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
Redefining Ecology: Madison Jones on Understanding Rhetorical Ecologies March 28, 2025 - 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. 
Agriculture and Food Systems Fellow Spotlight: Rowan Valle March 27, 2025 - 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. 
Tuition break: URI’s Environmental and Natural Resource Economics program now eligible for regional tuition rates March 26, 2025 - 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.
Agricultural and Food Systems Fellow Spotlight: Hallie Grace Brown March 24, 2025 - 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.
