Benjamin Van Mooy, a Senior Scientist and Interim Vice President for Science and Engineering at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), has received the esteemed MacArthur Fellowship, often referred to as a “genius grant.” This honor was announced by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which recognizes exceptional individuals from various fields, including science, art, literature, and social entrepreneurship, each year.
The MacArthur Fellowship is designed to offer recipients the freedom to explore their creative and professional pursuits without the constraints of specific obligations or reporting requirements. Selection criteria emphasize remarkable creativity, a proven record of significant achievements, and the potential for future groundbreaking work.
Van Mooy’s research delves into the critical role of microbial organisms, particularly plankton, in regulating ocean health and influencing climate dynamics. His studies on planktonic lipid dynamics reveal how these tiny organisms contribute to essential processes such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon cycling in marine environments. This research is pivotal in understanding how shifts in marine ecosystems affect food webs, carbon sequestration, and broader climate regulation.
One notable finding from Van Mooy’s early work involved phytoplankton in the phosphorus-scarce Sargasso Sea. He discovered that these organisms adapt by substituting phosphorus-containing lipids in their cell membranes with sulfur-containing ones. Since phytoplankton form the foundation of the ocean food web, any changes to their nutrient composition have significant implications for the entire marine ecosystem.
With this prestigious fellowship, Van Mooy is poised to advance his innovative research, potentially reshaping our understanding of oceanic processes and their far-reaching impact on global climate.
“Van Mooy is filling critical gaps in our understanding of intricate biogeochemical networks that sustain life on Earth and of how climate change could impact the health and productivity of our oceans,” the MacArthur Fellow team said.
“When I first got the call from the MacArthur Foundation, I was absolutely convinced they dialed the wrong number,” Van Mooy said. “Now, that disbelief has been replaced with an extreme gratitude for all the folks that have touched my life, particularly the WHOI technical staff members, postdocs, and graduate students that have made my lab group a place to explore creative ideas about how the ocean works.”
“The MacArthur Fellows Program identifies extraordinarily creative individuals with a track record of excellence,” said WHOI President and Director Peter de Menocal. “Today’s announcement is a wonderful recognition of Ben and his exceptional accomplishments – it is also a celebration of WHOI’s can-do research and engineering ecosystem that fosters creativity, collaboration, and excellence.”
Van Mooy joined WHOI in 2003 as a postdoctoral scholar and has remained at the institution ever since, including serving as Chair of the Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry Department before his recent appointment as Interim Vice President for Science and Engineering. He has published in a variety of scientific journals, including Science, Nature, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, among others. He received the G. Evelyn Hutchinson Award from the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography in 2022 and is a Simons Foundation SCOPE Investigator as well as a Kavli Frontiers of Science Fellow.