Canopy Woods Hole Research Center
FALL 2019
Protecting coastlines from rising tide
Study examines how wetlands can recover from pollution, prepare for higher seas
Also in this issue Fires add urgency to Amazon protection Meeting global need for permafrost data Survey aims to protect Congo forests India’s climate-smart farming
Contents Canopy Woods Hole Research Center Canopy is published by Woods Hole Research Center (WHRC) in Falmouth, Massachusetts. WHRC is an independent research organization where scientists study climate change and how to solve it, from the Amazon to the Arctic. President & Executive Director Dr. Philip B. Duffy
1 From the President
2 Expanding arctic carbon research to strengthen international climate science and policy 4 Natural farming could help India meet climate goals
6 Survey aims to protect forest at pivotal moment for Congo 9 WHRC supporter sees big returns in finance outreach
10 WHRC & IPAM Amazônia partnership 10 Enduring Amazon collaboration delivers scientific advances, policy results 11 Tapirs seed recovering forests 12 Fires hurt forests long after they’re out 13 Media focus on Amazon science 14 Interview with André Guimarães 16 Soil carbon debt
18 Landmark wetlands pollution study enters new phase
20 London and Venice shows spotlight WHRC Artist-in-Residence 22 Board of Directors and Staff
24 Annual report
cover: Ph.D. student Justin Lesser walks in the Plum Island marsh at high tide, the site of a long-term study on the effects of nutrient runoff. // photo David L. Ryan, The Boston Globe top: The Congo River flows through the rainforest near Mbandaka, home of WHRC’s Projet Équateur.
Vice President, Strategy & Advancement Alison Smart Senior Director, Communications & Government Relations David McGlinchey Director of Publications & Media Miles Grant Graphic Designer Julianne Waite Copy Editor Elizabeth Bagley
Images Chris Linder, David L. Ryan, Bianca Rodriguez-Cardona
Woods Hole Research Center 149 Woods Hole Road Falmouth, MA 02540 Email: info@whrc.org Website: whrc.org Newsletter Subscribe online at whrc.org
Copyright All material appearing in Canopy is copyrighted unless otherwise stated or it may rest with the provider of the supplied material. Canopy takes care to ensure information is correct at time of printing.
Amid Extreme 2019, Signs of Hope
From the President
T
his July, a heat event in Greenland melted about 50 billion tonnes of ice—enough to measurably raise the global sea level. Accelerated melting of major land ice sheets is the main reason why projections of future sea level rise have been revised upwards several times recently—my guess is not for the last time.
This extreme melt event in Greenland comes on the heels of temperatures reaching 90ºF on the arctic tundra earlier this summer—a temperature that is extreme almost anywhere and practically without precedent in the Arctic. The consequences of that extreme heat include accelerated thawing of permafrost and associated release of greenhouse gases, and increased risk of wildfire (which itself emits greenhouse gases and thaws more permafrost). Indeed, the extreme temperatures on the tundra were accompanied by choking smoke from nearby fires. The experience of doing research in this apocalyptic environment was described very vividly by Dr. Sue Natali, one of WHRC’s intrepid arctic scientists. These alarming events should serve as a wake up call to policy makers who are complacent or in active denial. It is not news that the Arctic is warming two or three times faster than the rest of the planet, but one gets the impression that things are truly unraveling there. This is having huge impacts on arctic communities, who find the earth moving beneath them (literally) as ground which had been frozen for tens of thousand of years now thaws. Ground collapse, increased erosion of coasts which are no longer protected by sea ice, increased wildfire, and risks to health and water security are some of the impacts experienced by arctic residents, including many Americans. The situation is so dire that some villages have no choice but to relocate. These villagers are finding, however, that their government is not equipped to help them with this unfolding disaster. None of the Alaskan villages which were seeking to relocate ten years ago has yet done so—only one is even under way—in part because of lack of scientific data to support hazard assessment and relocation planning. To address this, WHRC is working with affected communities and with local governmental and non-governmental organizations to document ongoing consequences of climate change and to anticipate and plan for what is coming. We are combining state of the art science with indigenous knowledge to identify local responses to the hazards of a rapidly changing Arctic.
It is not news, either, that consequences of arctic unraveling are truly global. Accelerated sea level rise affects coastal communities everywhere, and greenhouse gas emissions from arctic permafrost and wildfire threaten us all. WHRC is at the forefront of measuring and modeling these arctic greenhouse gas emissions. We are moving this important science forward, and we are also working with international policymakers to make sure these previously-ignored emissions are included in global climate policy processes. When this happens, we will all understand better how rapidly we need to curb greenhouse gas emissions in order to stay below 1.5 or 2oC or warming. The news won’t be encouraging—considering a previously-ignored source of emissions can only make the task more difficult—but it is critical that policies be based upon the best possible understanding of our situation.
There are bright points in this otherwise challenging picture. In July, I spent several inspiring hours with students participating in WHRC’s Polaris Program, in which undergraduate and graduate students conduct original research at WHRC’s observing station in the Alaskan arctic. Their collective work gives an impressive picture of unprecedented change and accelerating impacts. Even so, these young people—many if not most from groups under-represented in science—bring so much talent, energy and creativity to what they do that I can not help but feel some hope for the future. There is optimism, too, in knowing what’s happening, daunting though it may seem, because only by understanding the scope of the problem can we develop a plan to address it. That’s our mission at WHRC, and it has never been more important.
Philip B. Duffy President and Executive Director
Fall 2019
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Expanding arctic carbon research to strengthen international climate science and policy Aiming to provide crucial new research to inform the upcoming international climate negotiations, Woods Hole Research Center scientists are embarking on a multifaceted campaign to gain new understanding on how quickly permafrost regions are changing and what that means for global warming. With initial funding from a new $2.4 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, WHRC and partners at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for 2
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Science and International Affairs are launching the Arctic Carbon Monitoring and Prediction System. WHRC will lead the scientific aspects of the work, with the Belfer Center’s Arctic Initiative overseeing the policy components.
Across the polar regions, from Alaska to Siberia, permafrost holds much more carbon than has ever been released by humans, with potentially disastrous consequences for the climate system. But thawing permafrost carbon had
not yet been included in the models and reports that inform international climate policy by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Alaska recorded its hottest month ever in July, and so far in 2019, Alaska has had over 650 wildfires burn about 2.5 million acres, two and a half times the historic average. “The science on permafrost carbon was not incorporated into the climate formulas which underpinned the
Paris Agreement, which means the limits on all other carbon sources established in that Agreement are gravely inadequate. As we look ahead to the next generation of global climate progress, there’s an urgent need to collect the best data on Arctic carbon emissions and turn that into sound policy,” said Dr. Sue Natali, WHRC scientist and Arctic Program Director. WHRC’s Arctic Carbon Monitoring and Prediction System will include:
• Field research to understand the processes driving emissions from permafrost thaw and wildfire, as well as monitoring of key variables in under-sampled regions to allow scaling of observations across the Arctic. • Remote sensing to scale up field based observations to the full Arctic region. It will deliver near-real-time estimates of wildfire-burned areas, measuring plots down to the size of a baseball diamond, as well as estimating burn depth and carbon emissions.
• Modeling to evaluate the implications of Arctic permafrost emissions for global climate policy. • Development of a high-powered and interactive web visualization platform to communicate Arctic change to the public, policymakers and Arctic residents.
The Arctic Initiative at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center will include:
• Convening policymakers and scientists, at venues such as the Arctic Research Forum and Harvard University, to understand ongoing efforts, gaps and opportunities
Above: A flux tower was tested last spring at WHRC before sending it north to the tundra of Alaska. The permanent assembly in Alaska of the tower took place during the summer and it is now sending greenhouse gas emissions measurements back to the team in Massachusetts. Left: Students Natalie Baillargeon and Anneka Williams work with Sarah Ludwig and Sue Natalie to set up an emissions collection experiment. regarding permafrost thaw on the global climate.
• Communicating findings to policy makers and opinion leaders in key nations and the Arctic Council. • A link to Harvard teaching and fellowship programs to help train a new generation of Arctic policy leaders.
A key goal of the project is to ensure Arctic permafrost and wildfire carbon emissions are taken into account in the 2023 “global stock take” called for in the 2015 Paris Agreement. “This a place where permafrost is on the brink of thawing, and will be thawed by the end of the century, if not much sooner,” Dr. Natali said. “This work is critical to understand how global carbon pollution, permafrost thaw, and wildfires interact in the carbon cycle— and how we can work to slow those processes.”
The first steps in expanding WHRC’s Arctic monitoring took place this year, installing two new flux towers, funded in part by the Moore Foundation’s grant. The first was installed during the summer 2019 Polaris Project expedition to Alaska and the second
was installed during a follow-up trip by WHRC scientists several months later. They’ll measure carbon uptake by plants and emissions from plants and soils, including from thawing permafrost, sending real-time data via satellite back to WHRC’s Falmouth campus.
“More extensive on-the-ground measurements and better modeling are critical for understanding exactly how much carbon dioxide and methane will be released from thawing permafrost, in order to account for those emissions in global planning and targets,” said Dr. John Holdren, WHRC Senior Adviser to the President and Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School, Department of Earth and Planetary Science, and School of Engineering and Applied Science. As President Obama’s Chief Science and Technology Advisor, Dr. Holdren played a key role in developing the administration’s climate policy. WHRC will continue to seek sponsoring partners for the Arctic Carbon campaign to help deliver the funding necessary to support this critical climate research. To learn more about supporting this initiative, contact Beth Brazil at bbrazil@whrc.org or 508-444-1549. Fall 2019
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Natural farming could help India meet climate goals Its promise sounds incredible: A new farming method that can cut costs, increase yields, and help India meet its Paris Agreement climate goals. This spring, WHRC staff joined several partners on a trip to India for a firsthand look at Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) and to learn more about how WHRC can help measure India’s progress towards meeting its Paris targets. Visiting a country that’s trying to manage both rapid growth and climate challenges, WHRC scientist Jonathan Sanderman and Vice President Alison Smart traveled to the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh with colleagues from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), one of South Asia’s leading notfor-profit policy research institutions. India’s federal and state governments have set Paris goals that will push to transform not only energy sources but land use:
• Reduce emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 percent by 2030 from 2005 level. • Achieve about 40 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030. • Create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tons of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
“When you hear politicians say that we can’t act before China and India do, they’re ignoring the reality that they’re among the 179 countries that have already ratified the Paris agreement.
