MBL Falmouth Forum: “Regeneration of Complex Tissues: Axolotls Lead the Way, Can We Follow?” Karen Echeverri
2024-05-17 19:30 - 20:30 UTC | The Cornelia Clapp Auditorium, MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Throughout human life, many cells such as hair follicles and certain tissues such as liver can be continuously replaced to maintain tissue integrity in response to normal, daily wear and tear. While humans do exhibit some very limited regenerative capacity, other animals exhibit sometimes astonishing regenerative ability. Salamanders show the highest diversity in being able to regenerate limbs, tail, heart, eyes, and jaw, and in addition can repair lesions in the brain and heal all wounds without forming scar tissue. Karen Echeverri’s research group is working on elucidating how the axolotl can regenerate multiple body parts including limbs and the spinal cord without forming any scar tissue. The MBL has a long history of research in the field of regeneration. This talk will cover the history of discoveries at the MBL and the current ongoing research on regeneration at the MBL and how this may inform future approaches to regenerative medicine.
Karen Echeverri is a developmental cell biologist and an Associate Scientist at the Eugene Bell Center for Regenerative Biology and Tissue Engineering at the Marine Biological Laboratory. Prior to moving to the MBL in 2018 she was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell Biology, Genetics and Developmental Biology and a member of the Stem Cell Institute at the University of Minnesota. She trained at the Max Planck Institute for Cell Biology and Genetics with Elly Tanaka and Andrew Oates. She received the Otto Hahn award for her Ph.D. work from Max Planck Society and was later awarded the Santa Cruz Developmental Biology Young Investigator Award. Her research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms of the remarkable ability of many species to functionally regenerate lost tissue.

Dinner & A Movie: Earlybird
2024-05-18 19:00 - 21:00 | Redfield Auditorium, Water Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
The Woods Hole Film Festival Dinner & A Movie series wraps up the 2023-2024 season on Saturday, May 18 at 7pm with the feature comedy EARLYBIRD, by Martin Kaszubowski.
About the film:
In this comedy of errors, a hopeless independent theatre owner Michael Wagner (Joshua Koopman) faces skyrocketing rent bumps and decides to take a “screw it” approach to the end of his dream life. Before breaking the bad news to his troupe, he mounts a play called “Cat War” which was written on a dare and definitely was never meant to have an audience. Much to his surprise, the play is a hit! However, this new “strategy” creates a whole new set of challenges.
Starring Joshua Koopman, Julie Pope, Amanda Platt and Chloe Skoczen.
Tickets available at:
https://www.goelevent.com/WoodsHoleFilmFest/e/Earlybird2023
Screening takes place at Redfield Auditorium, 45 Water Street Woods Hole, and begins at 7 pm. Doors open at 6:30 pm. Tickets are $16 and $12 for WHFF members and are on sale in advance via at www.woodsholefilmfestival.org and at the door.
The festival is supported in part by grants from the Mass Cultural Council, Cape Cod 5, Martha’s Vineyard Bank Charitable Foundation, Woods Hole Foundation, Arts Foundation of Cape Cod, the Falmouth Fund of the Cape Cod Foundation, and YouthInk.
For more information email info@woodsholefilmfestival.org or call (508) 495-3456.

WHOI's Ocean Encounters: Small but Mighty
2024-05-22 19:30 - 20:30 | MA
Microscopic marine life and its outsized role in the ocean

Microbes and plankton may be small, but they have a big part to play in shaping our planet. The ocean’s smallest inhabitants form the base of marine food webs, help regulate global climate, and may hold the secrets to the origins of life on Earth.
Join us as we explore “invisible” ocean life and its profound and far-reaching impacts.

Julie Huber, Marine Microbiologist. Senior Scientist, WHOI
Heidi Sosik, Plankton Ecologist. Senior Scientist, WHOI
Nina Yang, Biological Oceanographer. Postdoctoral Investigator, WHOI
Véronique LaCapra, Ocean Encounters’ host. Director of Special Projects for Advancement, WHOI

Register here

Woods Hole Pub Crawl
2024-06-21 17:00 - 21:30 | MA
Woods Hole Pub Crawl in Honor of Alvin’s 60th Birthday
Friday June 21st, 2024
5-9:45pm
Dress code:
Red up top,
white down below

