Kudos & Congratulations

2012
  • Russell Dauksis and Kaelin Fertal will serve as the Marine Biology Peer Mentors for 2012-2013.
  • Welcome to the Class of 2016! With 111 students starting the BS Marine Biology degree program in Sept. 2012, this class is the largest ever. They have come to URI from 15 states around the country.
  • Russell Dauksis (Class of 2013) has been awarded a nationally competitive Goldwater Scholarship, the most prestigious undergraduate award offered for students in the STEM disciplines. He is also a 2011 NOAA Hollings Scholar and did a NOAA Internship in Puerto Rico this summer studying coral conservation.
  • 2012 Hollings Scholarships! - Five Marine Biology majors and one Ocean Engineering major have been awarded nationally competitive NOAA Hollings Scholarships. They are: Michael Canton (Marine Biology), Eilea Knotts (Marine Biology), Sarah Merolla (Marine Biology), Benjamin Sevey (Marine Biology), Callie Veelenturf (Marine Biology and Wildlife and Conservation Biology), and Brenton Wallin (Ocean Engineering). A total of 13URI students have received Hollings Scholarships over the past four consecutive years!
2011
  • Fulbright Fellowships! Megan O’Brien (Marine Biology, Class of 2011, 2009 Hollings Scholar, and MS student in the Lane Lab) has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright Fellowship to study Fisheries Management at a University in Iceland (See her blog at: http://fulbrighticeland.wordpress.com/). Benjamin Negrete (Marine Biology, Class of 2012 and Hollings Scholar) was named a Fulbright Finalist.
  • Nicole Leporacci and Bryan Pestone will serve as the Marine Biology Peer Mentors for 2011-2012.
  • Correna Blewett (’11) and Shelby Rinehart (’13) were awarded URI Undergraduate Research Initiative Grants by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development and the Office of the Provost – both work in Dr. Thornber’s lab.
  • Connor Capizzano awarded the Class of 2011 University Academic Excellence Award in Marine Biology (also a NOAA Hollings Scholar)
  • Graduate students Margot Bergstrom (Webb Lab), Leanne Elder (Seibel Lab), Jessica Conover (Thornber Lab) and Christine Newton (Thornber Lab) received the 2011 Biological Sciences Graduate Student Awards for Teaching Excellence
  • Russell Dauksis (Class of 2013) was awarded a NOAA Ernest Hollings Scholarship. Russell is the 7th URI student (and the 6th CELS student) to receive this prestigious national scholarship in the past three years.
  • Margot Bergstrom (Ph.D. student, Webb Lab) and Michele Guidone (Ph.D. student, Thornber Lab) were awarded URI Graduate Research Fellowships for 2011-2012.
  • Amy Maas (Ph.D. student, Seibel Lab) was awarded a highly competitive Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Post-Doctoral Fellowship starting in Fall 2011.
  • Connor Capizzano awarded the Class of 2011 University Academic Excellence Award in Marine Biology (also a NOAA Hollings Scholar)
  • Graduate students Margot Bergstrom (Webb Lab), Leanne Elder (Seibel Lab), Jessica Conover (Thornber Lab) and Christine Newton (Thornber Lab) received the 2011 Biological Sciences Graduate Student Awards for Teaching Excellence
  • Research by graduate students in the Wilga Lab were featured on Canadian Discovery Channel: Anabela Maia‘s work on the function of the dorsal fin in sharks. Click here. Jason Ramsay‘s work on shark feeding mechanics. Click here.
2010 Research Cruises
  • Dr. Brad Seibel (Biological Sciences) and undergrads Ashley Stoehr (Class of 2010), and Kristina Camarena (Class of 2011) were in the Gulf of California on the R/V New Horizon (Scripps Inst. Oceanography) examining “Hypoxia and the ecology, behavior and physiology of jumbo squid, Dosidicus gigas” (collaborative grant, funded by NSF). Click here for photos from cruise.
  • Dr. Dreux Chappell (post-doc in Dr. Bethany Jenkin’s lab, Dept. Cell and Molecular Biology) participated in a cruise on the R/V Melville (Scripps Inst. Oceanography, cruise MV1008) looking at phytoplankton (diatom) distributions with reference to grazing controls and trace metal limitation in the Costa Rica Upwelling Dome. Recent graduate Heather Cyr (Marine Biology, Class of 2010) assisted on the cruise.
