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Research Highlights

Oceanus Magazine

The Retreat of the Gualas Glacier

The Retreat of the Gualas Glacier

November 20, 2012

Like many mountain glaciers, the Gualas Glacier in the Patagonian region of Chile has retreated fast during the past century in the face of climate change. But not only for the reason you’d first suspect. The glacier’s retreat—5.5 miles over…

The Glacial Chronicles

The Glacial Chronicles

November 16, 2012

Graduate student Benjamin Linhoff spent several months in the summers of 2011 and 2012 studying a glacier at a remote camp on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Here are some excerpts from his blog describing life and work there. Leaving home—April…

River Quest

River Quest

November 9, 2012

Max Holmes and Bernhard Peucker-Ehrenbrink spend a lot of time upriver—one day bundled in a parka on the icy banks of the Fraser River in Canada, another day paddling in small dugout canoes called pirogues through jungles along the steamy…

Bacteria Exhibit Altruistic Behavior

Bacteria Exhibit Altruistic Behavior

October 25, 2012

When it comes to bacteria protecting themselves, it’s all in the family. A new study shows that marine bacteria can produce antibiotic compounds that kill unrelated bacteria but do not harm their closest relatives. What’s more, only some of the…

Elemental Journeys

Elemental Journeys

October 19, 2012

Humans have changed the face of the Earth by significantly altering the natural movements of chemicals on the planet’s surface, according to a new study by geochemists at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). The scientists analyzed how 77 different elements…

News Releases

Cellulose Diacetate Side by Side

WHOI Scientists Discover Fastest Degrading Bioplastic in Seawater

October 17, 2024

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

WHOI senior scientist named 2024 MacArthur Fellow

October 1, 2024

Benjamin Van Mooy receives “genius grant” for his research on biogeochemical networks and the impacts of climate change on ocean health

Ben Van Mooy and a Sediment Trap

Microbe Dietary Preferences Influence the Effectiveness of Carbon Sequestration in the Deep Ocean

September 13, 2024

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.

Can adding iron to the ocean help it absorb CO2?

September 9, 2024

A newly published article spells out the work needed to assess the potential of ocean iron fertilization as a low cost, scalable, and rapidly deployable method of mCDR.

Open Ocean

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Announces Shift of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement Field Trials to Summer 2025

August 14, 2024

Change was made in response to changing ship availability and to resulting changes in ocean conditions later in the year

News & Insights

Japan releases treated water from ruined nuclear plant

August 24, 2023

WHOI marine radiochemist Ken Buesseler weighs in on the discharge of wastewater from Fukushima

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

Ocean Encounters: Ocean Pollution

March 2, 2022

In case you missed it… From plastic to oil spills, experts discuss ways to control ocean pollution in our last Ocean Encounters

The power of the ocean

December 23, 2021

An op-ed in the national news outlet The Hill by WHOI senior scientist Ken Buesseler reinforces the power and importance of the ocean in carbon dioxide removal strategies

Rapid microbial methanogenesis during CO2 storage in hydrocarbon reservoirs

December 22, 2021