Faced with cuts in federal funding, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution — which has helped to raise the alarm about climate change — plans to leverage its expertise in deep-water exploration to help oil and gas companies identify new sources of fossil fuels, the Boston Globe reports.

The institution is preparing to sign off on two such deals, one with state-owned Saudi Aramco, which is interested in the potential for hydrocarbons in the Red Sea, and the other with Italian oil giant Eni to conduct a "simulation study" through its newly established Center for Marine Robotics; a half dozen other proposals are in the works.

Established in 1930 with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, Woods Hole historically has received most of its funding through federal research grants, while also undertaking research funded by foundations, private sponsors, and foreign entities. Recent cuts in funding from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, NASA, and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, however, have forced the institution to look for cost savings, including a reduction in staff headcount, Laurence P. Madin, executive vice president and director of research, told the Globe. To prevent that, the institution created the Center for Marine Robotics, its first dedicated effort to attract major corporate sponsors, and is teaming up with a number of higher education institutions in the region, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Rhode Island.

Still, the possibility that Woods Hole's expertise in deep-water exploration could become a tool for fossil fuel companies is deeply troubling to environmental groups and others who worry that Woods Hole-affiliated scientists will no longer be able to conduct independent research. "Any relationship with a company should be fully disclosed," said Gretchen Goldman, lead analyst for the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists. "It needs to be clear whether they are just funding research controlled by Woods Hole or are there strings attached?"

For their part, Woods Hole officials dismiss such criticism. "The independence of our research is an important value of what we do," said the institution's president, Susan K. Avery. "Our culture of intellectual independence in research allows individuals to choose the kind of work and the support for it that they prefer. Some here might be unwilling to accept support from oil companies, just as some might be unwilling to receive support from the Navy.” Avery said she expects that all the research findings will be “uncensored” and “we will not be producing operational business products for the industry."