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Not only have they ratified it, they are implementing it through new policies and programs such as ZBNF,” said Kelly Sims Gallagher, Director of the Climate Policy Lab at the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy at The Fletcher School and a former senior policy advisor in the Obama administration. “With our ongoing partnership with the Fletcher School, we can offer a very comprehensive package of expertise and support. We were eager to learn what’s already happening in India, meet the people doing the work, and find out where they need help expanding capacity,” Smart said. India’s climate pollution is a long-term concern, but right now local air pollution is a high priority for politicians and the
Above and below: A farm owner, who is using Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) with great success, gives a tour of her property and explains the processes she uses to produce crops.
products. Dung can be used to give seeds a protective coating and fertilize the soil. Compost can both enrich the soil and retain moisture. And natural pesticides include concoctions made with cow waste, lilac, and green chilies.
public. The World Health Organization’s 14 most polluted cities last year were all located in India. Coal-fired power plants and transportation contribute to the problem, but a big portion of the pollution is due to agriculture when farmers burn rice stubble after harvest, according to Sanderman. This presents an opportunity to address air pollution, economic development, food security and climate by focusing on good policy and practices in agriculture.
“Woods Hole Research Center brings a wide set of tools that can look at farming, forests, and other land uses in an integrated fashion. We’re interested in helping make state-level assessments of energy infrastructure needs and land sector planning to find out what’s needed and achievable to help India meet its climate goals,” Sanderman said. An estimated 61.5 percent of India’s 1.3 billion people live in rural areas and are dependent on agriculture, according to its 2011 census. Today’s conventional
farming practices push farmers to rely heavily on industrially-produced fertilizers and pesticides. These pollute water and local ecosystems, kill off biodiversity, and hurt the soil’s longterm natural fertility.
Some Indian farmers have started the ZBNF movement hoping to make farming not just more sustainable environmentally, but financially as well. Expensive seeds, fertilizers and pesticides can make it difficult for small farmers to turn profits, sometimes even trapping them in a perpetual cycle of debt. “We met with a farmer who’s used ZBNF and has seen her income significantly increase. She’s opened a shop where she sells farm-grown products. We’re interested in finding out if that approach can also help reduce emissions in India,” Smart said. Under ZBNF, farmers replace purchased products with recycled farm by-
“Adopting Zero Budget Natural Farming holds the potential to reinvigorate rural economies, reduce credit risks for farmers, and help agricultural families to allocate greater resources for education, health, and financial security. Andhra Pradesh’s ZBNF experiment could become a role model for low-carbon and climate resilient agriculture, generating livelihood opportunities while safeguarding our natural ecosystems,” said Dr. Arunabha Ghosh, CEO of CEEW.
Since 2015, ZBNF has been rolled out to 523,000 farmers across all 13 districts (3,015 villages) of Andhra Pradesh, bringing almost 504,000 acres of agricultural land under the ZBNF model of agriculture, according to CEEW. ZBNF practices are also supporting biodiversity conservation and regenerating ecosystem services. There is an observable increase in the numbers of birds, reptiles, bees and other wild animals that are finding habitats on the farms. With ZBNF improving soil fertility and strength, farmers have also reported a reduction in their yield loss during droughts. “India provides a huge opportunity to implement sustainable practices on a large scale. Indian states have populations comparable to European countries. If ZBNF and similar practices work on a large scale in India, it can be a model for other countries looking to sustainably grow their economies,” Sanderman said. Fall 2019
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Survey aims to protect forest at pivotal moment for Congo Few tropical forest regions in the world face more growing risk—or more opportunity for primary forest protection—than the rainforest of the Congo River Basin, the second-largest in the world behind the Amazon. The years ahead will determine if it remains intact or bends under the pressure of development.
Much like Woods Hole Research Center has partnered in the Amazon with local groups to deliver breakthrough science and coalition advocacy through our Tanguro Ranch partnership, WHRC, through Projet Équateur, provides the scientific expertise to help the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) build a sustainable future. Led by WHRC scientist Dr. Glenn Bush, Projet Équateur Forests and Climate Change Coordinator Joseph Zambo, and Research Assistant Nolan Kitts, a new survey conducted this summer will be
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a step toward learning how WHRC can help—to understand which forests we should protect, why and how.
“There’s a massive gap right now between the opportunity for protecting these forests, which provide huge carbon stores and ecosystem services, and the resources available for protection,” Dr. Bush said.
The Congo River Basin is home to a quarter of the world’s remaining tropical forest, one of the largest reservoirs of forest carbon in the world, estimated to store 23 billion tons of carbon in its trees and vegetation. The river itself, like its surrounding forest, is the second-largest in the world by volume behind the Amazon. The Congo rainforest is known for its high levels of biodiversity, including more than 600 tree species and over 10,000 animal species. It’s home to rare and
endangered apes, like chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas, elephants, and the critically endangered northern white rhino and the endemic okapi. Over the last half century, as development has gnawed away at the world’s other tropical forests, the Congo’s rainforests have remained largely intact. Unfortunately, that protection may have largely been the result of historical political chaos and economic collapse.
Unstable past, hopeful future
Decades of mismanagement beginning with former president Mobutu Sese Seko (who named the country Zaire) led to complete economic breakdown. GDP per capita plunged from $1,134 in 1974 to $276 in 2001, according to the US Federal Reserve and adjusted to today’s dollars. Recent years have seen
doctorate of his own in the economics of tropical biodiversity conservation and forest management, he met WHRC researchers at a conference and developed a plan to look at the drivers of forest change.
Seraphin Boongo and Christelle Nzambe, Projet Équateur research assistants, introduce a behavioral economic survey on forest conservation and economic development in the Projet Équateur pilot community of Buya. some renewed growth, with GDP per capita climbing back to $409 in 2017, but 82 percent of Congolese residents live on less than $1.25 a day, according to the International Monetary Fund. If all that wasn’t enough, the DRC has been plagued by rebel groups, several major volcanic eruptions and a series of Ebola outbreaks with the most serious presently affecting the densely populated eastern region of North Kiivu.
Today, there is hope the DRC could be taking early steps down a road to peace and prosperity. After a new constitution took effect, a national election was finally held in December 2018. President Félix Tshisekedi took office in January, and the transition of power has so far been remarkably smooth.
While renewed prosperity would be an obvious benefit to the 92 million citizens of DRC, it would bring uncertainty for the Congo River Basin forest. If industry finds DRC a more appealing place to do business, logging, mining, industrial agriculture, and the roads that come with them will undoubtedly lead to further degradation and fragmentation
of primary forest. The challenge is to make conscious reasoned decisions on how much forest of what type and where to conserve verses convert to other uses. WHRC’s agenda is primary forest conservation and forest landscape restoration to achieve low or zero emissions development in the land use sector.
“You go for the issues, stay for the friends”
Dr. Bush didn’t originally plan to spend his career working to protect the Congo’s tropical forest, but he’s now spent a decade helping connect WHRC’s science with Congolese political leaders and communities. After graduating college, Bush developed an interest in international development and environmental management, and took the opportunity to follow his then girlfriend (now his wife) Katie to Uganda, where she conducted doctoral studies on the behavioral ecology of chimpanzees. He started out in agriculture, managing a coffee plantation, while Katie conducted her field research. After getting a
Dr. Bush has since become a leading voice connecting scientific organizations to both officials in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa and communities far up the difficult-to-navigate Congo River. “I built on WHRC’s long-standing connection with the Ministry of Environment on forest conservation. My experiences in other countries in Africa helped open some doors, but mainly, you just have to go and talk to people and let them know you understand their challenges. That’s how relationships grow. You meet people and you connect to them, become a trusted partner. You go for the issues and stay for the friends.” He sees tremendous opportunity for forest conservation and almost endless needs for scientific expertise that WHRC and its partners can provide. “DRC is a high tropical forest, low deforestation country. There aren’t many places that have so much primary forest and degraded land that can be rehabilitated left in the world. The Congo River Basin today is relatively untouched, but the social and economic situation is like parts of the Amazon basin was 40 years ago, the implications for forest loss are serious.” Dr. Bush said. “There’s an opportunity to get things right, from the start of the inevitable rapid economic growth phase. So much of DRC’s development policy has sustainability in mind, so we hope to leverage that to keep things moving in the right direction.” Fall 2019
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LEFT TOP: Joseph Zambo leads a focus group discussion with community leaders to examine local development priorities and environmental challenges in Équateur Province. LEFT CENTER: Zambo and Glenn Bush checking on a soil restoration pilot plot in Buya, DRC. LEFT BOTTOM: Bush and customary chief, Jean Claude, stand in front of Buya’s village school. Environmental education is critical to Projet Équateur’s long-term approach to capacity building and sustainable development.
Connecting community-by-community Projet Équateur aims to educate local stakeholders in environmental and development management about the value of the forest, the risks associated with climate change, and the consequences of severe and unmitigated deforestation practices. It’s training students and professionals to develop local capacity and expertise so that they will have the tools and resources to implement and monitor successful sustainable development and forest conservation programs. To help better understand how to conserve forests broadly, WHRC has
launched a community-by-community survey, aiming to answer a series of questions: How do communities make decisions about when to protect tropical forests and when to clear them? How much should communities be compensated to preserve their forests? How could payment be delivered to remote communities where printed currency doesn’t have much exchange value? This survey, called a choice experiment, is an economic valuation technique that will help identify triggers to reduce farmers’ incentives to clear additional forests, while maintaining or enhancing their livelihoods.
Dr. Bush and research assistant Nolan Kitts have visited DRC twice in the last year, traveling with Zambo through remote communities to lay the groundwork and train a local field team which will implement the survey. The next step forward is understanding people’s preference for states of the environment versus development benefits. Once the final survey results are analyzed, Dr. Bush plans to put the lessons learned into an academic paper, and develop research briefs for Congolese officials to help inform national policy decisions.
Staff Spotlight: Joseph Zambo Leading WHRC’s day-to-day work in the Democratic Republic of Congo is Joseph Zambo, Projet Équateur’s Forests and Climate Change Coordinator, a keystone of WHRC’s long term approach to engagement on forest management issues.
