Though the MIT-WHOI Joint Program is spread out across two campuses about 75 miles apart, there is great effort made to build community in both places. Nonetheless, the two are distinct locations with their own atmosphere and opportunities. The following pages will provide information to practical considerations, like housing and commuting, as well as financial and support resources, and links to things to do in both the Cambridge and Woods Hole/Falmouth area.
Preparing for New England Weather
One thing MIT and WHOI have in common is the New England weather. If you have never visited the Boston area, before you do your packing, keep in mind that our seasonal temperatures can be in sharp contrast to one another. Be sure to check the Weather Channel's monthly averages, as well as record highs and lows. All measurements are in degrees Fahrenheit or inches.
Typically, the spring season is rainy, chilly, and very humid. Summer tends to be hot and humid, with a brief heatwave sometime between late July and mid-August. The fall is perhaps the best Boston season - it starts off still fairly warm, but much drier than the summer. Evenings tend to be chilly but also fairly dry. In the winter, Boston sees snow typically at the end of November/early December and generally remains very cold, damp, and snowy through mid-February/early March though we have had snowstorms after April 1.
You will want appropriate outerwear for the winter season. If you do not come from a climate that sees below-zero temperatures and more than a foot of snow at some point during the winter, it is best to wait until you are in Boston to purchase winter wear; all of the items sold in Boston will hold up to our weather - what you buy at home may not. Good places to purchase reliable winter wear include: REI, EMS, Cabela's, LL Bean, Patagonia, and The North Face. Insulated -waterproof- winter boots, a sturdy down jacket, hats, gloves, scarves - all will serve you well in a Boston winter. You may be able to find some deals, especially at this time of the year, but do keep in mind even though many items are expensive, the investment is worth it - Boston regularly sees sub-zero temperatures (with and without wind chills, especially if you're in WHOI and right on the ocean). Warm, reliable winter wear is a must!
Where Is...
MIT
MIT's campus map can be found here: http://whereis.mit.edu
There are a number of buildings you might make use of while at MIT. These include (but certainly aren't limited to):
Building 1: The Civil & Environmental Engineering Department is located here. Students whose home department at MIT is CEE may find themselves spending time in this building.
Building 3: The Office of Graduate Education (OGE) main office is here. Also located in Building 3 is the Mechanical Engineering Department is located here. Students whose home department at MIT is MechE may find themselves spending time in this building.
Building 5: The Registrar's Office is here.
Building 48: Parsons Laboratory is located here.
Building 54: The MIT JP main office (54-812) is here. Also here is the Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences Department (main office on the 9th floor). Most MIT-WHOI Joint Program classes are held at MIT on the 8th floor of this building. The 8th floor also has student and WHOI faculty offices spaces where students may sit, usually utlized by those whose advisor is at WHOI and doesn't have office space at MIT.
Building E17: The Atlas Service Center, as well as Student Financial Services (Room 294) Parking and Transportation, are headquartered here. You will visit to pick up your MIT ID Card, among other transactions you may need or want to complete in-person.
Building E18: The MIT International Students Office (ISO) is located here, as is the Writing and Communication Center.
Building E23: MIT Medical is here, which includes Urgent Care, primary, pediatric, and specialty departments, as well as MIT Mental Health and Counseling.
Building E25: The 6th floor of E25 hosts office space for faculty in the Chemical Oceanography discipline, as well as six offices for JP student use: four that are prioritized for daily use, one of which is prioritized as a Zoom room, and one of which is a conference/collaboration space with a large table, eight chairs, and two white boards. There is also a conference/classroom managed by the EAPS department that the JP also uses for classes and events.
NW86: The Sidney Pacific dorm, where the MIT-WHOI Joint Program apartment (for 1 - 3 day stays for WHOI-based students) is located.
WHOI
Village Campus:
BIGELOW LABORATORY: Offices, labs, and conference room for the Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering department, including: Acoustic Systems Lab, Arctic/Marginal Ice Zone Experiment (MIZEX) Signal Processing Lab, Coastal Ocean Fluid Dynamics Lab, Instrument Systems Development Lab, Ocean Acoustics Lab, Ocean Systems and Moorings Lab, Oceanographic Systems Lab and Tracer Release Lab.
ISELIN MARINE FACILITY: Offices and labs for the Facilities and Services, Geology and Geophysics, and Marine Operations departments, including: Diving Operations, Electrical Shop, Instrument Shop, Mechanical Shop, Port Office and Radio Room and Shipboard Electronics.
SMITH LABORATORY: Offices, labs, and conference room for the Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, Facilities and Services, Geology and Geophysics, Marine Operations, Physical Oceanography, and Procurement departments, including: Advanced Engineering Lab (Acoustic Services Group, Electronics Lab, Engineering Model Shop), Alvin Group -- At-sea Operations, Alvin Group -- Submersible Engineering and Operations Lab, Carpenter Shop, Mooring Operations and Engineering Lab, Ocean Bottom Seismology Lab, Plant Operations, Rigging Services Shop, Security (Guards), Security Office (Department of Defense), Shipboard Scientific Services, stockroom and Telecommunications
CO-OP BUILDING: Information and news office.
