Editing Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (section)

==History==
[[File:RVAtlantis.jpg|thumb|[[RV Atlantis|R/V ''Atlantis'']], the first [[research vessel]] operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, pictured here in 1955 near the [[Virgin Islands]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Historical Photos |url=https://www.whoi.edu/multimedia/historical-photos/ |website=Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |publisher=Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |access-date=August 29, 2023}}</ref>]]
In 1927, a [[United States National Academy of Sciences|National Academy of Sciences]] committee concluded that it was time to "consider the share of the United States of America in a worldwide program of oceanographic research." The committee's recommendation for establishing a permanent independent research laboratory on the East Coast to "prosecute oceanography in all its branches" led to the founding in 1930 of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.<ref name="whoi_history">{{Cite web
|url=http://www.whoi.edu/main/history-legacy
|title=History and Legacy
|work=whoi.edu
|publisher=Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
|access-date=15 December 2012
}}</ref>

A $2.5 million grant from the [[Rockefeller Foundation]] supported the summer work of a dozen scientists, construction of a laboratory building and commissioning of a research vessel, the {{convert|142|ft|m|adj=on}} ketch {{Ship|RV|Atlantis||2}}, whose profile still forms the institution's logo.<ref name="whoi_history"/>

WHOI grew substantially to support significant defense-related research during World War II, and later began a steady growth in staff, research fleet, and scientific stature. From 1950 to 1956, the director was Dr. [[Edward H. Smith (sailor)|Edward "Iceberg" Smith]], an Arctic explorer, oceanographer and retired [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] [[rear admiral (United States)|rear admiral]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://compass.coastguard.blog/2020/09/03/the-long-blue-line-edward-iceberg-smith-coast-guards-admiral-of-the-ice/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200928031440/https://compass.coastguard.blog/2020/09/03/the-long-blue-line-edward-iceberg-smith-coast-guards-admiral-of-the-ice/ |url-status=usurped |archive-date=September 28, 2020 |title=The Long Blue Line: Edward "Iceberg" Smith—Coast Guard's admiral of the ice! |first=William H. |last=Thiesen |date=3 September 2020 |publisher=U.S. Coast Guard |access-date=12 September 2020}}</ref>

In 1977 the institution appointed oceanographer [[John Steele (oceanographer)|John Steele]] as director, and he served until his retirement in 1989.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10599939/John-Steele-obituary.html | title=John Steele – obituary | work=The Telegraph | date=27 January 2014 | access-date=13 February 2014}}</ref>

On 1 September 1985, a joint French-American expedition led by [[Jean-Louis Michel (oceanographer)|Jean-Louis Michel]] of [[IFREMER]] and [[Robert Ballard]] of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution identified the location of the wreck of {{RMS|Titanic}}, which sank off the coast of [[Newfoundland]] 15 April 1912.

On 3 April 2011, within a week of resuming of the search operation for [[Air France Flight 447]], a team led by WHOI, operating full ocean depth [[autonomous underwater vehicle]]s (AUVs) owned by the Waitt Institute discovered, by means of [[sidescan sonar]], a large portion of debris field from flight AF447.<ref name=stone>[http://www.informs.org/ORMS-Today/Public-Articles/August-Volume-38-Number-4/In-Search-of-Air-France-Flight-447 In search of Air France Flight 447] Lawrence D. Stone Institute of Operations Research and the Management Sciences 2011</ref>
[[File:Marine Biological Laboratory Library Woods Hole, Massachusetts bookplate from A Civic Biology - presented in problems (IA civicbiologypres00hunt) (page 2 crop).jpg|thumb|Marine Biological Laboratory Library bookplate, 1914]]
In March 2017 the institution effected an [[open-access policy]] to make its research [[open access|publicly accessible]] online.<ref>{{cite journal |url= http://roarmap.eprints.org/1333/ |title= Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |journal=ROARMAP: Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies |date= 6 April 2017 |publisher=[[University of Southampton]] |location=UK |access-date= July 24, 2018 }}</ref>

In 2019, {{Proper name|iDefense}} reported that [[Cyberwarfare and China|China's hackers]] had launched [[Chinese espionage in the United States|cyberattacks]] on dozens of academic institutions in an attempt to gain information on technology being developed for the [[United States Navy]].<ref name="iDefense">{{cite news |url=https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Chinese-hackers-target-North-American-and-Asian-universities |publisher=Nikkei Asian Review |title=Chinese hackers target North American and Asian universities |first=Sara |last=Sekine |date=March 6, 2019}}</ref> Some of the targets included the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.<ref name="iDefense" /> The attacks had been underway since at least April 2017.<ref name="iDefense" />

In August 2024, institution researchers are scheduled, pending approval from the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|U.S. Environmental Protection Agency]], to conduct a $10 million [[Ocean acidification#Ocean alkalinity enhancement|ocean alkalinity enhancement]] experiment partially funded by the [[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration]] that will release 6,000 gallons of a liquid solution of [[sodium hydroxide]] into the ocean 10 miles south of [[Martha's Vineyard]] in an attempt to [[Carbon dioxide removal|remove 20 metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Niiler|first=Eric|date=February 14, 2024|title=Scientists Resort to Once-Unthinkable Solutions to Cool the Planet|work=The Wall Street Journal|publisher=News Corp|url=https://www.wsj.com/science/environment/geoengineering-projects-cool-planet-weather-f0619bf7|access-date=February 14, 2024}}</ref>