Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

What research are you funding?

Your donation is funding research on ‘Super Reefs’ in our world’s oceans. Dr. Anne Cohen, a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (a leading institution on ocean research and science that is based in Massachusetts,) is researching heat-resistant corals around the world. The Cohen Lab, which your donation is supporting, is leading this research and learning more about these corals and how we can save coral reefs throughout the oceans.

Why are Super Reefs important? What even are they?

Coral reefs throughout the ocean, which are key to the health of the ocean and it’s ecosystem, are bleaching and dying rapidly. This is due to warming oceans and heat waves throughout the oceans. As a result of higher water temperatures, corals bleach and starve, and more and more fish and ocean animals that depend on coral reefs have to search for new homes. Also, the more than 1 billion people who make a living from coral reefs are deeply impacted. However, there is still hope. Super reefs and super corals are reefs and corals that are adapting to climate change and warming oceans. When heat waves occur, these corals can survive. Also, and even more importantly, some super corals release heat-resistant larvae that can populate dying reefs with adapting corals. These super corals and super reefs have only been discovered very recently, but they could save coral reefs and many species of animals that depend on the reefs throughout the oceans. Learning more about the corals is the first huge step towards saving our corals, and your donation is helping that research. Thank you for supporting the future of coral reefs.

Sherri Eldridge passed away (unexpectedly) on September 14, 2020, but her incredible spirit lives on within the hearts of her family, friends, and colleagues. She was a tremendous, meticulous, and thoughtful scientist who passionately researched the innervation of whale skin to aid in the conservation of these charismatic megafauna. We knew her fondly as "The Whale Lady" and also loved her for so many other things. She shared her love of bunnies, marine mammals, cooking, dancing to rap (in lab!), teaching, going to concerts, and generally spreading her joie de vivre attitude with everyone she touched. Her energy and legacy will surely remain in our hearts forever.

Sherri's life mission was to support ocean conservation through education and research. In order to continue her legacy, we would like to make a donation on her behalf to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Following completion of her PhD at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth through work that she performed and communicated within the Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology at Boston University School of Medicine, she brought her fascinating work to Woods Hole. Woods Hole is dedicated to advancing understanding of the ocean and its interaction with the Earth system, and to communicating this understanding for the benefit of society. With this donation, we hope to support the incredible programs at Woods Hole to contribute to Sherri's mission for years to come.

Sherri's energy reached students, staff, and faculty at the University of Massachusetts and Boston University. Whether you attended one of her talks, joined her on a whale watch, accompanied her to a documentary on issues in ocean science, or listened to her stories from her field work; you have experienced the passion she has for life and the world around us. Her friends and colleagues in the Laboratory for Cognitive Neurobiology, and Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, are putting this fundraiser together. Thank you for your contributions to honor this wonderful woman!