Friday Evening Lecture Series: “Finding a Place in Science: Life Sciences and Lived Experiences” - Shirley Malcom, AAAS SEA Change
2024-06-21 20:00 - 21:00 | Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Many people from communities of color interested in STEMM gravitate toward life sciences because of the opportunities to answer questions that spring from their lives or that address issues experienced in their communities. This presents both challenges and opportunities: Challenges to the discipline when the current framing of research questions does not incorporate the concerns and perspectives of these communities and opportunities within the disciplines when they do. Drawing from historical and contemporaneous examples, the lecture will explore the inexorable link between equity and excellence in STEMM and why we cannot back away from a commitment to inclusion.
Shirley Malcom is Senior Advisor to the CEO and Director of the SEA Change initiative at American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). She works to improve the quality and increase access to education and careers in STEM fields as well as to enhance public science literacy. Dr. Malcom is a trustee of Caltech, a regent of Morgan State University, and a member of the SUNY Research Council. She is a former member of the National Science Board, the policymaking body of the National Science Foundation, and served on President Clinton’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology. Malcom, a native of Birmingham, Alabama, received her PhD in ecology from Pennsylvania State University, a master’s degree in zoology from UCLA, and a bachelor’s degree with distinction in zoology from the University of Washington. She also holds 16 honorary degrees. Malcom serves on the boards of the Heinz Endowments, Public Agenda, the National Math-Science Initiative, and Digital Promise. Internationally, she is a leader in efforts to improve access of girls and women to education and careers in science and engineering and to increase the use of Science and Technology (S&T) to empower women and address problems they face in their daily lives, serving as co-chair of the Gender Advisory Board of the UN Commission on S&T for Development and Gender InSITE, a global campaign to deploy S&T to help improve the lives and status of girls and women. In 2003, Dr. Malcom received the Public Welfare Medal of the National Academy of Sciences, the highest award given by the Academy.

MBL Friday Evening Lecture Series: “Climate Change: Charting a Path to a Positive Future” Max Holmes, Woodwell Climate Research Center
2024-06-28 20:00 - 21:00 | Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Whether you’re in Woods Hole or halfway around the world, join us for this venerable MBL lecture series.
Lectures are free and open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:30 PM, lectures start at 8 PM in the Cornelia Clapp Auditorium.
Since the MBL was founded in 1888, atmospheric CO2 concentration has increased 44%, human population has surged from 1.5 to over 8 billion, and Earth’s temperature has warmed by almost 1.5°C. The impacts of these changes are profound for climate, for biodiversity, for people today, and, perhaps especially, for people and nature tomorrow. While it is easy to imagine a negative future as the impacts of these dramatic changes continue to come crashing down around us, a vision for a positive future and what it might take to get there receives surprisingly little attention. Instead, most scenarios focus on how we might “avoid the worst consequences of climate change,” hardly an inspiring or hopeful objective. This presentation will explore a vision for the path to a sustainable future where people, climate, and nature thrive, and what near-and longer-term actions might be needed to get there.
Max Holmes is motivated by a vision of science that connects people with each other and the natural world, and which drives urgently needed solutions to the climate crisis. After 10 years at MBL, Max joined Woodwell Climate Research Center as a scientist in 2005 and served as Deputy Director for five years before becoming President and CEO in 2021. His globe-spanning career, track record of community-based science, and innate passion for interacting with new people and ideas position him to engage diverse audiences with his inspiring, action-oriented vision for our climate future. He is a sought-after speaker at venues ranging from TEDx to Davos to Mountainfilm and has been quoted by top news outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and The Independent. He previously served as director of the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Arctic Systems Science Program, was elected National Fellow of the Explorers Club in 2015, and served on the 2022 Earthshot Prize host committee.

MBL Friday Evening Lecture Series: “Endless Forms Most Beautiful: Geometry, Physics and Biology” - L Mahadevan, Harvard University
2024-07-05 20:00 - 21:00 | Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Lectures are open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. No registration required for in-person attendance at the Cornelia Clapp Auditorium.
Doors open at 7:30 PM, lectures start at 8 PM.
The range of shapes in the plant (and animal) world is “enough to drive even the sanest man mad,” wrote Darwin. Using examples from single cells to multicellular tissues to whole organisms, this lecture will examine the “method in the madness” in these shapes. Motivated by both qualitative and quantitative biological observations, Mahadevan will discuss the underlying rules that have formed that could guide the diversity and complexity of biological growth. In other words, shining a light on how the “endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”
L Mahadevan is the Lola England de Valpine Professor of Applied Mathematics, Physics, and Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, where he also serves as a co-Faculty Dean of Mather House, living and learning with a community of 400+ students.
His interests are broadly in the study of motion and matter at the human scale, where phenomena are robust and easy to observe, yet not always easy to explain. These include the patterns of shape and flow of inanimate matter on scales ranging from the supramolecular to the planetary, and the dynamics of sentient living matter that can self-organize, perceive and act. In all cases, the aim is to get at a qualitative understanding using quantitative methods, and get at general principles, if there be such, from answers to specific questions. Examples include the biophysical basis for morphogenesis, the functional ethology of super-organisms, the mathematics underlying art forms such as origami, and the physics underlying musical instruments such as the steel pan.

