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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

Lifetime of plastics illustration

Does plastic last for thousands of years in the environment?

March 13, 2025

WHOI marine chemist Collin Ward weighs in on the lifespan of plastics and innovations to address this pollution

The R/V Acadiana

Looking to the Mighty Mississippi for climate solutions

December 16, 2022

Researchers measure alkalinity flowing into the Gulf of Mexico to assess a carbon dioxide removal strategy

Why Indigenous perspectives matter in the climate conversation

November 21, 2022

Wampanoag Tribal Member Leslie Jonas talks WHOI, Native rights, and a timely partnership

The teetering balance of coastal CO2

October 18, 2022

WHOI scientists Matt Long and Aleck Wang explain the incredibly important role of coastal seagrasses and rivers in the global carbon cycle

A ship floats in the the Gulf of Mexico after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (Photo by Kris Krug, Wikimedia Commons)

Sunlight and the fate of oil at sea

September 29, 2022

Danielle Haas Freeman draws on the language of chemistry to solve an oil spill puzzle

News Releases

Van Mooy

Van Mooy awarded fellowship at Southampton, U.K.

June 25, 2013

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) biochemist Benjamin Van Mooy has been awarded one of two inaugural fellowships at the University of Southampton in England. The Diamond Jubilee International Visiting Fellowship was established last year to commemorate the university’s 60th anniversary…

Buesseler

Buesseler Appointed to Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences

May 24, 2013

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Senior Scientist Ken O. Buesseler has been appointed a foreign member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.  Buesseler is one of two foreign members in the 2013 cohort of 17 new members. The…

The Black Sea is a Goldmine of Ancient Genetic Data

May 6, 2013

Black Sea, sediment, genetic data, past climate, Strait of Bosphorus, Liviu Giosan, Marco Coolen, paleo, DNA, dinocysts, dinoflagellate

Scientists Reveal Quirky Feature of Lyme Disease Bacteria

March 21, 2013

Scientists have confirmed that the pathogen that causes Lyme Disease—unlike any other known organism—can exist without iron, a metal that all other life needs to make proteins and enzymes. Instead of iron, the bacteria substitute manganese to make an essential…

Glaciers Contribute Significant Iron to North Atlantic Ocean

March 10, 2013

All living organisms rely on iron as an essential nutrient. In the ocean, iron’s abundance or scarcity means all the difference as it fuels the growth of plankton, the base of the ocean’s food web. A new study by biogeochemists…

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.