Find your place in the living world

At the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, you’ll deepen your understanding of the living world and your place within it.

The work that happens here is rooted in our land- and sea-grant mission, and connected to the needs of the local, regional, and global communities. Our faculty researchers work collaboratively across disciplines, drawing from a broad, inclusive field of human knowledge to make critical discoveries within their fields. URI’s core research facilities and specialized labs offer the latest technologies that will enable you to gather field data, synthesize vast amounts of information, and develop solutions to real world challenges. Whether you are interested in urban food systems; protecting marine wildlife; understanding what makes an organism adapt and an ecosystem thrive; or assisting policy makers in the shift towards renewable energy and sustainable natural resource management, you’ll find your place here.

Biological Sciences student Anup Mohanty working at his internship at Genzyme – then the world leader in biopharmaceuticals for ultra-rare diseases

Undergraduate programs

Undergraduate students may choose from a wide range of degree options to prepare for graduate study or professional careers.

Find your program

Andrew McNulty, graduate student in the MESM Wetlands, Watershed and Ecosystem Science concentration uses a soil sampling tool to describe what lies under the floodplain along the Pawcatuck River. Photo taken by MESM alumnus, Isaac White

Graduate programs

Our interdisciplinary graduate programs at the certificate, master, and doctoral levels will help you develop as an environmental leader.

Take the lead

Assistant Professor Jannelle Couret and graduate student Samantha Schofield studying Borrelia burgdorferi – the pathogen that causes Lyme disease in humans in her lab

Research

Learn more about how researchers at URI are working collaboratively across disciplines and within communities to make a meaningful impact.

Make your mark

Elisabeth Herron stands next to a waterway in Wakefield, RI. As the program coordinator for the URI Watershed Watch program, Rhode Island’s largest volunteer water quality monitoring program, she is actively involved in assessing water quality and watershed conditions throughout the state, including lakes, ponds, streams, salt ponds and marine beaches.

URI Cooperative Extension

Applied research is at the core of what we do. As a land-grant and sea-grant university, our researchers and students work closely with communities to share knowledge and apply it to everyday lives.

Our programs

News

URI receives $250,000 gift to advance sustainability efforts November 30, 2023 - The gift from the Schwab Charitable Fund, made possible through the generosity of Eric and Wendy Schmidt, will help advance sustainability practices at the University.
Registration opens for Home Horticulture Certification Course November 30, 2023 - Offered through the University of Rhode Island’s Cooperative Extension, the 14-week, virtual course begins in late January.
North Kingstown Food Pantry manager learns skills from URI’s Food Recovery for Rhode Island program November 14, 2023 - Pantry operations director Stephen Souls helps distribute up to 1,500 pounds of produce each week with the North Kingstown Food Pantry.
Applications due Oct. 27 for year two of Agriculture and Food Systems Fellows Program October 23, 2023 - The new fellowship builds on URI’s history as an “agricultural school” with new pathways in the field of food for students from diverse majors.