It started with one scientist and a belief.

OUR HISTORY

Woodwell has spent more than 40 years turning climate research into knowledge the world can act on. When ecologist Dr. George Woodwell founded the Woods Hole Research Center climate change was just entering the public conversation. His belief was simple: climate science shouldn’t sit on a shelf, it should reach the people making decisions about our future.

Leading by example.

Through our rigorous research and innovative partnership model, we have developed a decades-long legacy of leadership in climate science, policy, and education.

Woodwell Climate holds an important place in the history of the environmental movement. In 1986, founder Dr. George M. Woodwell was one of the first scientists to testify before the US Congress about the dangers of climate change. Our scientists helped to launch the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in 1992. Our staff and Board includes experts who were recognized as contributors to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. And two Woodwell Climate presidents, Dr. Philip B. Duffy and Dr. John P. Holdren, have served in White House science advisory positions.

We don’t do it alone.

Woodwell doesn’t do research or develop solutions on our own. Our strength has always been in our ability to collaborate and share information, and most of our work relies on strong collaboration with Indigenous Knowledge Holders, local communities, scientific partners, non-governmental organizations as well as policymakers at a sub-national, federal and international governmental level. Over and over we prove the path to success lies at the intersection of science and decision-making, and we are a trusted, nonpartisan source of information and solutions to local communities up through and including international governmental bodies.

Same mission, different name.

In 2020, to honor our founder, Woods Hole Research Center became Woodwell Climate Research Center. Our new name honors our founder, one of the foremost scientific voices of our time, and more clearly embodies who we are: a group of scientists and a global network of partners singularly devoted to finding just, effective solutions to the imminent threat of climate change.

Now more than ever before, we are resolved in that pursuit—to bring decades of research, expertise, and partnership to bear so that, together, we might solve the greatest challenge of our time.