Zambo was initially appointed as the central government Ministry of Environment focal point for the UN’s REDD+ forest conservation program in the DRC province of Équateur. Projet Équateur’s initial operational concept was as technical support to develop operational capacity for emissions reductions management. Working closely with Joseph, WHRC has been able to support him in his professional mission and personal development. Critically, while the national REDD+ program provincial support has been in hiatus for the last 3 years, Projet Équateur has been able to support Joseph’s original mandate while serving as a WHRC international staff member. This has culminated in Joseph representing the Center at Global Soils Week in Nairobi, Kenya in May, presenting on “Emissions reductions programs in the DRC; governance lessons from Projet Équateur for the conservation of soils.” 8
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Donor Profile
WHRC supporter sees big returns in finance outreach
Jesse Fink has dedicated most of the past two decades to working on climate change solutions and sees Woods Hole Research Center’s partnerships with investment and financial leaders as potential game-changers. Jesse was the founding Chief Operating Officer of Priceline, and in 2006 started MissionPoint Capital Partners, a private investment firm focused on financing the transition to a low-carbon economy. As part of MissionPoint’s philanthropic efforts, Jesse spearheaded the launch of ReFED, now the preeminent think tank on food waste, which is estimated to be responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. With his wife, Betsy, Jesse co-manages the Fink Foundation, which is focused on solving issues of the environment, food systems and resiliency. Over the last year, Woods Hole Research Center has partnered with Wellington Management, an investment firm with client assets totaling over $1 trillion, and McKinsey & Company, a global management consulting firm, to assess how climate change threatens financial markets. “We have to change the dialogue and say, whether you’re an investor, advisor or trustee; a management firm, a foundation, or an endowment, you have a fiduciary responsibility to understand the climate risks in your portfolio. If that conversation starts happening routinely on investment committees and in boardrooms, I am convinced real action and impact will follow,” Fink said.
“We’ve always believed that the message and the messengers of climate change are vital components of the overall solution. Thus, we’ve supported artists, writers, and now we’re very excited about Spencer taking the message of climate action to the financial community,” continued Fink. WHRC Senior Fellow Spencer Glendon, a former partner at Wellington, has made a series of high-profile speaking appearances on how the finance industry must take climate risks into account, including a talk at this year’s Sohn Investment Conference in New York City.
“Woods Hole Research Center’s close-knit team, systems approach and solutionsoriented focus is what first drew us to the organization. It has an opportunity to reach key decision-makers in the investment and business communities and say, it’s no longer just that you should take climate risks into account—you have an obligation to do it,” said Fink. Fall 2019
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WHRC & IPAM AMAZÔNIA PARTNERSHIP
Enduring Amazon collaboration delivers scientific advances, policy results As an alarming rise in fires in the Amazon captured the world’s attention over the summer, research from Woods Hole Research Center and our partners at IPAM Amazônia has provided new scientific insight and helped bring new international attention to the need to conserve the Amazon rainforest. It comes at a critical juncture, ahead of the COP25 United Nations climate talks in December.
WHRC and IPAM Amazônia scientists partnered to estimate this year’s Brazilian Amazon fires produced between 104 and 141 million metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2). That is equivalent to annual tailpipe carbon pollution from 22.6 to 30.6 million cars, or the annual CO2 emissions from the entire state of North Carolina. The Amazon has already lost 800,000 square kilometers of forest, an area equivalent to one-tenth of the lower 48 United States, much of it to intentional burning to clear land for agriculture. Learning how to assist forest regrowth can help tropical countries achieve their climate goals to maintain and restore forest carbon stocks in protected forests, indigenous reserves, and private properties, as well as protecting biodiversity and forest ecosystem services.
For 25 years, WHRC and IPAM Amazônia have led in scientific discovery and in policy interventions, helping create important federal and international level advancements in tropical forest conservation. Our scientists map and monitor tropical forests to understand how they are changing and we have been taking action to protect them. We are experts in the ecology, climate, and economy of the tropics and by developing working relationships with Brazil’s federal government, indigenous leaders, and the industrial agriculture sector, we’ve helped move Brazil from being the largest deforester in the tropics to the single largest protector of forests globally. 10
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Tapirs seed recovering forests A study conducted by WHRC and IPAM Amazônia at Tanguro Ranch found lowland tapirs can help restore degraded Amazonian forests by eating the fruit of large trees and then depositing their seeds in areas that were previously burned. It’s evidence that solutions for restoring forests don’t have to be expensive or high-tech.
in the face of deforestation and hunting. Tapirs can reach up to 8 feet in length and up to 700 pounds, which means they eat a lot—as much as 85 pounds of fruit and vegetation in a single day—and can carry large seeds that other animals can’t.
While other South American megafauna such as the giant sloth disappeared 10,000 years ago, tapirs have survived, though they’re considered endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Their population is dwindling
“Our study shows tapirs play a critical role in forest recovery by dispersing the large‐seeded species that eventually become large trees, meaning they contribute indirectly to maintaining forest carbon stocks,” said Dr. Paulo Brando, WHRC scientist and co-author of the study.
© CHRIS LINDER
The team collected and catalogued an incredible number of seeds—nearly 130,000 in all, representing 24 different species—from tapir dung in degraded forests in Mato Grosso. Researchers found tapirs disperse three times more seeds in degraded forests than in primary ones, probably because they prefer spending time where resprouts are available.
The study, published in the journal Biotropica, shows that contrary to previous belief, tapirs pass many large seeds intact and undamaged through their digestive system, with their large waste protecting the seeds from beetles. And while other large mammal dispersers like monkeys prefer to stay in healthy and intact forests, tapirs can easily cross open areas and thus bring seeds to a disturbed or degraded forest— ultimately increasing its plant diversity and abundance.
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WHRC & IPAM AMAZÔNIA PARTNERSHIP
Fires hurt forests long after they’re out A chance encounter with a windstorm led to a study released earlier this year showing that fire-damaged trees are especially vulnerable to extreme weather for several years or even decades—especially the largest and most carbon-rich trees.
Dr. Paulo Brando was part of a team studying the fire resilience of three connected forest plots at Tanguro: one burned annually; one burned every three years; and a neverburned control plot. “Suddenly this storm sweeps through and there are chairs flying around our camp. As we were cleaning up, we had a moment of realization that we’d just sampled the tree plots the week before with a threedimensional laser scanning system called LiDAR. We had a unique opportunity to study, with high certainty and in great detail, how each of the three plots survived the storm,” Brando said.
forests, LiDAR can measure tree height and size, capturing the canopy in incredible detail and converting it to data that can be analyzed. “The lesson is that even areas that look like they’ve survived initial burning will continue degrading in ways that are unpredictable, non-linear, and worsened by global warming. We can’t separate out the effects of burns, drought, and
The team had published a landmark study in 2014 establishing that fires leave surviving trees more vulnerable to other stressors like drought for decades to come. The windstorm allowed the team to take their study one step further: How does fire affect tropical forest’s durability in windstorms, and what can that tell us about their survival in a climate-changed future?
The 2019 study, published in the Journal of Ecology, showed that not only were trees in the burned plots more likely to be uprooted or snapped (often at the height of fire scars), but that damage was much more likely to prove fatal over the following years. The damage was greatest around the edges of the plots, showing the compounding dangers of forest fragmentation. LiDAR (light detection and ranging) measures distance to a target using pulses of laser light to make three-dimensional digital representations. When used by WHRC scientists in 12
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climate—they can interact in unpredictable ways,” Brando said. “It’s critically important that we learn all we can about how to protect the forest’s remaining canopy, especially for the oldest and largest trees that provide the most wildlife habitat, cycle the most moisture through the ecosystem, and store huge amounts of carbon. By keeping large chunks of forests, we reduce degradation, because there is less vulnerability than there is on the edges.”
Media focus on Amazon science Dr. Paulo Brando’s work on threats to the Amazon has been featured internationally in media coverage. In recent months, he’s been featured on Public Radio International’s The World, reaching 2.5 million listeners, and interviewed by the Brazilian news magazine Veja, read by more than a million people. The tapir study (see page 11) was covered by The Economist, Estadao, Brazil’s fourth-largest newspaper, and Mongabay, one of the world’s top environmental news sources. One Earth, a project of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, produced a video on the tapir study that has been viewed close to one million times on social media. In April, scientists from WHRC and IPAM Amazônia spent four days with a CBS news crew to publicize the impacts of deforestation. At Tanguro, CBS correspondent Vladimir Duthiers scaled a 120-foot eddy flux tower, designed to measure the transfer of carbon dioxide and water between the rainforest and the atmosphere, to interview the team.
The group also visited the Kamayura tribe, in the Amazon’s Xingu River Basin. WHRC research has shown that forests controlled by indigenous communities have the highest amount of forest carbon. Duthiers interviewed Kamayura community leaders about climate change impacts that they have already seen, and talked to scientists about on-the-ground observations that can be recorded by indigenous community partners.
“Indigenous communities have been incredibly effective at conserving Amazon forests—and those forests are the region’s best defense against climate change” said Dr. Marcia Macedo, WHRC scientist. “They not only store carbon and stabilize regional rainfall, but also provide critical habitat for large trees, tapirs, and other species that help forests recover after disturbances.” Fall 2019
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WHRC & IPAM AMAZÔNIA PARTNERSHIP
Interview with André Guimarães Why have you devoted your career to forest protection?
André Guimarães, executive director of IPAM Amazônia, recently joined the WHRC Board of Directors. He previously was Vice President of Development at Conservation International (CI) Americas, where he supervised operations in 10 Latin American countries. He was the Private Sector Relations Coordinator at the World Bank pilot program to conserve the Brazilian rainforest and Director of A2R Fundos Ambientais. He has a degree in Agronomy from the University of Brasília and a Master’s in agricultural economics from Cornell University. WHRC interviewed Guimaraes about his work conserving the Amazon.
Even though my training was focused on agriculture, my heart and instincts convinced me that I should invest my career in trying to understand the implications of businesses and human activities over nature. When I graduated, I had two job offers: one to work in a multinational company that produced grains in the Cerrado, and another to participate in a science project to study the implications of deforestation in the Amazon. I took the second and, so far, even making a fifth of the income, I have no regrets.
Why is the partnership between WHRC and IPAM so valuable?
WHRC and IPAM are sister organizations, in the most noble meaning. Without WHRC, IPAM would not exist. We complement each other in the work that we do together for the Amazon and climate change mitigation. Despite coming from different countries and having different cultures and operational methods, we share a vision of a harmonic world, in which humans and nature can live together and thrive. Both entities produce science-based solutions for a sustainable Amazon. Being in Brazil allows IPAM to channel scientific results of both organizations into public policies and innovation for a better balance between land use and forest conservation. Today, IPAM helps connect the latest data and scientific analysis from our researchers to policymakers, business leaders and local activists. In our work together, we’re generating concrete solutions for harmonizing people and nature.
How do the organizations work together?
