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United by a shared passion for ocean discovery and protection, Ponant Explorations Group and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the world’s largest independent ocean science organization, has announced a three-year partnership advancing ocean research and education. The partnership marks the first of its kind for WHOI and underscores Ponant Explorations Group’s ongoing commitment to providing scientists with access to the most remote parts of the planet, while giving guests a front-row seat to scientific research and innovation.
Since 2021, Ponant Explorations Group has hosted more than 230 scientists across its fleet. Through this new alliance, WHOI scientists will now join select Ponant Explorations expeditions—many aboard the luxury icebreaker Le Commandant Charcot—to conduct fieldwork, test emerging technologies, and share their expertise through interactive guest programming. The company will also provide grant funding to help support WHOI’s polar science work, and launch educational campaigns, including a soon-to-be-announced symposium at sea highlighting the importance of ocean conservation.
“At Ponant Explorations Group, we’re committed to advancing knowledge of the oceans and scientific research as part of our broader mission to explore responsibly and travel with care,” said Samuel Chamberlain, CEO, Ponant Explorations Group Americas. “By empowering scientists with access to some of the world’s most remote regions, we’re helping to deepen understanding of the planet we all share. This partnership with WHOI reflects our shared commitment to ocean science and sustainability, creating meaningful impact at sea and beyond. We’re proud to provide a platform for innovation and education that will accelerate lasting change and global awareness in ocean conservation.”
The first expedition under the new partnership will take place on the October 31, 2025 voyage, “The Emperor Penguins of the Weddell Sea” off the coast of Antarctica. On the sailing will be two WHOI-MIT Joint Program graduate students Caroline Needell and Bailey Fluegel, guided by WHOI glaciologist Dr. Catherine Walker, an associate scientist renowned for her research on ice-ocean interactions, Antarctic coastal change, and ice shelf rifting processes and iceberg calving.
Aboard the world’s only passenger ship with Polar Class 2 (PC-2) certification—capable of navigating shifting glaciers and uncharted ice floes—Needell and Fluegel will deploy LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology to model the breakup rate of the Antarctic Ice Sheet, the first time this technology will be used on the ship. LiDAR is a remote sensing application that can collect measurements of ice cliffs, the edges of glaciers and ice streams that reach the ocean and whose geometry and shape are highly linked to stability. Such data is difficult or impossible to gather by satellite or other means, but essential to understanding ice sheet evolution and its rate of change.
Throughout the voyage, guests will have the opportunity to observe the research process firsthand, visit the ship’s wet and dry laboratories, and participate in educational presentations about Antarctica’s geological history, global climate significance, and fragile ecosystems.
The Ponant Explorations Group-WHOI program comes at a time when access to remote areas such as polar regions has been challenged by cuts to science funding, and research space aboard funded vessels is shrinking.
“Access to these polar regions remains critical to furthering our understanding of ice sheet evolution, its rate of change, and implications for future sea level rise,” Dr. Catherine Walker said. “Getting close to glacier fronts is really one of the only ways to collect this information at a large enough scale to observationally constrain processes and improve modeling.
“We are grateful and excited for this opportunity to work alongside Ponant Explorations Group, to better understand and document changes to our polar regions and empower guests with knowledge and inspiration to take home from their adventure,” Walker added.
Additional WHOI expeditions, research projects, technology testing and educational programs will be announced in the coming months, continuing to unite exploration, research and responsible travel.
Ponant Explorations Group regularly hosts scientists on Le Commandant Charcot throughout the year, as well as on select sailings aboard other ships. This is made possible by its many partnerships and initiatives, which include two PhD students it finances. To date, the company has earned 10 citations in peer-reviewed publications for its support in data collection and research.
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