New science shows that overfishing is eroding the sustainability of tropical coral reef fisheries in East Africa, with small-scale fishers losing out on fisheries productivity as entire species disappear from their catch. “These diverse species provide essential proteins and micronutrients that aren’t easily replaced, threatening both food security and the livelihoods of fishing families,” says Associate Professor Austin Humphries of URI’s Department of Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences.

URI’s Natural Resources Science department launching solution to identify and address roadkill hotspots in state with virtual data collected by Rhode Islanders

Emma Ventura, a senior in environmental science and management, worked with the URI Cooperative Extension’s Vegetable Production Program, collaborating with Dr. David Weisberger. a crop scientist and Extension agent.

Madison Jones, assistant professor of professional and public writing and natural resources science, is helping both students and scholars shift the ways that we approach writing and rhetoric, specifically in the context of environmental advocacy. He and co-editor Sid Dobrin’s recent book “Rhetorical Ecologies” dives into the history behind, and contemporary work that employs, ecology as a term and concept within writing and rhetoric. 

Rowan Valle completed an Agriculture and Food Systems Fellows Program through URI’s Cooperative Extension. He gathered GIS data, recruited participants and conducted interviews, translated documents from English to Spanish, and conducted comprehensive site inventories of urban gardens.

Students from across New England interested in environmental economics can now attend URI at regional tuition rates. URI’s ENRE undergraduate major blends economic principles and environmental sciences to help students understand complex environmental issues and their economic implications.

Hallie Grace Brown completed the Agriculture and Food Systems Fellows Program through URI’s Cooperative Extension. An animal science major and biology minor, she worked with RI Division of Environmental Management’s Division of Agriculture to promote public health and safe local farming practices.

Atticus Makuch ’24 completed the Energy Fellows Program through URI’s Cooperative Extension. Working with the energy efficiency policy and strategy team at Rhode Island Energy, he played a key role in helping the team understand and address the needs of diverse communities across Rhode Island.

New associate professor of cell and molecular biology, Laura Eme, uses bioinformatics to study the evolutionary history and diversity of microbial life.

Since 2019, researchers in the Department of Natural Resources Science have captured camera trap data as part of the Smithsonian’s Snapshot USA