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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

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

Ocean acidification is no big deal, right?

September 19, 2022

WHOI’s Jennie Rheuban discusses the very real phenomenon of an increasingly acidic ocean and the toll it’s taking on marine life.

News Releases

Dr. Elizabeth B. Kujawinski

ASLO honors Elizabeth B. Kujawinski with the 2024 G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award

February 13, 2024

Woods Hole, Mass. — Each year, the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) honors scientists for their outstanding achievements in aquatic science research, service, and education. The G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award recognizes a mid-career scientist who has […]

Deep Rover underwater

Researchers Studying Ocean Transform Faults, Describe a Previously Unknown Part of the Geological Carbon Cycle

February 12, 2024

Woods Hole, Mass. – Studying a rock is like reading a book. The rock has a story to tell, says Frieder Klein, an associate scientist in the Marine Chemistry & Geochemistry Department at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).

The rocks […]

Southern Ocean

Vitamin B12 adaptability in Antarctic algae has implications for climate change

February 5, 2024

Woods Hole, Mass. – Vitamin B12 deficiency in people can cause a slew of health problems and even become fatal. Until now, the same deficiencies were thought to impact certain types of algae, as well.  A new study examined the […]

A straw in the ocean

Some Plastic Straws Degrade Quicker Than Others, New Study Shows

January 30, 2024

WHOI researchers determine lifetimes of drinking straws in the coastal ocean and develop a prototype bioplastic straw that degrades even faster than paper

Cup lid at the beach

A new way of looking at plastics

January 8, 2024

WHOI researchers develop a new sustainability metric for plastic products

News & Insights

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.

toxins story

Are natural toxins in fish harmful?

May 28, 2020

Marine life has been naturally producing toxic chemicals well before chemical companies were manufacturing PCBs. But are these naturally-produced compounds as harmful as man-made environmental pollutants, and do those pose a human health threat?

Working from Home: Matt Long

May 7, 2020

A marine chemist spends his time at home tinkering on a high-tech buoy in the basement, proving that being homebound doesn’t mean you can’t think big.

Our Radioactive Ocean: Ken Buesseler

April 30, 2020

Ken Buesseler joins the hosts of Future Hindsight Podcast to talk about the safety of the Pacific Ocean, the natural occurrence of radioactivity in our environment, and a citizen scientist project for oceanic testing.

Why Sunlight Matters for Marine Oil Spills

April 30, 2020

A decade of research since the Deepwater Horizon disaster has revealed how sunlight—its importance long understated in oil spill science—substantially alters petroleum floating at the sea surface.