MBL Friday Evening Lecture Series: “Going Where The Wild Things Are: Ocean Microbes, Their Interactions, and Ecosystem Consequences” - Alexandra Worden, MBL & University of Chicago
2024-07-26 20:00 - 21:00 | Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
The oceans are teeming with life forms that are invisible to the naked eye – a myriad of microbes – some more like plants and even some quite related to humans! These organisms are responsible for many different ecosystem roles ranging from photosynthesis that underpins ocean food chains and generates oxygen, to how carbon is moved from sunlit surface waters into the abyss—an important factor for climate stability. There are challenges inherent to exploring these communities and technological innovations that are essential for overcoming those challenges. Here, we will discuss what we are learning about key marine microbes, how they interact, and how this new knowledge reshapes the way we think about ocean.
Alexandra Worden is a Senior Scientist at the Josephine Bay Paul Center for Comparative Molecular Biology and Evolution and a Professor in the Department of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago.
Worden’s research focuses on the uptake and fate of carbon in the oceans critical processes for maintaining the biosphere in which we live. Her current research focuses on photosynthetic microorganisms, integrating across genomics, evolutionary biology, and ecology to explore microbial roles in carbon dioxide uptake and fate. Worden and her group develop methods and technologies for sea-going studies of protists (unicellular eukaryotes) and their viruses, and for quantifying their contributions to global primary production, activities in the deep sea, and trajectories in future oceans. In addition to pioneering methods for targeting uncultivated microbes in the ocean, alongside their activities and interactions, her lab has focused on developing methods for investigating environmentally relevant algae under climate change simulations and methods for genetic manipulation of these species. In her next undertakings, Worden aims to initiate cohort-based educational programs that broaden the representation of individuals from diverse backgrounds in the sciences.
Worden holds a BA in History from Wellesley College with a concentration in Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at MIT. She performed her PhD at the University of Georgia’s Odum School of Ecology, where she had a NASA Earth Systems Science Fellowship. Prior to coming to the MBL, she founded the Ocean EcoSystems Biology Unit in Kiel, Germany as Professor and Unit Head. Among other honors, she is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, a Fellow of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, an Associate in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, and a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

The 33rd Annual Woods Hole Film Festival
2024-07-27 14:00 - 2024-08-03 23:00 | Woods Hole
The 33rd Woods Hole Film Festival is almost here! From Saturday, July 27th through Saturday, August 3rd join us as we celebrate 33 years of showcasing the work of emerging independent filmmakers from around the world. This year, the Festival will be an eight day event with screenings and events available again both in-person and on the Festival’s virtual platform. And, before the Festival there will be a special screening event on Friday, July 26th, showcasing the incredible documentary feature IN THE WHALE. Virtual screenings will be available on the Festival platform from Sunday, August 4th through Sunday, August 11th. Ticket packages and passes are on sale now. Individual tickets go on sale July 1st.
The 2024 film program includes 121 films selected from 19 countries: 20 feature narratives, 27 feature documentaries, and 74 short films. In addition to the films, the Festival includes workshops, panel discussions, parties, music and more. The schedule, film descriptions and pass/ticket information are available at www.woodsholefilmfestival.org

MBL Friday Evening Lecture Series: “Attack of the Killer Plants!” Neelima Sinha, University of California Davis
2024-08-09 20:00 - 21:00 | Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Whether you’re in Woods Hole or halfway around the world, join us for this venerable MBL lecture series.
Lectures are free and open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:30 PM, lectures start at 8 PM in the Cornelia Clapp Auditorium.
The lifestyle strategy for most plants is an autotrophic one—they generate their food by photosynthesis using atmospheric CO2 and sunlight. Other essential nutrients are obtained by absorption from the soil. But this is not a universal strategy, and a subset of plants have either partially or totally given up photosynthesis and rely on animals or other plants for carbon and other nutrients. These plants make structures that trap insects or small mammals or penetrate other plant parts to obtain their nutrition. The trapping structures, made by the first subset of plants, called carnivorous plants, are often leaf-derived. While the second subset, called parasitic plants, use unique organs called haustoria to penetrate host tissues to acquire nutrients. Both carnivorous and parasitic plants are ecologically interesting, and no doubt play important roles in their unique ecological niches. However, many parasitic plants have become major global agricultural threats leading to huge crop losses worldwide. They actively identify and parasitize their host plants and have sparked a flurry of research into the parasitism mechanisms they use so control strategies can be devised.
Neelima Sinha is a Distinguished Professor in Plant Biology. During her MS in Botany at Lucknow University in India she focused on understanding the breadth of form in plants. During her doctoral studies in Botany at the University of California, Berkeley she received multifaceted training in genetics and developmental biology. Her lab is interested in analyzing plant development from the molecular, genetic, and evolutionary perspective, using model organisms like maize, tomato, and Arabidopsis, as well as many non-model organisms. Her collaborative research has helped expand knowledge of the evolution of developmental mechanisms in plants, and more recently move these phylogenetically anchored studies to understanding the evolution of plant drought and submergence stress responses. Recent work on plant-parasite interactions has resulted in elucidation of molecular mechanisms of parasitism and is helping establish intervention strategies in a crucial area of plant biology. A thorough understanding of plant growth and development phenomena will be crucial to being able to harness modern genetic tools for crop improvement, and for producing better feed and fuel crops. She is a fellow of the AAAS and the American Society of Plant Biologists and was the recipient of the Pelton Award from the Botanical Society of America.

