Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a private nonprofit oceanographic research organization headquartered in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, delivers marine science research, specialized laboratory analytical services, and autonomous ocean technology development to federal agencies as a prime recipient and contractor across a broad portfolio of federal grants and contracts—with no set-aside designations, competing in full-and-open procurement.

WHOI operates across the federal landscape as a dominant player in oceanographic research funding. The nonprofit maintains a 3,679-award portfolio spanning more than four decades, with combined potential value of $1.29 billion and obligated dollars of $4.86 billion (376% penetration, reflecting long-running grants). Recent activity shows sustained engagement: 129 awards in FY2025, 149 in FY2024, with 176 awards (combined potential value $86.9 million) facing recompete within the next twenty-four months. Across all sources, WHOI carries 96% of its awards as a prime contractor or grant recipient, with 4% routed through subcontracts to larger primes—a position characteristic of a lead research institution rather than a feeder vendor.

Customer concentration pivots on basic research and applied oceanographic work. The top four funding agencies—the National Science Foundation (937 awards), the Department of the Navy (687 awards), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (348 awards), and NASA (250 awards)—account for 68% of recent awards by count. Dollar concentration tells a different story: the Naval Sea Systems Command (154 awards, $948.2 million combined potential value) and the Office of Naval Research (226 awards, $144.2 million) together anchor 88% of the dollar exposure in WHOI's portfolio, reflecting substantial Navy investment in autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) development, submarine-relevant oceanographic research, and marine sensing systems. The Indefinite Delivery Contract N6660414D0344 (89 task orders, $30.8 million combined potential) stands as WHOI's largest parent vehicle, with three additional Navy IDCs also in the top five.

Capability scope derives directly from named contract and grant work. WHOI specializes in accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating services for the U.S. Geological Survey (evidenced by a $45 thousand PO from January 2026 and a $484 thousand carbon dating contract from September 2025); autonomous underwater vehicle design and manufacturing (an $1.99 million Naval Sea Systems Command delivery order from August 2025 for a WHOI Generation 2 REMUS 600 AUV); oceanographic research platforms and data collection (operation of the R/V Atlantis and R/V Neil Armstrong through cooperative agreements with NSF; management of the Network for Ocean Worlds coordinating research on subsurface oceans via a $120 thousand NASA grant from October 2025); advanced analytical instrumentation (the Northeast National Ion Microprobe Facility, supported under a three-year NSF grant awarded February 2025); and marine biological and chemical research spanning climate dynamics, harmful algal bloom monitoring, sea ice dynamics, and nutrient cycling. Recent grant work includes basic research on phytoplankton nutrition ($602.244 million NSF award, September 2025), coral reef chemistry ($1.31 billion NSF collaborative grant, September 2024), and harmful algal bloom prediction in the Arctic ($479.883 thousand NSF Polar Programs award, June 2025). WHOI also operates as a recipient of federal research fellowships and internships (Knauss Sea Grant Fellowship for marine policy education; Summer Student Fellows REU program) and coordinates multiinstitutional research networks (Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Project Office, $2.41 million NSF award, July 2025).

Service Contract Inventory reports a narrow footprint: 5 SCI records spanning FY2022–FY2024, with zero prime invoiced revenue and de minimis FTE activity (0.1 to 0.4 FTEs across the period). This reflects WHOI's position as a research institution; the SCI dataset captures federal service contracts above the $150,000 threshold and excludes research grants, goods, and classified work—the bulk of WHOI's federal revenue stream.

WHOI also maintains one named subsidiary, EOM Offshore, LLC, certified as a small disadvantaged business, which appears in the corporate structure but does not materially alter the parent company's federal footprint as characterized above.

Teaming posture reflects WHOI's institutional role. The organization subcontracts primarily to specialized partners on grant work—examples include sub-awards to MIT, Northeastern University, and Gobysoft LLC on an NSF POSE (Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems) Phase I award for marine robotics (August 2025); sub-awards to the Marine Biological Laboratory and other universities on NSF and NOAA research initiatives; and subcontracts to Seacorp LLC and other DoN primes on submarine and acoustic research. The 4% sub-award share indicates WHOI rarely serves as a feedstock vendor to larger primes; instead, it anchors its own teams and brings other research institutions on as collaborators, consistent with its status as one of the world's largest independent oceanographic research institutions.

Hardware and technology products also flow from WHOI: the REMUS autonomous underwater vehicle sold to Naval Sea Systems Command; uncrewed underwater vehicle (UUV) payloads procured by NOAA (Northeast Fisheries Science Center, $183.869 thousand, April 2024); and Imaging FlowCytobot (IFCB) platforms for real-time phytoplankton monitoring deployed across federal harmful algal bloom networks. WHOI also provides specialized scientific services including ocean glider operations, mooring deployment and recovery, research vessel operation, and Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) for Arctic ice monitoring and acoustic marine research.

The recompete cliff of $86.9 million in combined potential value due in the next twenty-four months represents standing opportunity for competitors and recompete exposure for WHOI, concentrated in Navy research vessel contracts, NSF oceanographic research grants, and NOAA environmental monitoring awards.