38 WATER STREET: Offices for the Associate Director for Marine Operations and several members of the Marine Operations department
REDFIELD LABORATORY: Offices, labs, conference room, and auditorium for the Biology department, including laboratories for the study of phytoplankton, zooplankton, toxicology, vent microbiology, microbial ecology, plankton ecology, molecular ecology, salt marsh ecology, fisheries, deep-sea fishes, jellyfish, and marine mammal acoustics
SWIFT HOUSE: Offices for the Marine Policy Center and the Biology department, including: U.S. Global Ocean Ecosystems Dynamics (GLOBEC) Georges Bank Program Office.
CROWELL HOUSE: Offices for the Marine Policy Center, including: Paul and Ruth Fye Marine Policy Library.
SHIVERICK HOUSE: Offices and labs for the Biology department, including: Marine Animal Bioacoustic Lab.
EXHIBIT CENTER (also known as Endeavour House) : Overview video about WHOI, Full-size model of the personnel sphere of the deep submersible Alvin, Exhibits and videos about WHOI ships and research and Gift shop
CARYN HOUSE: Offices and conference room for the Facilities and Services department and the Marine Policy Center
NOBSKA HOUSE: Offices for the Human Resources Office and the Facilities and Services department, including: Benefits, Compensation, Employment, Employee Relations, Immigration, Retirement and Safety Office.
WALSH COTTAGE: Housing and offices for the Summer Institute of Geophysical Fluid Dynamics
BLAKE BUILDING: Offices for the Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering and Publications and Graphic Services departments, including: Center for Imaging and Visualization, Deep Submergence Labs, Graphic Services (Audio/Visual and Multimedia Services, Publishing, Drafting and Illustration, Photo Lab, and Reproduction, Hydrostatic Pressure Test Facility
METEOR HOUSE: Meeting and function facility for the Director's Office
CHALLENGER HOUSE: Offices for the Travel Office and the Controller's Office, including: General Accounting and Payroll
CHALLENGER ANNEX: Offices for the Procurement department
Quissett Campus:
MCLEAN LABORATORY: Offices, labs, and conference room for the Geology and Geophysics, Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Graphic Services departments, and the MBL/WHOI Library, including: Data Library and Archives, Inductively Coupled Plasma/Atomic Emissions Spectrometer Lab, Microreproduction Photo Lab, National Ocean Sciences Accelerator Mass Spectrometer Facility and Sediment Lab, Seafloor Samples Lab and Storage Area and Sediment Chemistry Laboratory/
CARRIAGE HOUSE: Meeting and function facility.
BELL HOUSE: Offices for the Senior Associate Director and Director of Research, the Associate Director for Finance and Administration, and the Grant and Contract Services department.
FENNO HOUSE: The Buttery (Food Services department), and offices for the Director, the Vice President of the Corporation, and the Development Office
FYE LABORATORY: Offices and labs for the Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry department, including: Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry Facility and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectrometry Facility.
CLARK LABORATORY: Offices, labs, and conference rooms for the Geology and Geophysics, Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, and Physical Oceanography departments, the Associate Director for Education and Dean of Graduate Studies, the Education Office, the Computer and Information Services department, and the MBL/WHOI Library, including: Digital Image Analysis Lab, Document Library, Group Training Facility, Helium Isotope Lab, Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer Lab, Joint Oceanographic Institutions for Deep Earth Sampling (JOIDES) Office, Northeast Regional Ion Microprobe Facility, Sound Fixing and Ranging (SOFAR) Float Lab and Time-Series Ocean Environment Monitoring Facility
CLARK ANNEX (also known as Clark South): Offices, labs, and conference rooms for the Geology and Geophysics and Physical Oceanography departments, including: Calibration Lab, Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) Systems Lab, Ocean Bottom Seismometer Facility, Ridge Inter-Disciplinary Global Experiments (RIDGE) Initiative Planning and Implementation Office, Seasoar (Towed Upper Ocean Profiler) Lab, Subsurface Mooring Lab, Upper Ocean Processes and World Ocean Circulation Experiment (WOCE) Hydrographic Programme Office
COASTAL RESEARCH LABORATORY: Offices and labs for the Rinehart Coastal Research Center, the Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering department and the Biology department, and the WHOI Sea Grant Program, including: Flume Facility and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Lab.
ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS LABORATORY: Offices and labs for the Biology department
SHIPPING/RECEIVING: Offices and work space for the Facilities and Services department, including: Distribution, Facility Service and Mailroom.
GEOSECS BUILDING: Large-item storage and offices for the Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry and Physical Oceanography departments and the Controller's Office, including: Property Office, Thermometer Calibration Facility and U.S. Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (JGOFS) Planning and Implementation Office.