Woods Hole Science Stroll
2024-08-10 10:00 - 15:00 | MA
Stroll through the streets of Woods Hole to see science demos, hands on activities, crafts for kids. Get close up views of oceanographic robots and instruments. This is a fun event for the entire family!

MBL Friday Evening Lecture Series: “Expanding Health Insurance: What Does It Do and What Does That Mean?” Amy Finkelstein, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2024-08-16 20:00 - 21:00 | Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Lectures are open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. No registration required for in-person attendance.
Doors open at 7:30 PM, lectures start at 8 PM.
Expanding health insurance has been a major policy focus in the U.S. from the Truman era to Obamacare. But what does expanding health insurance actually do for those who receive it, and how should future administrations prioritize further expansions relative to other policy goals, such as basic income support? This presentation will use the Oregon Health Insurance Experiment – a landmark randomized controlled trial of the impact of covering low-income uninsured adults with insurance – to present some surprising findings on what health insurance does – and does not – do, and how such results may challenge our thinking about different policy options going forward.
Amy Finkelstein is the John & Jennie S. MacDonald Professor of Economics at MIT. Finkelstein’s areas of specialization are public finance and health economics. She has received numerous awards for her research, including a MacArthur Foundation ‘Genius’ Fellowship (2018) and the John Bates Clark Medal (2012), given annually to the economist under the age of 40 who has made the most significant contribution to economic thought and knowledge. She has also received awards for graduate student teaching and graduate student advising at MIT.
She is the co-founder and co-Scientific Director of J-PAL North America, a research center at MIT that encourages and facilitates randomized evaluations of important domestic policy issues, the founding Editor of American Economic Review: Insights, and the co-Director of the Economics of Health Program at the National Bureau of Economic Research. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. She also is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of the Econometric Society.
The author of numerous peer-reviewed papers, she is co-author (with Liran Einav) of We’ve Got You Covered: Rebooting American Health Care (Portfolio, 2023) and co-author (with Ray Fisman and Liran Einav) of Risky Business: Why Insurance Markets Fail and What To Do About It (Yale University Press, 2023).
She received her PhD in Economics from MIT in 2001, an M.Phil in Economics from Oxford in 1997 where she studied as a Marshall Scholar, and an A.B. in Government summa cum laude from Harvard in 1995. Prior to joining the MIT faculty in 2005, she was a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. She is a proud alumna of the Woods Hole Children’s School of Science.

Falmouth Road Race
2024-08-18 09:00 | MA
The 2024 ASICS Falmouth Road Race promises to be an exciting event celebrating 52 years of running the iconic course along the sea, giving back to the community and promoting running, health and fitness!

MBL Falmouth Forum: “Story and Community” - Jay Allison, Founder of WCAI
2024-09-20 19:30 - 20:30 | Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Lectures are open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. Free parking is available in any MBL lot. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:00 PM, lectures start at 7:30 PM.
Lecture Abstract: Stories bring us together and tear us apart. Wherever we live, we are tied to our neighbors by vicinity if not by affinity. In Allison’s work he focuses on bringing the two together. In a divided time, finding ways to listen is one protection against fighting; true narratives defend against false ones; connection is an antidote to polarization. Allison will talk about the hope he has for public media values in radio, on the internet, and in podcasting, using examples from The Moth, WCAI, Transom.org, and his favorite artists and producers.
Jay Allison is the founder, collaborator, host, and producer of The Moth Radio Hour, Atlantic Public Media, Transom.org, PRX.org, This I Believe, Lost & Found Sound, and public radio station WCAI on Cape Cod where he lives. He has created hundreds of documentaries and received most of the broadcasting awards, including the DuPont-Columbia Silver and Gold Batons and six Peabodys.