Our relationship is based on a profound alignment of interests and a common vision for the future of the Amazon and the world’s tropical forests. We are working together to create positive changes in one of the fastest-evolving regions on Earth—the Amazon rainforest. We use science to understand the synergies between food, people, biodiversity, and climate. 14
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Then we work to transform our scientific findings into effective policies that promote economic growth and human rights protection and the well-being of local people, while preserving the natural ecological functions upon which they depend. Moreover, we dedicate efforts to translate science into a language and a rationale that decision makers can use. This combination of science and advocacy is very precious and a unique characteristic of WHRC and IPAM’s partnership.
Why is the Amazon so critical in the global context of climate action and ecosystem protection?
I can highlight two projects, the “Seca Floresta” (“Dry Forests”), in early 2000’s, and the Tanguro project, still underway. The first one simulated drier conditions in the forest, similar to the climate changes scenarios. Projecting worsening risk of forest fires and droughts is crucial for understanding how best to protect both our communities and our forests. The Tanguro project focuses on land-use, degradation by fire and wind, and carbon emissions. It is certainly one of the largest open sky laboratories trying to understand the interdependence between forest protection and agricultural production in the world. The science produced by these two projects has helped to develop the avoided deforestation concept, one of the fundamentals of the REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) mechanism, and has shaped international discussions over the subject.
How should Brazil balance economic development with protecting forests and the indigenous peoples and wildlife that depend on them?
In your opinion, what’s the most valuable piece of science that the organizations have worked on together to produce?
As the largest tropical forest in the world, Amazon conservation is key to providing climate balance: it stores 49 billion tons of carbon just in the Brazilian Amazon. Moreover, the forest contains 20 percent of all species of the planet’s fauna. The biome is also home for more than 150 indigenous groups, with hundreds of different cultures and languages, in addition to 30 million Brazilians. In my view, the Amazon is the Brazilian path for the future. It is our greatest treasure.
In Brazil, we have about 70 million hectares of productive cropland. In addition, the country has a similar area of degraded soils, which could be incorporated into productive land, if the right technology and incentives were available. Simultaneously conserving Brazil’s remaining rainforests and woodlands while increasing agricultural production through intensification rather than “extensification,” with respect to the indigenous groups, should be the path to follow. This shift demands engagement of diverse stakeholders, sound science and a new set of public and corporate policies. IPAM and WHRC are working together to promote this new paradigm for the Amazon. Fall 2019
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This map shows how much carbon has been due to agricultural land uses. However, it a carbon out of the atmosphere through sus 16
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n lost from soils since the start of civilization also shows the great opportunity for taking stainable agriculture practices. Fall 2019
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Landmark wetlands pollution study enters new phase After years of studying how nutrient runoff affects marshes, Woods Hole Research Center scientists and partners are turning to a new phase in the Plum Island estuary project, now looking at how long it takes for marshes recover. The study, being conducted in the Great Marsh region north of Boston, is part of The TIDE Project, a collaboration launched in 2002, and supported by a $1.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation.
The study’s change in focus comes at a pivotal time for local marshes and wetlands, with over $200 million proposed in the next five years to restore salt marshes along the Mid-Atlantic coast in the wake of massive losses from 2012’s superstorm Sandy.
Nitrogen runoff from lawn fertilizer, septic tanks and burning fossil fuels has harmed marshes just when we need them most, as global warming raises sea levels, strengthens incoming storms, and disrupts coastal ecosystems. Coastal wetlands serve as a speed bump for incoming storms and as nurseries for the tiny fish that form the base of the marine food chain. Marshes can also absorb and store carbon pollution, but right now scientists don’t have a strong understanding of how nitrogen pollution has harmed their carbon storage capability.
Started in 2002, the TIDE Project introduced large quantities of fertilizer to several marsh areas in order to understand the effects of and natural recovery from large-scale nutrient pollution. The TIDE Project is a collaboration with the Plum Island Estuary Long Term Ecological Research funded by the National Science Foundation and managed by Dr. Anne Giblin at the Marine Biological Laboratory. “We were very fortunate that the landowners agreed to let us work in their marsh. They understood the importance of a good experiment— being able to compare to marshes that were not affected by nutrient pollution—as is typical in Plum Island— to areas to which a controlled amount of nutrients were added,” Deegan said. “Previous studies looked at alreadydegraded marshes, or covered the surface of a marsh with fertilizer. But we felt strongly that it was important to go a step further, to understand how a marsh reacts to nutrient pollution delivered in tidal waters as it would be in a polluted estuary,” said WHRC researcher Hillary Sullivan, a biogeochemist who did her master’s thesis on the TIDE Project and is in her sixth year working on it.
Above: TIDE project interns Sophie Drew and Paige Weber walk to the high marsh with their gas flux chambers. They use a greenhouse gas analyzer to measure carbon dioxide and methane produced by marsh plants. Right: Research Assistant Hillary Sullivan takes a water sample from the Great Marsh, near Plum Island. “For about a century, we’ve been polluting marshes with excess nutrients. As federal, state and local governments now work to cut that pollution, our study will examine if ecosystems reach a point of no return, or if they can make a comeback,” WHRC scientist Linda Deegan said. “This work will be important in learning how to restore marshes, and what factors allow them to survive climate change-driven rising seas.” 18
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The researchers have now stopped adding the artificial pollution, and are monitoring the marshes’ progress toward recovery. The new phase of the project began just before the saltmarsh grasses emerge, allowing scientists to study the full growing season response of soil, microbes, plants, and animals. One morning in May, Sullivan led a tour of the four Plum Island study sites (three sites where nitrogen was introduced and several control sites where no changes were made), steering a small
motorboat through natural channels in the marsh. Great egrets hunted for small fish along the shoreline as osprey flew over the deeper waters. An unusually high tide had swallowed much of the marsh, leaving only the tips of grass peeking out. While marsh grass can survive submerged for short periods of time, rising seas will put them under greater stress. Sullivan and Justin Lesser, a doctoral student assistant, stepped into the marsh in high rubber boots, crouching to take water samples and push them through filters that screen out tiny organisms, stabilizing the sample until it can be tested back at WHRC’s lab in Falmouth. “We know that the marsh can take up some nutrients, but we want to know
when it’s too much—where we overload the system,” Sullivan said. Initially, excess nitrogen can lead to higher marsh grass growth—it is a fertilizer, after all. But as the grass puts more energy into leaf growth, it puts less effort into extending its roots, leaving the plants vulnerable to falling over. The nitrogen also leads to changes in marsh microbes and algae, and marsh edges can be seen collapsing. Sullivan and Lesser checked several low, wide nets called flume nets used to check the populations of fish and other marsh residents. Researchers have seen a decline in the polluted sites in the abundance of a small minnow called the mummichog, which travels into the marsh to feed and reproduce, and then become an important food source for
both seabirds and the larger fish that local fishermen depend on.
“This was the first large scale nutrient enrichment experiment of its kind, and will be the first large scale recovery of its kind,” Sullivan said. “Nutrient pollution shows how human activity creates a footprint on this really important ecosystem. We want to learn how we can mitigate these actions that are impairing something we rely on.” “Our ultimate goal is to reach policymakers and people who have the power to limit nitrogen that goes to marshes. These marshes also need more funding for marsh restoration, but we need to understand how the legacy of decades of pollution might affect restoration efforts.” Fall 2019
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London and Venice shows spotlight WHRC Artist-in-Residence Two European shows recently showcased the work of WHRC Artist-inResidence Justin Brice Guariglia, whose multidisciplinary work challenges how audiences think about climate change. In April, Guariglia’s work was featured as part of Earth Day 2019 by the Somerset House in London. REDUCE SPEED NOW! used large, solar-powered LED roadside signs to highlight the words of poets, writers and philosophers from around the world, exploring how people can navigate the complex issues surrounding the global climate crisis. The modern signs formed a striking installation in the Somerset House’s neoclassical courtyard. Visitors were also invited to submit their own writing for display over the course of the installation. Then in May, Guariglia opened EXXTINCTION, an official collateral installation of the Venice Biennale.
Based in New York City, Guariglia works closely with scientists, philosophers, and journalists to inform his work, allowing him to communicate effectively some of the most complex ecological challenges faced on the planet today. During the summer of 2018, Guariglia traveled with WHRC scientists to Alaska to get a first-hand look at thawing permafrost, aiming to open an exhibition at the Anchorage Museum in 2021, which will subsequently travel to additional venues. “Artists like Justin can interpret science in a completely different way to engage new audiences and draw out different responses,” said Alison Smart, WHRC Vice President for Strategy and Advancement. WHRC interviewed Guariglia about what inspires his art. 20
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© CHRISTIE’S EDUCATION
effectively live with these sentiments, and understand the urgency of the message. For scientists at Woods Hole and those focused on these subjects, including my studio, every day is effectively Earth Day, but how do we get the general public thinking about the Earth every day? I suppose that is my challenge as an artist and what preoccupies most of my days.
How has partnering with WHRC impacted your work?
The contrast of your LED boards in front of the 223-year-old Somerset House is striking. What’s it like bringing your work to places like London and Venice? It was exciting to be able to bring the work to London as a new iteration. One of the things I’ve come to realize is that no single individual can solve this issue—it must be solved on a broad, collective level, and I feel that when we talk about art engaging with the subject, it’s the same—it needs a more collective approach. It should not be about the one, but the many.
I wove together what I felt was a good representation of voices from the front lines—poets, philosophers, activists, writers and indigenous elders, and each would have their own large solar powered highway sign devoted to their message. We led with the French philosopher Bruno Latour, and had other contributions from people like Zadie Smith, but also lesser known
writers like poets Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner and Aka Niviâna who wrote this amazing poem entitled “RISE” commissioned by 350.org, and an indigenous poet from Guam, Craig Santos-Perez who contributed a remarkable sonnet that was inspired by the love sonnets of Pablo Neruda. I even snuck one of my own signs into the mix—an incomplete list of animal species that have gone extinct over the past 200 years. Adding agency to the work, two days before it debuted, the UN announced in a report that an unprecedented one million species may go extinct, many over the next two decades.
What did Earth Day 2019 mean to you?
I think Earth Day itself can broadly raise the public consciousness—so it acts as an important reminder, but one of the things I’m exploring in my work is how to sew these Earth Day ideas into people’s minds, so that they can
Research is everything for the type of work that I do. The science and scientists are a critical component to trying to access this “hyperobject” we call climate change. If you’re not a scientist, Inuit, farmer or someone that is physically on the front lines of this problem, it’s almost impossible to understand the magnitude of the issue. So partnering up with WHRC has been imperative for me and my work.
What’s next for you?
We’re collaborating with the Anchorage Museum to create a traveling exhibition of my work that comes out of my collaboration with WHRC, which will debut in Anchorage in 2021 and travel to other institutions from there, so I still have a couple more years to keep researching and working.
