Research Highlights
Oceanus Magazine
Just how long does plastic last in the environment—and how can we innovate new materials to address the problem moving forward? WHOI marine chemist Collin Ward weighs in.
Researchers measure alkalinity flowing into the Gulf of Mexico to assess a carbon dioxide removal strategy
Wampanoag Tribal Member Leslie Jonas talks WHOI, Native rights, and a timely partnership
WHOI scientists Matt Long and Aleck Wang explain the incredibly important role of coastal seagrasses and rivers in the global carbon cycle
Danielle Haas Freeman draws on the language of chemistry to solve an oil spill puzzle
News Releases
Her research focuses on advancing our fundamental understanding of chemistry inspired by marine processes that challenge our current chemical knowledge.
Fellows are elected annually through a highly selective, peer-review process, based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions.
A new version of CDA was found to be the fastest degrading bioplastic material tested in seawater and is a promising replacement for other long-lasting foam plastic materials.
Benjamin Van Mooy receives “genius grant” for his research on biogeochemical networks and the impacts of climate change on ocean health
A series of seemingly small processes helps carry carbon dioxide from the ocean’s surface to the deep sea, where it can be stored away for decades.
News & Insights
Shellfish aquaculture is thriving in New England, but future growth in the industry could be stunted as coastal waters in the region become more acidic. Researchers at WHOI have developed a way to link nutrient load reductions to improvements in the health of Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, which may an important step toward cleaner and less acidic harbors in the Baystate.
Bernhard Peucker-Ehrenbrink has been studying rivers around the world as part of the Global Rivers Observatory network to observe how natural and human-caused environmental changes affect the composition of river water over time.
After 175,000 gallons of oil spilled from a barge that ran aground along West Falmouth Harbor, the contaminant has all but disappeared, save a small marsh inlet that continues to serve as a living laboratory for scientists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
“When hydrothermal vents were discovered in 1977, it very much flipped biology on its end,” says Julie Huber, an oceanographer who studies life in and below the seafloor at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) on Cape Cod. “People knew that organisms could live off of chemical energy, but they didn’t imagine they could support animal ecosystems.”
Scientists like Dr. Huber have continued to study those chemical-munching microbes. And it turns out, she says, a diverse set of microbes can be really good at making a living where the sun doesn’t shine. They make use of the chemicals available to them, even at some of the harshest vents, known as black smokers.
WHOI chemist and marine radioactivity expert shares his thoughts about radioactivity waste leaking from Runit Dome—a bomb crater filled with radioactive soil in the Marshall Islands that is now being penetrated by rising sea levels