MBL Falmouth Forum: "From Falmouth to the West Wing—A Speechwriter’s Journey" - Terry Szuplat, Author
2024-09-29 02:00 - 15:00 | Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Lectures are open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. Free parking is available in any MBL lot. No registration required for in-person attendance. Please Note: This lecture is on a Sunday at 2pm.
A book signing will follow the presentation
Lecture Abstract: Terry Szuplat, one of President Obama’s longest-serving White House speechwriters, will share the valuable lessons he learned in that role. He will explain how these insights can help anyone become a more compelling speaker, communicator, and leader in their own work and daily life. In addition to discussing his debut book, Say It Well: Find Your Voice, Speak Your Mind, Inspire Any Audience, Terry will reflect on his journey from his hometown of Falmouth, Massachusetts, to working alongside President Obama in the Oval Office, aboard Air Force One, and during their visits to more than 40 countries.
Terry Szuplat, a 1991 graduate of Falmouth High School, served as a special assistant to President Barack Obama and a member of the National Security Council staff from 2009-2017, and as deputy director of the White House Speechwriting Office from 2013-2017. Today, he teaches political speechwriting as an adjunct professorial lecturer at his alma mater, American University’s School of Public Affairs, and runs his own speechwriting firm, Global Voices Communications. Originally from East Falmouth, he now lives outside Washington, D.C. with his wife and two children.

MBL Falmouth Forum: “Untold Power: The Fascinating Rise and Complex Legacy of First Lady Edith Wilson” - Rebecca Roberts, Author
2024-10-18 19:30 - 20:30 | Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Lectures are open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. Free parking is available in any MBL lot. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:00 PM, lectures start at 7:30 PM.
A book signing will follow the presentation
Lecture Abstract: While this nation has yet to elect its first woman president—and though history has downplayed her role—just over a century ago a woman became the nation’s first acting president. In fact, she was born in 1872, and her name was Edith Bolling Galt Wilson. She climbed her way out of Appalachian poverty and into the highest echelons of American power and in 1919 effectively acted as the first woman president of the U.S. (before women could even vote nationwide) when her husband, Woodrow Wilson, was incapacitated. Beautiful, brilliant, charismatic, catty, and calculating, she was a complicated figure whose personal quest for influence reshaped the position of First Lady into one of political prominence forever. And still, nobody truly understands who she was.
Rebecca Boggs Roberts is an award-winning educator, author, and speaker, and is a leading historian of American women’s suffrage and civic participation. Her books include the award-winning The Suffragist Playbook: Your Guide to Changing the World; Suffragists in Washington, D.C.: The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote; and Historic Congressional Cemetery. She is currently deputy director of events at the Library of Congress and has previously worked as a journalist, producer, tour guide, forensic anthropologist, event planner, political consultant, jazz singer, and radio talk show host. Roberts serves on the board of the National Archives Foundation, on the Council of Advisors of the Women’s Suffrage National Monument Foundation, and on the Editorial Advisory Committee of the White House Historical Association. She lives in Washington, DC, with her husband, their three sons, and a long-eared hound dog.
Join Us for Dinner
An optional buffet dinner precedes each Falmouth Forum lecture.
6:00 PM: Swope Center, 5 North Street, Woods Hole
Tickets: $40/each or reserve a table of eight
Purchase tickets at https://www.mbl.edu/events/falmouth-forum
Registration for the dinners close one week prior to the event. We regret that no tickets will be sold at the door.

WHOI's Ocean Encounters: Geology Rocks!
2024-10-23 19:30 - 20:30 | MA
Careers exploring volcanoes, earthquakes, and more
Want to sail the world to measure seismic activity at the bottom of the ocean? Detect fault zones and protect people from earthquakes and tsunamis? Or just geek out over cool rocks and the inner workings of our planet? A career in geology may be just the thing!
Join us as we talk with three people with very different jobs—all in geology—about how they got into the field and where their careers are taking them.
Host and Panels
WHOI host: Véronique LaCapra, Director of Special Projects
Hannah Brewer, seismometer technician
WHOI Rufus Catchings, research geophysicist
USGS Denali Kincaid, volcanologist
REGISTER