  • R/V Endeavor cruise May 2010 (Ph.D. student Anna Pfeiffer-Herbert, GSO – Chief Scientist) – Physics, chemistry and biology of Rhode Island’s offshore waters (sponsored by the RI Endeavor Program). Thor Jensen, Megan O’Brien, and Kristina Camarena were student participants on this cruise. (Press Release). Click here for photos from cruise.
  • R/V Endeavor cruise October 2010 (Ph.D. student Anna Pfeiffer-Herbert, GSO – Chief Scientist) -Physics, chemistry and biology of Rhode Island’s offshore waters (sponsored by the RI Endeavor Program). Amanda Ziegler (Class of 2012) and Connor Cappizzano (Class of 2011) were student participants.
2010
  • The Class of 2010!!! Read about their first steps after graduation on the Marine Biology Alumni page
  • 2010 Recipients of the Stan Cobb Endowment Independent Research Awards - Amy Maynard (Class of 2010) “Effects of predation by fishes on the success of coral reef restoration” and Stephanie Schofield “Restoration of Acropora palmata coral colonies”
  • Amy Maynard (Class of 2010), Dawn Simmons (Class of 2009) and Kelly Pennoyer (Class of 2008) published a paper based on the project they carrie dout when they were on the URI Bermuda Program. SEE: Wood JB, Maynard AE, Lawlor AG, Sawyer EK, Simmons DM, Pennoyer KE, Derby CD. 2010. Caribbean reef squid, Sepioteuthis sepioidea, use ink as a defense against predatory French grunts, Haemulon flavolineatum.  Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 388: 1-58.
  • Megan O’Brien, Connor Cappizzano and Michael Justa served as volunteers for the First RIhode Island Sea Grant Coast 5K Run held in on Sept. 19, 2010 to raise funds for student scholarships
  • Benjamin Negrete (’12), Megan Nepshinsky (’12) and Alexa Kretsch (Aquaculture and Fisheries Technology ’12) awarded nationally competitive Hollings Scholarships by NOAA. URI currently has more NOAA Hollings Scholars in the area of marine biology than any other research university in the US. (URI Press Release)
  • Nicole Rohr (Ph.D. student and IGERT Fellow, Thornber Lab) – Awarded a John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship by the National Sea Grant College Program, which matches fellows with hosts in the legislative and executive branches of government in Washington, DC. She is working with Senator Roger Wicker of MS on his marine policy, including the outcome of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
  • Ashley Stoehr and Ananda Fraser awarded Class of 2010 University Academic Excellence Awards (for Marine Biology and Political Science, and for Marine Affairs, respectively). These two outstanding students were also inducted into Phi Beta Kappa.
  • Dr. Marta Gomez-Chiarri (Dept. Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Science) – recipient of the 2010 CELS Research Excellence Award.
  • Ananda Fraser (’10) named a member of the Atlantic-10 2010 Men’s & Women’s Indoor Track & Field Academic All-Conference Team in recognition of both her academic and athletic accomplishments.
  • Emily Vincent (’10) and Christine Newton (MS student, Thornber Lab) both won Best Student Poster awards at the national Benthic Ecology Meetings (Wilmington, DE).
  • Nicole Rohr (Ph.D. student and IGERT Fellow, Thornber Lab) awarded a P.E.O. Scholar Award, a merit-based scholarship that is awarded to women pursuing a Ph.D. or post-doc and are viewed to have high potential to significantly contribute to their field of study. (www.peointernational.org)
  • Ashley Heinze (’10), Joseph Marini (’10), Megan O’Brien (’11), Ashley Stoehr (’10), and Emily Vincent (’10) – awarded URI Undergraduate Research Initiative Grants by the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development and the Office of the Provost.
  • Amanda Ziegler (’11) and Emily Vincent (’10) win first and third place prizes, respectively, at the annual URI Coastal Fellows Poster Celebration.(read more….)…See article on Emily’s research.
  • Megan O’Brien ( ’11) -awarded a Goldwater Scholarship and a NOAA Hollings Scholarship (URI Press Release)
  • Connor Capizzano ( ’11) – awarded a NOAA Hollings Scholarship (URI Press Release
  • Dr. Cheryl Wilga (Assoc. Prof., Bio Sci) – awarded the 2009 CELS Faculty Research Excellence Award