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.
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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.
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Catching Bees: Abigail Gill’s Summer Fellowship August 29, 2024 - Butterfly nets. Rain boots. Clear vials. Coolers filled with ice. These are a few of the supplies Abigail Gill, a biological sciences and environmental science and management double major from Lincoln, RI, used when investigating the pollination ecology of cultivated and wild cranberry plants in Rhode Island this summer. As part of a Coastal and […]
Shark Fishing for a Summer Fellowship August 20, 2024 - Mary Brantley, a marine biology and marine affairs double major from Charlotte, North Carolina, went fishing for the first time this summer. The first fish she ever caught? A mako shark, known as the fastest shark in the ocean. Brantley has been assisting with research led by Professor Bradley Wetherbee, an assistant professor of biology […]
From the environment to the human brain, URI to co-host discussion of plastic pollution impact August 20, 2024 - URI research is focus of Rhode Island PBS forum on how plastic pollution affects us
What’s the buzz? Expert talks about weekend’s dragonfly invasion at area beaches August 20, 2024 - Viral social media videos showed beachgoers ducking under beach towels, gazing in disbelief or quickly deploying their cell phones as thousands of dragonflies descended on local beaches such as Green Hill in South Kingstown and Misquamicut in Westerly. The spontaneous invasion lasted only minutes.