Halloween in the Hole
2024-10-26 08:00 - 17:00 | Woods Hole

MBL Falmouth Forum: “The Horseshoe Crab: Ancient Mariner and Modern Medicine” - Michael Dawson, Biologist
2024-11-22 19:30 - 20:30 | Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Lectures are open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. Free parking is available in any MBL lot. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:00 PM, lectures start at 7:30 PM.
Lecture Abstract: Horseshoe crabs are iconic animals of Cape Cod with a fascinating biology, some of which will be explored in this talk. Topics include their life cycle, conservation status, unique blood clotting mechanism, and the discovery of Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) at the Marine Biological Laboratory. LAL testing has greatly benefited those who have received injectable therapies like vaccinations, intravenous solutions, and drugs, as well as treatments with certain medical devices. Additionally, the LAL test is used to diagnose suspected systemic fungal infections.
Michael Dawson received an undergraduate degree in Zoology from the University of Wales and a Ph.D. from the Department of Oceanography at the University of Southampton, both in the United Kingdom. Before graduate school, he worked in Cambridge, MA on the potential for marine bacteria to degrade oil in their environment. After earning his doctorate, he taught Environmental Science for three years at the Roehampton Institute (now Roehampton University) in London. He then joined Associates of Cape Cod, Inc. (ACC) in Falmouth, MA, where he worked for thirty years. During his time at ACC, he advanced to Senior Vice President, overseeing the production of reagents, instrumentation, and software. He concluded his career as the Director of Regulatory Affairs. While at ACC he gave presentations and taught courses around the world for organizations ranging from the Brazilian Pharmacopoeia to the Hyannis Rotary Club. He has served on the Horseshoe Crab Conservation Committee (now the Horseshoe Crab Conservation Association) on Cape Cod and the Advisory Panel to the Horseshoe Crab Management Board of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Small Business Saturday
2024-11-30 | Woods Hole
Small Business Saturday is a nationally recognized day to celebrate and support small businesses and all they do for their local communities. When we talk about supporting small business in Woods Hole, it’s practically impossible to not! Most Woods Hole businesses are independently owned, and even a small shift in holiday spending towards a local business translates to a stronger local economy, jobs and a more resilient community. Each year on Small Business Saturday you can expect local retail stores to offer a sale or discount, while our local restaurants typically participate by offering a happy hour special.

Shopping

Handworks: 10% off

Masterson Made: 20% off everything

MBL Gift Shop: 20% off everything, including sale

Soft as a Grape: $199.99-$29.99 for familu favorites

Dining

Captain Kidd: $1 oysters & wings from 3-5pm

Landfall: Happy Hour from 4-6pm & 10% off gift cards

Pie in the Sky: $1 hot coffee or tea & 20% off merchandise

The Leeside: 50% off appetizer 5-7pm & $5 free gift card for every $35 gift card purchase

Woods Hole Market & General Store: Holiday Gift Basket raffle

Lodging

Woods Hole Inn: 20% off gift certificates

Treehouse Lodge: 20% off gift certificates

MBL Falmouth Forum: “Provincetown: A Century of Creativity” - Christine McCarthy, CEO, Provincetown Art Association and Museum
2024-12-06 19:30 - 20:30 | Marine Biological Laboratory, 7 MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Lectures are open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. Free parking is available in any MBL lot. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:00 PM, lectures start at 7:30 PM.
This lecture will trace the beginnings of the Provincetown Art Colony and the significant role that the Provincetown Art Association and Museum has played in preserving one of the most important legacies in American art history.
Christine McCarthy is the Chief Executive Officer of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) in Provincetown, MA (since 2001). She is responsible for all artistic, administrative, fiscal and strategic directions of the largest presenter of Cape Cod art by national, regional and international artists.

MBL Falmouth Forum: “The Poisoner's Guide to Life” - Deborah Blum, Science Journalist/Author
2025-01-10 19:30 - 20:30 | The Cornelia Clapp Auditorium, MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
For more than 30 years, the Falmouth Forum, presented by the Friends of the MBL, has brought free cultural enrichment to our community. This season will feature captivating speakers that will deliver powerful talks with a wide range of subjects. Lectures are free and open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. Free parking is available in any MBL lot. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:00 PM, lectures start at 7:30 PM.
A book signing will follow the presentation
Lecture Abstract: This talk will explore the historical use of poisons in murder, examining the ethical decisions societies make when allowing lethal compounds to be widely accessible for economic reasons. It will also delve into how killers, particularly female poisoners—the focus of the author’s upcoming book—have exploited this availability. Additionally, the talk will highlight the efforts of scientists to detect the use of poisonous substances and leverage that knowledge to bring perpetrators to justice.
Deborah Blum is a Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist and author, currently serving as the director of the Knight Science Journalism Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her recent works focus on toxicology and the presence of poisonous compounds in daily life. Notable titles include “The Poisoner’s Handbook,” a national bestseller, and “The Poison Squad,” recognized as a New York Times Notable Book; both have been adapted into PBS documentaries. Blum’s writings have appeared in publications such as The New York Times, Wired, Scientific American, and Science magazine. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a lifetime associate of the National Academy of Sciences, honored for her contributions to science communication.
Join Us for Dinner
An optional buffet dinner precedes each Falmouth Forum lecture.
6:00 PM: Swope Center, 5 North Street, Woods Hole
Tickets: $40/each or reserve a table of eight
Purchase tickets in advance at: https://www.eventsquid.com/event.cfm?id=25623.
Registration for the dinners close one week prior to the event.
We regret that no tickets will be sold at the door.

