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Research Highlights

WHOI in the News

The Lungs of the Earth: Shifting a Metaphor from Superstition to Science

October 13, 2020
In a new article in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Aria Ritz Finkelstein and Oceanographer Emeritus Porter Hoagland address the discourse surrounding ocean deoxygenation. They argue that, while describing deoxygenation with sloppy policy metaphors can hinder effective marine governance, using well-constructed metaphors can help clarify ways that policymakers can effectively address the problem.

The $500 Billion Question: What’s the Value of Studying the Ocean’s Biological Carbon Pump?

September 15, 2020

new paper published in the journal Science of the Total Environment from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) puts an economic value on the benefit of research to improve knowledge of the biological carbon pump and reduce the uncertainty of ocean carbon sequestration estimates.

Marine Labs on the Water’s Edge Are Threatened by Climate Change

January 17, 2020

At the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts, Robert S.C. Munier, the vice president for marine facilities and operations, said that the facility was feeling the effects of climate change already in a battering of the existing dock.

The Ocean’s Eerie Twilight Zone is in Murky Legal Water

September 5, 2019

“The most striking thing is just how far down it is and how the light dissolves away,” says Joel Llopiz, a biologist with Woods Hole Oceanographic.

The Lawless High Seas May Soon Gain Protections Under a Groundbreaking Ocean Treaty

August 20, 2019

The high seas are legally defined as waters that don’t fall under any single nation’s exclusive economic zone. That means they technically belong to everyone. It also means they’re hard to protect against activities like fishing or mining because they’re beyond any single nation’s jurisdiction, explained Porter Hoagland, a senior research specialist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Oceanus Magazine

Measuring the great migration

September 23, 2021

A bioacoustic mooring will use sound to help estimate life migrating in the ocean’s twilight zone as part of a new long-term observation network in the Atlantic

Uncharted Water

Uncharted Waters

July 16, 2020

Our global ocean will change dramatically over the next few decades. What might it look like, and how will humans adapt?

Forecasting the Future of Fish

Forecasting the Future of Fish

October 29, 2015

How can we weigh all the interrelated factors involved in managing a critical ocean resource? Oceanus magazine experiments with a graphic article to help explain a complex issue.

Recovering After a Hurricane

Recovering After a Hurricane

October 1, 2014

Summer Student Fellow Maya Becker studied how vulnerable four coastal communities were to major hurricanes—and how fast they recovered.

A Summer of Science by the Sea, 2014 (Part II)

A Summer of Science by the Sea, 2014 (Part II)

October 1, 2014

Every summer since 1959, undergraduates from around the world have come to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution for a program to learn about ocean science and conduct research under the guidance of WHOI scientists. Read the second and final installment of…

News Releases

U.S Naval Academy (USNA) vessels dock at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)

July 16, 2021

Woods Hole, WHOI campus now a stop on the USNA summer sailing team’s route On Friday, July 15, five USNA sailing vessels carrying a total of 50 U.S. Navy personnel docked at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s waterfront facilities, the first…

WHOI and NOAA Release Report on U.S. Socio-economic Effects of Harmful Algal Blooms

April 7, 2021

Woods Hole, Mass. – Harmful algal blooms (HABs) occur in all 50 U.S. states and many produce toxins that cause illness or death in humans and commercially important species. However, attempts to place a more exact dollar value on the…

WHOI receives NOAA awards to study, predict harmful algal blooms

October 6, 2020

Projects will help enhance monitoring and determine socioeconomic impacts of blooms nationwide Researchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) were recently named in a list of 17 new research projects funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to…

The $500 billion question: what’s the value of studying the ocean’s biological carbon pump?

September 10, 2020

A new study puts an economic value on the benefit of research to improve knowledge of the biological carbon pump and reduce the uncertainty of ocean carbon sequestration estimates.

WHOI Scientists Make Woods Hole Film Festival Appearance

July 17, 2020

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.…

News & Insights

Calling all scientists!

December 8, 2021

We’re hiring up to 10 scientific, tenure-track staff to join the WHOI community

Harriet Harden-Davies is on the frontlines of ocean policy

March 25, 2021

Harriet Harden-Davies has spent more than 10 years working in the marine policy arena and is now aiding in major U.N. negotiations on laws governing the high seas

A canoe sits idle in Ulukhaktok, one of several Arctic Inuit communities trying to cope with food insecurity rates that are estimated to be five times the level of food insecurity measured for households in Canada. (Photo by Paul Labn, Oceans North)

Hunger in the Arctic prompts focus on causes, not symptoms

November 5, 2020

As Arctic Inuit communities try to cope with extreme food insecurity, researchers look for answers

Uncharted Water

Uncharted waters

July 16, 2020

Our global ocean will change dramatically over the next few decades. What might it look like, and how will humans adapt?

right whale video

WHOI joins effort to accelerate marine life protection technology

April 22, 2020

WHOI has teamed up with Greentown Labs and Vineyard Wind to launch the Offshore Wind Challenge. The program, which is also partnering with New England Aquarium, calls on entrepreneurs to submit proposals to collect, transmit, and analyze marine mammal monitoring…