Ocean Outlook

Way back in the day, as the story goes, a WHOI scientist got approached by a scientist from the University of Bergen. The Bergen scientist was looking for advice on a particular topic that the WHOI scientist was an expert in, so they started talking. The more the conversation went on, the more they realized how much their research, their institutions, and even their towns had in common. Both Woods Hole and Bergen have multiple research institutions all focused on the ocean. A lot of the research in both cities focuses on the North Atlantic, including environmental impacts of things like climate change and pollutants. The two scientists - one American, one Norwegian - decided that researchers in their respective cities should get together once a year to discuss their shared interests in a conference, and Ocean Outlook was born. 

The conference took a break during covid (like everything else), but thanks to our Norwegian friends, Ocean Outlook is back at it this year! I was very excited for the offer to travel to Norway and discuss research with my counterparts across the ocean. 

The similarities between Woods Hole and Bergen are numerous. We are physically connected by the Gulf Stream/North Atlantic Current system, which carries water across the Atlantic from west to east, passing both cities on the way. It was actually a bit eerie to hear presentations from Norwegian colleagues that addressed the same issues we're dealing with in the United States. Offshore wind is a looming reality on both sides of the Atlantic, so a lot of scientific effort is currently focused on understanding its impacts. 

To some extent, ocean research towns are all alike. Some of you might remember that in 2017, I had a similar experience when traveling to China: just like Woods Hole, Qingdao has numerous institutions, a strong western boundary current right offshore, and a group of scientists who study seafloor communities, like me. I chose this career in part because I wanted to build bridges across oceans, and I'm very grateful for the chance to do that in Norway. Bergen colleagues, we'll see you next year. 

The delegation from WHOI's biology department in Bergen