In addition, we’re working on 18 shows, exhibitions and projects right now through 2021. This includes my first major museum show in New York City in Fall of 2020, so it’s a bit overwhelming at the moment. I also really want to get back up to WHRC and spend some time with the scientists, as well as to get back out into the field. Fall 2019
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Board of Directors Chair William R. Moomaw Professor Emeritus, Tufts University, Center for International Environment and Resource Policy, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy Vice Chair Constance R. Roosevelt Conservationist
Treasurer Michael J. Fanger President, Eastern Funding, LLC Clerk R.J. Lyman Member, Mintz Levin Senior Advisor, ML Strategies Chair-Designate Joseph J. Mueller Founder, Rockport Mortgage Corporation
Members Stephen T. Curwood Host & Executive Producer, Living on Earth, Public Radio International, and Professor, School for the Environment, University of Massachusetts Boston
Philip B. Duffy President & Executive Director, WHRC
| President’s Council
Diane C. Falconer Environmentalist, Marketing Professional, and Artist
Scott J. Goetz Professor, School of Informatics, Computing, and Cyber Systems, Northern Arizona University
Joshua R. Goldberg General Counsel & Managing Director, Financo, Inc. Marc E. Goldberg Co-Founder and Managing Partner, BioVentures Investors André Guimarães Executive Director, IPAM Amazon Environmental Research Institute
David G. Hawkins Director, Climate Center, Natural Resources Defense Council Thomas J. Hynes III Founder & CEO, XL Hybrids
John L. Le Coq Founder & CEO, Fishpond, Inc.
Thomas E. Lovejoy Senior Fellow, United Nations Foundation, and Professor, College of Science, George Mason University
The President’s Council is a non-governing group of loyal friends who contribute their time and expertise to provide advice and counsel to the Center’s President and staff on a variety of strategic, programmatic, and managerial topics. We thank them for their support.
Warren Adams Boston & Edgartown, MA Spencer Adler New York, NY Steven Berkenfeld New York, NY Steve Bernier Vineyard Haven, MA Joanna & Stuart Brown Telluride, CO Jim Cabot Boston, MA Alan Greenglass, MD Newark, DE C. Gail Greenwald Boston, MA N. Stuart Harris, MD Boston, MA 22
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Berl Hartman Cambridge, MA David Hoover Plymouth, MA Joy Jacobson Arlington, VA Shanti & Yale Jones Ranchos de Taos, NM Amelia Koch Boston & Dartmouth, MA Kathy Kretman Washington, DC Pamela Murphy Chevy Chase, MD Theodore Roosevelt V Menlo Park, CA Kate Schafer San Jose, CA
Peter Stein Hanover, NH Rob Stenson Falmouth, MA Eric Stoermer Falmouth, MA Gen. Gordon Sullivan Falmouth, MA Daniel Webb Falmouth, MA Bonni Widdoes Boston & Edgartown, MA Stash Wislocki Telluride, CO Zaurie Zimmerman Lexington, MA
Victoria H. Lowell Community Leader, Conservationist
Wilhelm M. Merck Managing Member, Essex Timber Company, and Trustee and Treasurer, Merck Family Fund Georgia C. Nassikas Artist, Conservationist
Jeremy M. Oppenheim Founder & Managing Partner, SystemiQ
William C. Pisano Senior Consultant, MWH Global, part of Stantec Glenn T. Prickett Founder and Principal, Rock Creek Strategies, LLC
Joseph R. Robinson Managing Director, MidMark Capital
Tedd R. Saunders President, Eco-Logical Solutions, and Chief Sustainability Officer, The Saunders Hotel Group
Stephanie N. Tomasky Independent Film Producer, Director, and Writer Honorary Directors John H. Adams Anita W. Brewer-Siljehølm Neal A. Brown John Cantlon Iris Fanger Stuart Goode Joel Horn Lily Rice Hsia Lawrence S. Huntington Karen C. Lambert Merloyd Ludington Mary Louise Montgomery Gilman Ordway Amy H. Regan Gordon W. Russell Ross Sandler J. Gustave Speth Robert G. Stanton M.S. Swaminathan Founder George M. Woodwell
Incoming Board members
Outgoing Board members
André Guimarães currently serves as the Executive Director of IPAM (Amazon Environmental Research Institute), WHRC’s partner organization in Brazil. Previously he was vice-president of development at Conservation International-Americas, with responsibility for designing the program’s conservation strategy, fundraising, cultivating institutional relationships, and supervising operations in ten Latin American countries. He has authored a number of articles, book chapters and other publications, focused on the interface between conservation and private sector activities.
A long-time forest conservation advocate, Merloyd Lawrence Ludington joined the WHRC Board of Directors in 2004. She is editor and publisher of the imprint “Merloyd Lawrence Books” co-published with the Perseus Books Group, whose books have included works in science, environment, psychology, and health. She currently serves as Director Emeritus at Island Press and will join WHRC’s Honorary Board of Directors. According to WHRC founder, George Woodwell, “Merloyd has been a continuously generous consultant on scholarly matters and a wonderful friend, personal and institutional.”
Glenn T. Prickett is founder and principal of Rock Creek Strategies, LLC, a strategic advisory firm that helps companies, investors, and organizations incorporate the value of nature into economic development. With three decades of leadership in global development, corporate sustainability, and environmental, natural resource, and climate change policy and practice, Glenn has served as Chief External Affairs Officer at The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and founded Conservation International’s Center for Environmental Leadership in Business.
Amy Regan has served as a WHRC Director since 2001 and chaired the Board’s Development Committee for many years. She is president of the Harbourton Foundation, which focuses on environment, health and human rights. “Amy was extremely helpful in orienting me to the opportunities and responsibilities of board members. I want to express my appreciation for her thoughtful insights into how board members can contribute to the success of this organization. She will be missed.” -Bill Moomaw, WHRC Board Chair
Staff President and Executive Director Philip B. Duffy, Ph.D.
I. Foster Brown, Ph.D. Glenn K. Bush, Ph.D. Monica Caparas, B.S. Andréa D. Castanho, Ph.D. Deputy Director Michael T. Coe, Ph.D. Robert Max Holmes, Ph.D. Sol Cooperdock, M.S. Vice President, G. Ken Creighton, Ph.D. Strategy & Advancement Shree Dangal, Ph.D. Alison M. Smart, B.F.A. Linda A. Deegan, Ph.D. Senior Advisor to the Dominick Dusseau, M.A. President Mary Farina, M.A. John P. Holdren, Ph.D. Gregory J. Fiske, M.S. Chief Financial Officer Jennifer Francis, Ph.D. Camille M. Romano, M.S., C.P.A. Sara Giacomini, B.S. Spencer Glendon, Ph.D. Science Staff Seth Gorelik, M.S. Alessandro Baccini, Ph.D. Richard A. Houghton, Ph.D. Richard Birdsey, Ph.D. Wendy Kingerlee, B.S. Leah Birch, Ph.D. Nolan Kitts, B.S. Paulo Brando, Ph.D.
Paul A. Lefebvre, M.A. Marcia N. Macedo, Ph.D. Susan M. Natali, Ph.D. Christopher Neill, Ph.D. Carly Phillips, Ph.D. Rafe Pomerance, B.A. Amanda E.W. Poston, B.A. Stefano Potter, M.S. Ludmila Rattis, Ph.D. Charlotte Rivard, B.S. Brendan M. Rogers, Ph.D. Jonathan Sanderman, Ph.D. Kathleen Savage, M.Sc. Christopher R. Schwalm, Ph.D. Lindsay G. Scott, M.S. Tatiana Shestakova, Ph.D. Hillary L. Sullivan, M.S. Anya Suslova, M.Sc. Wayne S. Walker, Ph.D.
Jennifer D. Watts, Ph.D. Joseph Zambo Zachary Zobel, Ph.D.
Administrative Staff Elizabeth H. Bagley, B.A. Tracy Barquinero, M.S. Paula C. Beckerle, B.A. Kelly Benway, B.B.A. Beth Brazil, M.A. Florence Carlowicz, B.A. Amy Chadburn, B.A. Shauna Conley, B.S. Hilary Davis, B.A. Lee Davis, B.A. Annalisa Eisen Miles Grant, B.S. Emily Marshall, B.B.A. David McGlinchey, J.D. Fred Palmer Julianne Waite, B.A. Fall 2019
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ANNUAL REPORT
Statement of Activities
2018/2019 Report
Support and Revenue
Expenses Foundations and Individuals (50%) Other Income (7%)
Contract Revenue (11%) US Government (32%)
Research Programs (69%)
Development & Fundraising (10%) General & Administrative (21%)
Support and revenue
Contributions, grants, and contracts U.S. Government Foundations and other Contract revenue Investment income Donated equipment In-kind donations Change in value of split-interest agreements Other income Net assets released from restrictions
Total support and revenue
Expenses
Research programs General and administrative Development and fundraising Total expenses
Change in net assets Net assets
Beginning of year End of year
24
Without Donor Restrictions
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$
With Donor Restrictions Perpetual
Total 2019
Total 2018
5,700 -
$ 3,796,809 5,863,045 1,338,978 621,137 117,218 11,233 84,448 -
$ 4,323,656 6,885,423 644,262 436,050 23,007 35,000 (11,777) 96,491 -
7,553,619 2,354,046 1,094,554
7,065,618 2,177,218 801,050
Temporarily
$
4,761,871 1,338,978 201,132 117,218 11,233 84,448 5,970,451
$ 3,796,809 1,095,474 420,005 (5,970,451)
7,553,619 2,354,046 1,094,554
-
-
1,483,112
9,094,675
12,485,331
11,002,219
$ 10,577,787
(658,163)
5,700
11,832,868
12,432,112
(658,163)
-
5,700
11,002,219
10,043,886
5,132,577
3,693,379
17,920,631
15,532,405
-
$ 4,474,414
$ 3,699,079
830,649
$ 18,751,280
2,388,226
$ 17,920,631
Statement of Financial Position Fiscal Year 2019 Highlights
FY2019 was another robust year for Woods Hole Research Center. Strong fundraising exceeded goals and enabled us to begin new initiatives to further our impact. The fiscal year closed with the WHRC receiving an unmodified audit opinion with no findings or questioned costs from the external audit firm of Calibre CPA Group, another sign of the Center’s organizational stability.
The Center’s financial position is also strong. Our total net assets increased by $830k while our total liabilities have increased by $115k. Our program expenditures increased by $488k as our scientists furthered our mission, In addition to traditional government and private foundation awards, funding in the form of contracts has become more common, increasing from $0.6M to $1.3M.
