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
URI researchers uncover molecular mechanisms behind speciation in corals December 29, 2025 - Matías Gómez-Corrales, a recent biological sciences Ph.D. graduate, and his advisor, Associate Professor Carlos Prada, have published a paper in Nature Communications, revealing key mechanisms in speciation in corals and proposing a new hypothesis on the origin of species in the ocean.
Register by Jan. 1 for URI Home Horticulture Certificate program December 22, 2025 - URI’s Cooperative Extension is offering its convenient Home Horticulture Certificate course, starting in January 2026, with applications for the course due by Thursday, Jan. 1
Natural resources faculty offer screen-free suggestions for an active new year December 22, 2025 - Faculty offer suggestions for holiday gifts and family activities that get children—and adults—off devices and outdoors, helping to build science literacy and the next generation of active and curious future scientists.
URI Coastal Institute announces 2025 Emerging Coastal Leaders December 12, 2025 - Among this year’s 10 recipients of the Emerging Coastal Leaders Awards, are members of the CELS community: Ben Charo (Ecology and Ecosystem Science), Megan Delatte-Guidry (Evolution and Marine Biology), Geubrina Fajria (Biological and Environmental Sciences), Aida Pauls (Fisheries Economics), and Oliver Tiliouine (Marine Affairs).
