Outreach

In the News

Inner Workings: Research sub buoys prospects for 3D map of marine microbial communities
PNAS
October 27, 2020 A toxic chemical in marine ecosystems turns out to play a beneficial role
EurekAlert AAAS
July 22, 2019 Science Project Goes International
Martha’s Vineyard Times
May 8, 2019 Another threat to the ocean: deoxygenation
UPI
July 6, 2017 Climate change will irreversibly force key ocean bacteria into overdrive
University of Southern California News
September 1, 2015 Vein of Iron in South Atlantic
New York Times
August 26, 2013 Huge iron-rich plume discovered beneath Atlantic Ocean
NBS News Science
August 20, 2013 Newly discovered ocean plume could be major source of iron
WHOI News Release
August 18, 2013

Online Expeditions

Investigating Life without Oxygen in the Tropical Pacific

January 18, 2016 to February 11, 2016
Schmidt Ocean Institute

Genomic and Proteomic Science in Antarctica

November to December 2009
In collaboration with the J. Craig Venter Institute

CORSACS: Controls on Ross Sea Algal Community Structure

November 1 to December 16, 2006
A team of scientists from universities and research institutions from around the world explored the ecosystem of the Ross Sea near the continent of Antarctica.

Recent Research Highlights

Proteomics Reveals Ocean’s Inner Workings

September 4, 2014
In a new study, WHOI scientists have demonstrated how the emerging biomedical technique of measuring proteins-a field called proteomics-can be applied to the ocean to reveal the inner biochemical workings of microbial life and ocean ecosystems.
Source: Oceanus Magazine

Psychotherapy for Plankton

September 9, 2011
Graduate student Erin Bertrand defended her Ph.D. dissertation this week before an advisory committee of scientists. In an article for non-scientists, she explains her research on how essential phytoplankton in the ocean struggle to get enough essential nutrients.
Source: Oceanus Magazine

Recycling Rare, Essential Nutrients in the Sea

January 10, 2011
Just like us, marine bacteria at the base of the ocean food web need iron to live and grow. One key species of bacteria seems to have evolved a way to use iron for photosynthesis by day and then reuse the same iron for different metabolic activities at night.
Source: Oceanus Magazine

Exploring an Icy, Invisible Realm in Antarctica 

October 28, 2009
They may be microscopic in size, but plankton play a starring role in the oceans’ food web and the Earth’s climate. Scientists are just beginning to reveal the rich diversity of life in remote polar seas.
Source: Oceanus Magazine

Growing Marine Plants Need Their Vitamins

June 7, 2007
B₁₂-an essential vitamin for land-dwelling animals, including humans-also turns out to be an essential for marine algae. But its supply is limited in the ocean.
Source: Oceanus Magazine

Galleries

Children’s Books

Antarctic Adventure

by Elizabeth and Mak Saito
Antarctic Adventure is the story of author/scientist Mak Saito’s research expedition to the Southern Continent. The book is targeted at children age 3 – 7. Simple text and stunning photographs highlight the adventure elements of fieldwork in the Antarctic (helicopters, snow storms, wildlife). Children learn where Antarctica is, what algae are, what glaciers look like, and the names of several different whales and penguins. More generally, they get a sense of what it means to do scientific fieldwork. A “Dear Reader” section at the end of the book goes into more detail about the expedition’s research goals, which involve the importance of algae in global biogeochemical cycles.

The book has been donated to a number of libraries and school classrooms in Massachusetts, Ohio, Florida, and Connecticut.  All proceeds from the first printing of the book are being donated to children’s programs in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.

To The Top of the World

by Katie Bowman and Elizabeth Saito
Enterprise Cape Cod article: New Book Takes Elementary School Readers To The Top Of The World