Assets
Current Assets Cash and cash equivalents U.S. Government contributions receivable Other contributions, grants, contracts receivable Prepaid expenses and other receivables Total current assets
Investments Endowment and quasi-endowment investments Other investments Total investments assets
Total assets
Liabilities and Net Assets
Current liabilities Accounts payable Accrued expenses Refundable advances Deferred contract revenue Liability under charitable gift annuities Loan payable Total current liabilities
Full financial statements are available at: whrc.org/financials
Long-term liabilities Liability under charitable gift annuities, net Loans payable, net of current portion Total liabilities
Camille M. Romano Chief Financial Officer
2019
$ 3,955,768 502,639 1,797,351 160,646 6,416,404
5,343,789
5,390,292
6,889,910 888,066 7,777,976 483,107 212,651 13,744 709,502
6,661,208 1,275,804 7,937,012 669,971 212,651 14,878 897,500
$ 21,587,340
$ 20,641,208
$
$
Net assets Without donor restrictions Operating Board designated endowment Board designated for Fund for Climate Solutions Net investment in property and equipment Total net assets without donor restrictions With donor restrictions Temporary restrictions Perpetual restrictions Total net assets with donor restrictions Total net assets Total liabilities and net assets
2018
$ 6,162,886 458,577 977,318 157,292 7,756,073
Net property and equipment
Other assets Other contributions receivable, net of current portion Beneficial interest in real estate trust assets Bond proceeds held in trust for debt retirement Total other assets
As we enter 2020, WHRC continues to move forward in a position of strength.
WHRC has earned Charity Navigator’s highest rating of 4 stars, as well as a Gold Seal of Transparency from GuideStar.
2018/2019 Report
370,004 454,904 277 576,861 5,289 114,192 1,478,527
370,582 387,988 32,013 332,689 10,949 114,192 1,248,413
90,746 1,266,787 2,836,060
90,046 1,382,118 2,720,577
4,298,745 1,802,488 500,000 3,976,554 10,577,787
2,883,327 1,802,488 500,000 3,908,860 9,094,675
4,474,414 3,699,079 8,173,493
18,751,280 $ 21,587,340
Fall 2019
5,132,577 3,693,379 8,825,956
17,920,631 $ 20,641,208
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ANNUAL REPORT
Donors We are deeply grateful to the individuals, foundations, and businesses listed on the following pages who supported us through gifts and pledges made during the Center’s fiscal year July 1, 2018–June 30, 2019.
$100,000+
Charles R. O’Malley Charitable Lead Trust Foundation for the Carolinas Harbourton Foundation Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation Christopher and Lisa Kaneb John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Wilhelm Merck and Nonie Brady Kristie Miller Amy and James Regan Joseph and Marité Robinson Ruth McCormick Tankersley Charitable Trust Fred and Alice Stanback Douglas and Barbara Williamson
$50,000-$99,999
Anonymous (2) Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation Michael Fanger and Linda Sattel Benjamin and Ruth Hammett The Hermann Foundation Victoria and Francis* Lowell MF Bartol Charitable Giving Fund Connie and Ted Roosevelt Robert Stenson and Kate Stenson-Lunt
$25,000-$49,999
Garrett Albright ARIA Foundation Better Tomorrow Fund Stuart and Joanna Brown Ida and Robert Gordon Family Foundation, Inc. Roberta Gordon and Richard Greenberg Gould Family Foundation The Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment Daniel Hildreth David Hoover and Carol Swenson Merloyd Ludington and John Myers Joanna Sturm W.L. Lyons Brown, Jr. Charitable Foundation Whalesback Foundation James Worth
$10,000-$24,999
Steve Bernier and Constance Messmer 26
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The Boston Foundation Anita Brewer Siljeholm Cogan Family Foundation John Cogan and Mary Cornille Cronig’s Market The DCS Fund of the Essex County Community Foundation Endurance Foundation Diane and Scott Falconer Iris and Robert Fanger Hart and Nancy Fessenden Peter and Jennifer Francis Jennifer Crowell Gilliland Stuart Goode and Nancy Cooley Alan and Fran Greenglass Serena Hatch Timothy and Joan Ingraham J. Atwood and Elizabeth Ives Rick Gill and Betsy Jewett Monique Liuzzi Katharine E. Merck William and Margot Moomaw Georgia and John Nassikas William and Rosemary Pisano Leo Prone and Cynthia Moor Trillium Asset Management
$5,000 - $9,999
Matthew and Brooke Barzun Robert and Pam Beck Phyllis Bock Neal Brown and Judy LaBelle CLC Kramer Foundation Inc. Environmental Trust Fund of the Cape Cod Foundation Craig Davis Casper and Nina de Clercq Michael and Dudley Del Balso Kim and Nancy Faulkner Michael and Elizabeth Foley Foley and Foley, LLC Dan and Bunny Gabel Timothy and Mary Helen Goldsmith Thomas and Virginia Gregg Bayard and Julie Henry Lawrence and Caroline Huntington Ivor Cornman and Margaret E. Cornman Fund Doe Family Foundation Yale and Shanti Jones The J.M. Kaplan Fund Philip and Catherine Korsant Karen and Sam Lambert
MSB Cockayne Fund Inc. William Lunt and Mary Waterman Jeremy Oppenheim Eugene and Diana Pinover Renaissance Charitable Foundation Inc. Pat Riley Gordon Russell and Bettina McAdoo Tedd and Ella Saunders Frederica Valois Zaurie Zimmerman and Craig Le Clair
$1,000 - $4,999
Anonymous (2) Michael and Margherita Baldwin Rhoda Baruch Anthony Bernhardt George Billings Boston Financial Management Brabson Library and Educational Foundation John and Nancy Braitmayer Sierra Bright David and Colleen Burt Caithness Foundation, Inc. Heather Campion Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank Foundation David and Noel Cappillo Virginia Carter Jim Clemans Molly N. Cornell Michael and Marcia Corrigan Emma DeCamp Dewey Square Group, LLC Philip Duffy and Lauren Lempert Duffy Dorothea Endicott Susan Epes Richard and Catherine Fay Fels En Meer Charitable Fund Geoffrey Freeman and Marjorie Findlay F. Thomas Fudala Paul Glendon Marc Goldberg and Lorri Veidenheimer Goodwin Procter LLP Christopher Goolgasian Timothy Gray C. Gail Greenwald Samuel Hamill Whitney and Elizabeth Hatch
George and Marina Hatch Mark and Robin Hayes Art and Eloise Hodges Richard and Susan Houghton Lily Rice Hsia and John Hsia Gordon and Elizabeth Hughes Tod and Beth Hynes David Isenberg and Paula Blumenthal Raymond and Lola Johnson Frank and Judith Kauffman Christopher and Susan Klem Kathy Kretman Catherine Lanteri Carl and Joanne Leaman David and Dana Lee Marvin and Annette Lee Foundation Max and Anne Goldberg Foundation Stephen and Sigi Lindo Jim and Caroline Lloyd Bill and Noelle Locke Thomas Lovejoy R.J. and Leslie Lyman Laurence and Katherine Madin Sheila Manischewitz Gary and Karen Martin Brian and Anne Mazar Kevin McCroary Mary Louise and Charles Montgomery Garrett and Mary Moran Annie Morris Joseph and Eileen Mueller Christopher Neill and Linda Deegan Normandie Fondation Abigail Norman Matthew Patsky Robert and Pamela Pelletreau Joan Person Morey Phippen and Brian Adams Linda Polishuk David and Laurie Reed Jack and Sarah Robinson Mark and Eleanor Robinson Elizabeth F. Sayman Stanley and Barbara Schantz Cecily Selby Stefanie Sheehan Thomas and Heidi Sikina Bonnie Simon Nancy B. Soulette Richard and Joanne Spillane
WHRC Scientist Dr. Jennifer Francis testifies to the House of Representatives Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, speaking to the committee about the connection between climate change and extreme weather. Peter Stein and Lisa Cashdan Stephanie Tomasky and Mitchell Cohen Margaret Evans Tuten Foundation Daniel and Mary Webb Nina Webber James and Theresa Whitmore The Winslow Foundation Eric Crofts Wisch Ned and Patricia Wright
$500 - $999
Anonymous (7) Carla Alani Robert and Alison Ament David and Nancy Babin Tim Barclay Charles and Christina Bascom Henry and Suzanne Bass The Benjamin Family David Brown and Nawrie Meigs Brown Jacob and Barbara Brown Kurt and Mary Cerulli Brian Church Bonnie Clendenning Climate Ride, Inc. Lawrence and Regina DelVecchio William and Elizabeth Dewey Robert and Sylvia Dickinson Julian Draz Frank Dunau and Amy Davis Thomas and Diane Esselman Robert and Joanne Fallon Delia Flynn Ken Foreman and Anne Giblin Elizabeth Forrer
Roger and Laurie Freeman Stephen Gardner and Mary Voce Robert Goldsborough and Salley Mavor Jane Hallowell Charles and Ethel Hamann Albert and April Hamel Stuart Harris and Malinda Polk Berl Hartman James Hoch R. Max and Gabrielle Holmes The Honorable Rush Holt and Dr. Margaret Lancefield Betsey Holtzmann John and Molly Hooper Horizon Foundation Weston and Susanah Howland Brad and Andrea Hubbard Nelson Joy Jacobson William and Holly James David and Hobby Jeffrey Lawrence and Ginette Langer Steven Lee and Angela Wang Whitney and Phillip Long Wey Lundquist* and Kathryn Taylor Kai and Marion Marcucelli Josephine Merck Elizabeth & Frank Odell Family Fund of the Community Foundation of Collier County Lawrence Pratt and Melinda Hall Robert and Sally Prendergast Robert Prescott Kilaparti and Anjali Ramakrishna Jamie Adam Rome and Leila Mankarious Rome
David Rosenbloom and Alice Richmond Ross and Alice Sandler Norma and Roger A. Saunders and The Saunders Family Charitable Fund Daniel and Maxine Singer Lionel and Vivian Spiro Campbell Steward Alex and Landis Van Alen Richard Verney Emily V. Wade David and Julianne Worrell Peter Zika and Elizabeth Gould Ron Zweig and Christina Rawley
$1 - $499
