View of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Marine Biological Laboratory buildings in the Woods Hole village of Falmouth, on Cape Cod
From The New England Council (newenglandcouncil.com)
Researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) recently received funding to study vital processes that help maintain the health of the ocean and the planet. Scientists Dan Repeta and Benjamin Van Mooy received two grants totaling $2.7 million from the Simons Foundation.
Repeta’s research will focus on phosphorus, iron and nitrogen, the nutrients that fuel microbial cycles in the ocean. Van Mooy’s research will focus on understanding the carbon and energy flow through the microbial food web. Both projects will use samples and data collected from Station ALOHA, a six-mile circle north of Hawaii, an important hub for oceanographic study. The Simons Foundation funding will also support further research into the mesopelagic zone, which plays a major role in sequestering the oceans carbon.
“We are grateful for the generous support of the Simons Foundation for basic research that is the fundamental underpinning of our knowledge of the ocean,’’ said Richard Murray, WHOI deputy director and vice president for Research. “Understanding elemental ocean processes is the equivalent of understanding the human body’s basic workings. Without this information, we cannot understand, or protect, our ocean’s and planet’s health.”
The New England Council commends the WHOI for its advances in the world of oceanographic studies and congratulates Dan Repeta and Benjamin Van Mooy on this award. Read more at News from WHOI.
