod debut at the Woods Hole Film Festival

July 17, 2025

Film shares the pivotal role of WHOI-operated underwater vehicles in the discovery of toxic waste dumped off California coast

News & Insights

What happens to natural gas in the ocean?

October 6, 2022

WHOI marine chemist Chris Reddy weighs in on a methane leak in the Baltic Sea

Wave Glider provides gateway to remote exploration

November 10, 2020

WHOI geochemist Chris German pairs an autonomous surface vehicle (ASV) called a Wave Glider with other vehicles to expand research here and on other Ocean Worlds

Sea Dust

Mining ancient dust from the ocean’s loneliest spot

September 24, 2020

Researchers investigate dust from the ocean’s farthest point from land to reconstruct the climactic history of the Southern Hemisphere, and understand how micronutrients have influenced biological productivity in this oceanic desert.

Working from Home: Mallory Ringham

July 2, 2020

WHOI-MIT joint program student outfits her basement to do vital work on a marine carbon sensor

plastics by the numbers

The many lifetimes of plastics

June 15, 2020

Infographics strive to give us a sense of how long plastic goods will last in the environment. But is this information reliable? The findings of a new study from WHOI may surprise you.

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