Anonymous (11) John Abrams Donald and Barbara Abt Jerry Ackerman Levi and Jeanne Adams Catherine Allard Robert and Helen Alsop Lawrence Altman and Janet Barsy AmazonSmile Kristin Andres Liz Argo Christopher and Eleanor Armstrong Ellie and Rich Armstrong Don and Dee Aukamp Irene Avery Denise Backus Paula Bacon George and Elizabeth Bagley Paul and Annette Bakstran
Joan Balfour Karel Baloun John Banner B. Lynne Barbee Anne Barnes Barnstable Clean Water Coalition David and Laurie Barrett Marilee Bass Gary Beach and Mona Beach Bernardi Paula Beckerle Howard and Deborah Bernstein Mireille Bessin Lee James Best, Jr. Ronald and Carol Beyna Milton and Sandra Blackington Deborah Blanchet John and Linda Bowers Frank and Mardi Bowles Peter Bowman Timothy Bradley and Eliot Nolen Emily Bramhall Eric Hauck and Beth Brazil Hauck Gerard Brown Nelson Bryant Tom and Beatrice Bunker Kate Burdick Thomas Burger and Andree Robert Megan Shea Burton Arch and Jessie Bush William and Helga Butler Bradford Butman David Byrne and Rosemary Loring Michael and Charlene Cain Alexander Campbell John and Irene Cantlon John and Rhona Carlton Foss Peter Carnevale and Joanne Blum Carnevale James and CeAnn Carney John and Helaine Carroll Philip and March Cavanaugh Donald Cecich and Gail Fenske Joy Chadwick Michael Charlson and Susan Austin Myra Chen Frank and Julia Child Tom and Christie Chilton Carol Chittenden Jennifer Christman Naomi Church Andrew Cimino Darlene Clark Jim and Ann Cleary Charles and Catherine Cleland Tom Clemow Jonathan and Susanna Cobb
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Polaris Project students Henry Henson and Aquanette Sanders take water sample data, while Faculty Paul Mann steadies the raft. The Polaris Project brought ten students to the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta in Alaska for two weeks of research during the summer, returning to WHRC for another two weeks to process and analyze the data collected for their projects. Gloria Cohen Ellen Coldren Peter and Edna Collom Susanna Colloredo Mansfeld Steve Connors Peter Conzett and Pam Gougen Charles Cooper and Sarah Bysshe James Cornell John and Barbara Cotnam Ruth Courtnell Richard Cowett Roger Craig Harry and Marie Cromwell Patricia Crosthwait Copenhaver Cumpston Dennis and Sandra Cuny Mark and Jackie Curley Steve Curwood and Jennifer Stevens Curwood Stewart and Kathleen Dalzell Murray and Judith Danforth Sanders and Ann Davies Michael and Rona Davis Hubert and Frances de Lacvivier Paul and Maria De Weer John and Carol DeBraal Philip and Tina deNormandie Designs of Aqua Bay Inc. Francis and Carol DeYoung Jane Dickenson Harding Nicholas and Bitten Dill Leonard and Annmarie DiLorenzo Robertson and Patricia Dinsmore Jonathan and Heather DiPaolo 28
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Richard and Sara Dizinno Joseph and Grace Donahue Patricia Donahue Toni Dove Allison Driskill Michael Dryfoos Patrick Duffy Martin Dugan Allan and Linda Dunn Arden Edwards Paul and Anne Ehrlich Deborah Ekstrom Marilyn Elie Janine Elliott Stephen Day Ellis Denny Emory Lynne Farlow Jacqueline Farmer Alison Farrar Albert Fernandez and Mary Burke Richard Fewkes Carolyn Fine and Jeremiah Friedman Philip Fine and Beverly Holley Sharon Finzer Harvey and Susan Fishman Gordon Fitzgerald Glenn Fleming Mary Pat Flynn Charles and Maryanna Foskett Margaret Foster Tom and Margaret Foster Judith Fox Ann Freedberg
Melissa Freitag Sara Fritz Dorothy Fulgoni Barbara Gaffron Alan Gagnon Willard and Constance Galliart Michael and MC Garfield Mark Germer Nancy Gibbons Susan Gibbs Irmgard Gienandt Cameron and Margaret Gifford Richard Gleeson and Nancy Serventi Elaine Goldman Jonathan and Nicole Goldman Dick Goodson Marc and Carol Gordon Michael and Karen Gorton Ray and Linda Gosselin Leon and Deborah Gove Alan and Elizabeth Green Huson Gregory John and Jane Griffith Robert and Virginia Guaraldi Lorraine Gyauch Timothy Hagan Mikhael Haidar Stanley and Elaine Harlow Lynn Harrison Robert and Heather Harrison David and Betsy Hawkins Elizabeth P. Heald Jill Heathman
David and Alexis Heitman Kurt and Ruthann Hellfach George Helmholz James and Lorna Henderer Gordon and Carol Henley Frances Henry and Walter Korzec Ruth Herndon David and Joan Herschfeld Charlene Herzer Richard and Kristen Hill Elizabeth Hills Wichita Falls Area Community Foundation – John Hirschi Donor Advised John and Olivann Hobbie Jean Hodgin Larry Holt and Elizabeth Whelan Wendy Holup Richard and Marjy Horton Richard Hough Alan Houghton and Sky Pape David and Clara Hulburt Mark Hurwitz Frances Huxley Nada Hyman Lynn Jackson Carolyn Jacobs Stanley and Dee Jacobs Michael and Rachel Jakuba Michael Janovsky D. Randolph Johnson Joyce Johnson Leonard and Patricia Johnson Virginia Johnson Anthony and Elisabeth Jones Barbara Woll Jones Floyd Judd Josh Judson Richard Kacik John Kahwaty and Cheryl Sexton Lauren Kaminer Joanna Kanow Aldona Kasper Allen Kassoff Jon and Barbara Kaufman Robert Kay Whitney and Fred Keen Dennis and Joanne Keith Paul Cotran and Anne Kelly Lauren Kendzierski Kevin and Stephanie Kennedy Patricia Keoughan Marianne Wiser Sandra Kinet Alan and Joan Kirk Andrew and Cheryl Kitts Ronald and Marcy Klattenberg Lucie Kleinhans Shimon Kogan James and Debra Krasnow
Rick and Kelly Krause Jan Kubiac Calvin and Ilene Kunin Donna Kuroda Albert and Sonia Kutzin John and Diana Lamb Patricia Lamoureux Lawrence and Hannah Langsam Donna LaRoche Gary LaRue and Susan Barrett Chip and Gayle Lawrence Kira Lawrence and Catherine Riihimaki Sally M. Lawton John Le Coq Adrienne A. Leaf James and Peggy Ledwell Julia Lee William Lehman Carolyn Leiby Edwin and Judith Leonard H. David and Patricia Leslie Frances Lightsom Elizabeth Listerman Douglas and Kim Livolsi
Jean Lopardo Ned Lopata Richard Lopes Stephen and Valerie Loring Joanna Lowell Bruce and Lorraine Luchner Louise Luckenbill Mark Ludwig Allen Luke Peter A. Tassia and Maija M. Lutz San Lyman Nilah MacDonald Fred and Judith Mackenzie Jane MacNeil Don and Janna Macoy Lee Maglott David and Maryann Mahood John Malarkey and Pauline O’Leary Wayne and June Malary Charles and Susanne Mann Glenn Marcus Edward and Therese Marshall John Mashey and Angela Hey Linda Matheson
Woods Hole Research Center hosted its first Climate Concert on the front parch this summer with local bluegrass band Brother’s Rye.
Robert Matthew Frances Mautner Markhof Edmund E. McCann Richard and Margaret McCann Frances McClennen Michael and Janet McClure Rebecca McCue Mary A. McDonough Alice McDowell Victor and Ruth McElheny Andrea McGlinchey Matthew McGuire Deborah McIntosh Robert McKlveen and Ellen Jones Ken and Gussie McKusick Jay McLauchlan Cornelia McMurtrie Scott McNamara and Krista Hennessy Robert and Anne McNeece David and Barbara McPhelim Jonathan and Jane Meigs Maryellen Meleca and Christine Graziano Jerry and Lalise Melillo Amy Merrill Peter and Sara Merrill Herbert and Patricia Messenger Philip Milburn Robin Milburn Leah Miller Barbara Miner Donald and Janet Moller Elizabeth Molodovsky Allan and Maria Moniz David and Marilyn Moore Rod Hinkle and Kirstin Moritz David Morreale Yvette Morrill Angela Hart Morris Ken and Laura Morse Susan G. Morse Frederic Morton Laurinda Morway Day and Kathie Mount MountainFilm Joseph and Allison Mueller Allen Myers Jill Neubauer Ann Little Newbury John and Vivian Novado Carol Oakes George and Diane Ohanian Robert Ohlerking Nancy L. Olsen Carol O’Neil John and Karen O’Neil Melody Padget Daniel Pagath Robert Paninski
Isabel Barzun and Gavin Parfit E. Donald and Joanne Patterson Richard Payne and Deborah Siegal PayPal Giving Fund Nora Kay Pelt Bernhard Peucker Ehrenbrink and Petra Ehrenbrink Larry and Deborah Piccioli Tom Pike and Lys McLaughlin Ann Pilch Paul and Sandra Pimentel Jerry and Sheila Place Scott and Brandy Ann Place Henry Pope Jerry and Barbara Porter William Porter Joan Power Stevan Power Allan and Kit Prager Rex Pratt and Diane McMahon Pratt David Prosten and Sarah Flynn Valeria Protay Jonathan Prudhomme Alexander Puckett George and Kathy Putnam Elisabeth Raleigh Robert Ralls and Sherrie Burson Alan and Margaret Ranford Susan Rau Thomas and Ruth Rauschendorfer Richard Raushenbush and Barbara Giuffre Bill Reed John Rich Ruthann Richards Kennedy and Susan Richardson Peter Riffley Mary Ring Alison A. Robb Mark and Laurie Robert Sue Robinson Peter and Jane Roda James and Dianne Roderick Camille Romano and Mark Kasprzyk Elisa Romano Christopher and Roddy Roosevelt Nicholas and Sueanne Rorick Robert Rose Marc Rosenbaum and Jill De La Hunt Dennis and Kathryn Rosenfeld David and Edith Ross Charles Ruch Gilbert Ruff and Susan Bonthron Jenny Russell Rebecca Russell Philip Sacks Richard Sailor and Mary Johnston
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ANNUAL REPORT R. Keith and Susan Salisbury David Sandstedt James and Barbara Saret Murali and Jody Sastry John and Paula Saunders William and Rebecca Sawyer Daniel and Paula Schiller Jennifer Schloming Joseph and Evelyn Schmidt Paul and Kristen Schmidt Judith Schooley David Schopick Joel Schwartz Damien Scott and Tessa Nichols Robert Shatten and Jessica Langsam
South Mountain Company Foundation Gus and Cameron Speth Rob Spork Tom Anderson and Jennifer Stamp Wallace and Pamela Stark Frank Stasio Kenneth Stasney Tom and Judy Stetson Jean Stewart Wesley and Patricia Stimpson P. and B. Stone Debra Stone Michael Stone Ronald Stone
Noah and Janet Totten James Tow Leo Tugan Baranovsky Louis and Lee Turner Friends in Pennsylvania Yvette Viard Martha Vinick Keith von der Heydt and Terry McKee Stephen and Carol Ann Wagner Grant and Jean Walker Gary and Linda Walker Rachel Walker Wayne and Lisa Walker Ann and Brad Wallace Mary J. Walsh