MBL Falmouth Forum: "The Octopus as Tech: Exploring the Science, Art, and Technological Potential of Nature's Most Spectacular Color Change Artist" - Roger Hanlon, Senior Scientist, MBL
2025-02-07 19:30 - 20:30 | The Cornelia Clapp Auditorium, MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
For more than 30 years, the Falmouth Forum, presented by the Friends of the MBL, has brought free cultural enrichment to our community. This season will feature captivating speakers that will deliver powerful talks with a wide range of subjects. Lectures are free and open to the public for in-person and virtual attendance. Free parking is available in any MBL lot. No registration required for in-person attendance. Doors open at 7:00 PM, lectures start at 7:30 PM.
Lecture Abstract: Cephalopods (octopus, squid, and cuttlefish) exhibit the fastest color changes known on Earth, a capability made possible by direct neural control of their skin’s color, pattern, and 3-D texture. This presentation will take you on a diving extravaganza, showcasing the beauty of ocean habitats and how we gather naturalistic data on animal behavior. Hanlon will briefly review the sensory capabilities of cephalopods, then focus on their visual perception of natural backgrounds, which guides their dynamic camouflage and signaling. This process, often executed in less than a second, is highly effective even in complex environments like coral reefs.
Hanlon will also describe how the cephalopod brain translates sensory input into motor output, creating precise body patterns for camouflage and communication. The emphasis will shift to the neurophysiology of skin chromatophores and iridophores. Hanlon will share insights from his team’s collaborations with the art community—particularly the Rhode Island School of Design—as they explore the nature of color and pattern. Finally, he will present recent advancements in bio-inspired materials and engineering, which mimic cephalopods’ rapid color pattern changes for various practical applications.
Roger Hanlon is a leading expert on cephalopod behavior, especially their camouflage abilities, which are unmatched in the animal kingdom. He is a diving biologist — he and his collaborators conduct field studies of cephalopods in several parts of the world’s oceans, as well as a wide range of laboratory experimentation to quantify field observations, including their mechanisms of visual perception and sensory integration as well as the functional morphology of the complex skin that produces the changeable body patterns. Hanlon’s laboratory is highly collaborative and works at multiple levels of integration: from molecules to behavior to whole organisms (the lab’s primary focus) to ec

WHOI's Ocean Encounters: Cities and the Sea
2025-02-27 19:30 - 20:30 | MA
Challenges and opportunities in the urban ocean
Many of the world’s largest cities are located on the coast, where people and infrastructure strike a tenuous balance with marine life and ecosystems. In these urban oceans heavily altered by pollution and human activities, who struggles and who thrives? Join us as we explore impacts, adaptations, and new possibilities in urban ocean regions around the world.
For our Zoom viewers: We now have ASL interpretation! To enable, please click the ASL button at the bottom of your Zoom screen.

Staying True to the Indispensable Values of Science
2025-06-13 20:00 - 21:00 | The Cornelia Clapp Auditorium, MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
E.B. Wilson History and Philosophy of Science Lecture
Holden Thorp, Editor-in-Chief, Science Magazine
Registration Link: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_zgVJaP7JQ5KVn8gnkbzosA
Lecture Abstract: The fundamental fabric of science is under attack in the United States. The long-standing social contract, through which the federal government shares responsibility for scientific infrastructure with academic and research institutions, is under strain. Isolated studies and individual opinions are being used to discredit entire fields. To endure and thrive, science must remain steadfast in its core values: independence, inclusivity, rigorous peer review, and the pursuit of convergent evidence. This resilience also demands humility—recognizing the moments when science falls short, and that American science is just one part of a global endeavor dedicated to advancing knowledge and promoting justice.
Holden Thorp became Editor-in-Chief of the Science family of journals on 28 October 2019. He came to Science from Washington University, where he was provost from 2013 to 2019 and professor from 2013 to 2023. He is currently a professor at George Washington University and is on leave to serve as the editor-in-chief of Science. Thorp joined Washington University after spending three decades at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), where he served as the 10th chancellor from 2008 through 2013. Thorp earned a Bachelor of Science degree from UNC, a doctorate in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology, and completed postdoctoral work at Yale University. He holds honorary degrees from Hofstra University and North Carolina Wesleyan College. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Inventors, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
About the E.B. Wilson History and Philosophy of Science Lecture
The E.B. Wilson History and Philosophy of Science Lecture is given annually on a topic relevant to the history and/or philosophy of science. The Wilson Lecture was endowed in 2014 by Richard Creath and Jane Maienschein, MBL Fellow, and is named in honor of Edmund Beecher Wilson, a pioneering cytologist and geneticist and one of the MBL’s earliest investigators and instructors. Wilson remained affiliated with the MBL as a researcher and trustee throughout his life.

