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.
URI Cooperative Extension
Education and engagement with Rhode Island communities is at the core of what we do. As a land-grant and sea-grant university, our mission is to ensure URI provides education and applied research that helps communities and improves the lives of Rhode Islanders.
learn moreNews and Stories
Yoshitaka Ota awarded inaugural Taiwan Peace Fellowship October 29, 2025 - Marine Affairs Professor and Director of Nippon Foundation Ocean Nexus Yoshitaka Ota was recently awarded the Taiwan Peace Fellowship, a fellowship that brings together leaders and scholars from around the world in Taiwan to gain a deeper understanding of the country’s historical and cultural context through dialogue and peacebuilding.
URI offers new online certificate in community planning October 29, 2025 - A flexible new program from URI’s Department of Landscape Architecture will prepare students and working professionals to be community planners equipped to address complex environmental, social, and economic problems. The Community Planning Graduate Certificate gives students the opportunity to pursue professional training in sustainable community planning, now through a fully online option. 
URI Sea Shanty Social Club: Singing for a Cause October 28, 2025 - They sing for the love of the sea—and for a good cause. The URI Sea Shanty Social Club has turned maritime music into a force for community building and giving back.
Growing Together: URI Master Gardeners’ Partnership with Mount Hope Farm October 27, 2025 - Over the past decade, the URI Master Gardener Program has played a critical role in helping transform the community garden at Mount Hope Farm into an accessible, productive, educational, and sustainable community asset. The farm will now transition into being a part of the Master Gardeners’s alumni network.