Daniel Weintraub Irwin Weisbrot Robert and Marilyn Werner Andreas Wesserle Allison Brewster White Stu and Tilda White The Tamzen White Family Fund Terry and Olivia White Joan Wickersham Thomas Wilkinson Marsden Williams S. Jeffress Williams and Rebecca Upton Benjamin and Ann Williamson Thomas and Patricia Willis George Wislocki Eric Wolman Caroline Woodwell and Christopher DeForest John and Marie Woodwell Lois Woodwell Donna Wygle Deborah Yorke Dick Zajchowski and Celia Brown Louise Zawadzki Glenn and Geraldine Ziegenfuss Michael Zimmermann Timm and Cate Zolkos * deceased
Matching Gift Organizations Colgate-Palmolive Matching Gifts Program FM Global Foundation Microsoft Matching Gift Program New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. Vanguard Charitable
George Perkins Marsh Society
Lindsey Scott collects water depth data during cranberry harvesting. The measurements are used with nutrient concentrations data from water samples, collected at the bog entry and exit points during harvest and over the course of the year, to estimate a total nutrient budget for how much nitrogen and phosphorus are released from cranberry bogs. Gus and Eleanore Shaver Michael and Amy Shaw James and Lesley Shepard Peter Sinclaire Vivian Sinder Brown Peter Skiera David and Mally Skok Clifford Slayman Robert and Mary Smith Donald Sohn 30
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Thomas and Ann Stone John and Carolyn Stremlau Jacek and Margaret Sulanowski Robert and Abby Summersgill Anya Suslova John Swope Michael Testa Fredrica Harris Thompsett Walter and Nancy Thompson Josh and Ann Tolkoff
Kerry Walton Mitzi Ware Gordon Waring and Patricia Gerrior Deborah Warner Dorothy Wass Matt Watson Scott Wayne Diana Weatherby Lewis Weinfeld
Known to many as America’s first environmentalist, George Perkins Marsh was a 19th century scholar diplomat, and naturalist. His book, Man and Nature, sparked the establishment of forest reserves and the national forest system. It is still widely considered a pivotal text in the founding of the conservationist and environmental movements. To express our sincere appreciation to those who commit to planned gifts, WHRC offers lifetime membership in the George Perkins Marsh Society. Society members Dolores Arond Sharon Bidwell Denny Emory Iris and Robert Fanger
Scott Goetz and Nadine Laporte Ben and Ruth Hammett David Hoover and Carol Swenson Frank and Judith Kauffman Carl and Joanne Leaman Mary Lou and Charles Montgomery Joan Person David and Edith Ross George and Katharine Woodwell In Memoriam Donald Bidwell Warren A. Felt Martin Person
Kira Lawrence from Chip and Gayle Lawrence Gayle and Chip Lawrence from Kira Lawrence and Catherine Riihimaki
Paul Lefebvre from Thomas and Ann Stone Pete* and Vicky Lowell from Joanna Lowell Hunter Mackey from Rob Spork
Gifts In Honor Of
William R. Moomaw from Melissa Freitag, and Zaurie Zimmerman and Craig Le Clair
Elizabeth Bagley from Thomas and Ann Stone
Joseph J. Mueller from Joseph and Allison Mueller
Carolyn Barie from Peter Riffley
Foster Brown from Celia Brown and Dick Zajchowski Molly Burnham from David Prosten and Sarah Flynn Murphy, Mason, and Juliet from James Cornell
Wendy and Gordon Cromwell from Leah Miller Natalie DelBusso from Ruth Herndon E.P. Dewey from William and Elizabeth Dewey
Iris Fanger from Alan and Elizabeth Green Michael Fanger from Kate Burdick
Jennifer Francis from Wyoming Climate Activists Spencer Glendon from Susan Smith
Tyler Hampton from B. Lynne Barbee
John & Cheryl Holdren from Kai and Marion Marcucelli Marilyn Horton from Paula Bacon
Lily Rice Hsia from David Byrne and Rosemary Loring Robert C. Jacobs from Stanley and Dee Jacobs
Georgia Nassikas from David and Hobby Jeffrey, and Mark and Eleanor Robinson Christopher Neill from John and Olivann Hobbie Tyler Pelt from Nora Kay Pelt
Jerry & Sheila Place from Maryellen Meleca and Christine Graziano, Scott and Brandy Ann Place, and Deborah Yorke Amy Regan from Stewart and Kathleen Dalzell Mila Sandstedt from David Sandstedt
Layla & Jacqueline Sastry from Murali and Jody Sastry Lew Stern from Catherine Lanteri
Thomas Stone from Ronald and Carol Beyna, Debra Stone, and Michael Stone Kay Taylor from Robert and Abby Summersgill Melissa Tomlinson from Anonymous
C. Grant Walker from Rachel Walker Allison White from Susan Gibbs
George Woodwell from Denise Backus, David and Nancy Babin, David Brown and Nawrie Meigs-Brown, John and
Amna Nawaz interviews Dr. Michael Coe at the Tanguro ranch in Matto Grasso, Brazil for a segment on PBS NewsHour. Rhona Carlton-Foss, Jonathan and Nicole Goldman, Rod Hinkle and Kirstin Moritz, John and Olivann Hobbie, Pete* and Vicky Lowell, Marcy Woodwell Neilson, Marc Rosenbaum and Jill De La Hunt, Cecily Selby, Robert Shatten and Jessica Langsam
Francis C. Lowell Jr. from David and Nancy Babin, Iris and Robert Fanger,William and Susanne Hallstein, Josef and Emily Kellndorfer, Bruce and Alex Lancaster, Dana and Eileen Miskell, The DHS Program ICF
Gifts in Memory Of
Wey Lundquist from Michael Charlson and Susan Austin, Gary and Karen Gaskin, D. Jay Hyman, Charlotte Noerdlinger, Marilyn Planny, Robert and Abby Summersgill, Joan Swanson, David and Jodi Utter
Sally Brown from Matthew and Brooke Barzun
William Mackey from Iris and Robert Fanger
George and Katharine Woodwell from Abigail Norman, and Allison Brewster White * deceased
Patricia D. Byrne from David Byrne and Rosemary Loring
George and Yara Cadwalader from Benjamin and Ann Williamson Albert Einstein from Henry Pope
Nancy and Garry Hough from Richard Hough
Richard Houghton. Jr. from Alan Houghton and Sky Pape
David Manischewitz from Sheila Manischewitz Marion Marcus from Glenn Marcus
Natalie N. Mather from Arden Edwards
Walter Matherly from Copenhaver Cumpston John Moore from Richard and Margaret McCann
Les Kretman from Kathy Kretman
Beau Oakes from Carol Oakes
Anthony Liuzzi from Monique Liuzzi
Bill Watkins from Stanley and Elaine Harlow
Ron Ledoux from Designs of Aqua Bay Inc.
William Lopardo from Jean Lopardo
Sears and Littell Families from Nancy Olsen
Lila W. Willingham from Marsden Williams
Fall 2019
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Supporting WHRC’s efforts for a sustainable future.
We Help Employers www.foleylawpractice.com Admitted in 20 jurisdictions nationwide
FOOD + COMMUNITY Two inseparable elements that have been at the core of Cronig’s Market since its inception over 100 years ago. Through community involvement, utilizing local suppliers, non-profit collaboration or eco-initiatives Cronig’s Markets are thinking about the future of food + community.
Martha’s Vineyard
Vineyard Haven & West Tisbury cronigsmarket.com 32
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Woods Hole Research Center
C O R P O R AT E S P O N S O R S H I P OPPORTUNITIES Climate ClimateChange ChangeSolutions SolutionsSuper SuperStar Star $25,000 $25,000 & & Up
Lead sponsorship of a science intern at WHRC Naming rights to research equipment Recognition as a premiere corporate sponsor of a Community Lecture Series including: Meet and greet with speaker Opportunity to display company information at event Seats for up to six guests at each lecture your company is sponsoring* Acknowledgement as a top corporate sponsor at a major event Permanent plaque on donor tree at WHRC Full page ad in Canopy magazine Listing in annual report Logo on WHRC’s website
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Arctic ArcticPermafrost PermafrostStar Star $5,000 $5,000&&Up Up
Recognition as a corporate sponsor of a Community Lecture Series including: Meet and greet with speaker either before or after lecture Opportunity to display company information at event Seats for up to four guests at each lecture your company is sponsoring* Acknowledgement as a corporate sponsor at a major event Half page ad in Canopy magazine Listing in annual report Logo on WHRC’s website
Amazon AmazonRainforest RainforestStar Star $10,000 $10,000&&Up Up
Recognition as a top corporate sponsor of a Community Lecture Series including: Meet and greet with speaker Opportunity to display company information at event Seats for up to six guests at each lecture your company is sponsoring* Acknowledgement as a top corporate sponsor at a major event Permanent plaque on donor tree at WHRC Full page ad in Canopy magazine Listing in annual report Logo on WHRC’s website
• • •
Global GlobalRivers RiversStar Star $2,500 $2,500&&Up Up
Recognition as a corporate sponsor of a Community Lecture Series including: Meet and greet with speaker either before or after lecture Opportunity to display company information at event Seats for up to two guests at each lecture your company is sponsoring* Acknowledgement as a corporate sponsor at a major event Quarter page ad in Canopy magazine Listing in annual report Logo on WHRC’s website
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CapeCod CodStar Star Cape $1,000 $1,000
Acknowledgement as a corporate sponsor at a major event Listing in annual report Logo on WHRC’s website Invitations to WHRC events
For more information about corporate sponsorship, please contact Beth Brazil at 508-444-1549 or bbrazil@whrc.org *Please note guests must register in advance
Woods Hole Research Center 149 Woods Hole Road Falmouth, MA 02540 www.whrc.org
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CBS News reporter Vladimir Duthiers talks with WHRC scientist Dr. Paulo Brando at the top of the flux tower overlooking the Amazon forest at the Tanguro Ranch research station in Mato Grasso, Brazil.