Zebrafish at the Frontline: Investigating Epilepsy Genes and Cultivating New Science Leaders
2025-06-20 20:00 - 21:00 | The Cornelia Clapp Auditorium, MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Juneteenth Lecture
Gerald Downes, Professor, Biology Department, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Registration link: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Tozfhd2IQn-OG5nkHA9hpQ

From Planarians to Parasites: Mechanisms Regulating Germ Cells and Developmental Plasticity
2025-06-27 20:00 - 21:00 | The Cornelia Clapp Auditorium, MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Phil Newmark, Burnell R. Roberts Chair in Regenerative Biology at the Morgridge Institute for Research
Registration link: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MinAjX0QTx2vVt3-6oUPzg
Lecture Abstract: Planarians are free-living flatworms with extraordinary regenerative abilities. In addition to their somatic tissues, planarians can also regenerate their germ cells. Newmark will review his studies on the systemic control of reproductive system development and regeneration in planarians. He will then present recent work identifying niche-derived factors that regulate germ cell development. This work will show how such signals are deployed differently between planarians and their parasitic cousins, the schistosomes, with important implications for the evolution of these parasites. He will also discuss how his team’s efforts to understand the early development of schistosomes have uncovered a novel strategy these parasites use to evade the host immune system.

July 4th Parade in Woods Hole
2025-07-04 12:00 - 13:00 | Woods Hole
The Woods Hole Fourth of July parade, founded by the Marine Biological Laboratory, features music, costumes, and dancing, all in celebration ofscience. This uniquely nerdy event kicks off at noon on School Street in Woods Hole, ending at Waterfront Park near the Rachel Carson statue.

Woods Hole Contra Dancing
2025-07-05 19:30 - 22:00 | Woods Hole Community Hall, 68 Water St., Falmouth, MA, 02543, United States
with live music from the Woods Hole Folk Orchestra
Adults: $10
Teens: $5
Dress casual, wear comfortable shoes.
More info

It’s Elementary: Making Food More Nutritious
2025-07-11 20:00 - 21:00 | The Cornelia Clapp Auditorium, MBL Street, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, United States
Glassman Lecture
Mary Lou Guerinot, Ronald and Deborah Harris Professor in the Sciences, Department of Biology, Dartmouth College
Registration link: https://mbl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_oVMHm6W3QiWEFXuN6mHo_g#/registration
Lecture Abstract: Deficiencies of metal micronutrients commonly limit plant growth and reduce crop yields. Because plants are the primary dietary source of micronutrients for most people, enhancing their nutritional content has important implications for human health. Guerinot’s team addresses this challenge by combining high-throughput elemental analysis via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and high-resolution imaging via synchrotron X-ray fluorescence (SXRF) to identify and characterize genes involved in metal uptake, distribution, and storage. Their research focuses on the essential micronutrients iron, manganese, and zinc.
Her team is applying similar methods to investigate how arsenic—a non-threshold, Class 1 human carcinogen—accumulates in plants. This work is especially critical for rice, a staple food for more than half the global population and a major dietary source of arsenic. Understanding the molecular and physiological mechanisms that allow arsenic to enter and accumulate in rice grains is essential for developing strategies to reduce its presence and protect public health.
Mary Lou Guerinot is the Ronald and Deborah Harris Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Dartmouth College. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology at Cornell University and her Ph.D. in biology from Dalhousie University, followed by postdoctoral studies at the University of Maryland and the DOE–MSU Plant Research Laboratory. She has served as chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, Associate Dean of the Faculty for the Sciences, and, Vice Provost. She is a Past President of the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB) and is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and ASPB. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2016. She is a recipient of the Dartmouth Graduate Mentoring Award, the Dean of Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentoring and Advising, and the Dennis R. Hoagland Award and Stephen Hales Prize from ASPB. Professor Guerinot is a molecular geneticist whose principal expertise and research interests are in the areas of metal transport and the regulation of gene expression by metals. For most of the world, plants are the major point of entry for metals into the food chain, so her work is laying the foundation for crops that offer sustainable solutions for malnutrition and for decreasing exposure to toxic metals.
About the Glassman Lecture
The Glassman Lecture is held in honor of the late Harold N. Glassman, who left a generous bequest to the MBL. This bequest resulted in the establishment of the Harold N. Glassman fund, the income from which is used to support an annual Friday Evening Lecture on an important topic in biological research.
