{"id":22141,"date":"2026-08-27T09:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T13:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/?p=22141"},"modified":"2026-08-28T11:31:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T15:31:23","slug":"erin-sweeney-beneath-the-surface","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/news\/erin-sweeney-beneath-the-surface\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding her field beneath the surface"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 August 27, 2026 \u2013 For Erin Sweeney, finding her field of study was less a straight line than a series of discoveries.

At the Community College of Rhode Island, she started in general studies. She considered anthropology, explored environmental science, and pursued photography as a passion. Then she took an oceanography class and fell in love with it.

Soon, she was looking into potential majors at the University of Rhode Island and stumbled across aquaculture and fisheries science<\/a>. \u201cI started taking classes, and I realized how interdisciplinary it is,\u201d Sweeney says. \u201cIt\u2019s way beyond just fish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning by doing<\/strong>

Since transferring to URI, Sweeney has explored aquaculture and fisheries science through coursework, hands-on research, internships, and experiences beyond the classroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a fisheries science course, she explored fishing methods, conservation practices, and current research around the world, including a case study of fisheries in Ghana. The experience helped her understand fisheries and aquaculture not only as scientific fields, but also as sources of food, livelihoods, and cultural identity.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
As an aquaculture and fisheries science major, Sweeney is raising rainbow trout at East Farm, researching fisheries sustainability from Rhode Island to Ghana, and diving to photograph marine life with an underwater camera setup.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The course also challenged her to think about sustainability through the lens of the communities whose livelihoods depend on these practices. \u201cOne of the biggest things I took away was that we\u2019re not trying to control people or tell them to change their ways,\u201d Sweeney says. \u201cIt\u2019s about understanding what these practices mean to communities and then working together on more sustainable options.\u201d

\u201cThat\u2019s what aquaculture should be about,\u201d she adds. \u201cIt\u2019s meeting each other in the middle, understanding cultures.\u201d

In a finfish aquaculture course, Sweeney worked at URI\u2019s East Farm<\/a>, caring for rainbow trout in recirculating aquaculture systems, monitoring water quality, and collecting data alongside classmates. \u201cIt was so cool. I had so much fun with that,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experience led to another opportunity: Sweeney now works part time at East Farm caring for the fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She has also completed internships in sustainability and conservation, including a marine and community conservation storytelling project for which she created a digital story map about aquaculture in Rhode Island and interviewed URI faculty about the industry\u2019s future and the effects of climate change.

\u201cThe classes are very hands-on, and the professors clearly want their students to succeed,\u201d Sweeney says of the department.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Learning to dive<\/strong>

Perhaps the clearest example of Sweeney\u2019s willingness to explore new things came outside the classroom. \u201cI\u2019ve always had an intense fear of going out in the ocean,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd then I was learning about the opportunities for underwater photography, and thought, \u2018’I want to try this out.’\u201d

At URI\u2019s Tootell Aquatic Center, Sweeney spent evenings learning to swim, working toward the swim test required for scuba certification. She passed, earned her certification, and enrolled in a selective URI course in underwater photography and video.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
A nudibranch photographed by Sweeney.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The course brought together her newfound diving skills and longtime passion for photography. She eventually saved up for her own underwater camera housing and now photographs marine life while snorkeling and diving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a big leap for me,\u201d she says. \u201cI went from being afraid to even swim in the ocean to breathing underwater and taking photos of fish. It felt like proof that I could do hard things if I gave myself the chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A path that keeps expanding
<\/strong>
Sweeney’s experience at URI has allowed her to bring together interests she once considered separately. Her interest in anthropology informs how she thinks about the cultural dimensions of fisheries and aquaculture. Her scientific training gives her a foundation for understanding aquatic systems. And her background in photography has taken her beneath the surface, where she now captures images of the marine life she studies.

\u201cI couldn\u2019t imagine doing anything else,\u201d she says of aquaculture and fisheries science. \u201cIt brings together everything I care about.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Erin Sweeney discovered aquaculture and fisheries science at URI \u2014 and found a way to bring together her passions for science, conservation, anthropology, and photography.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1089,"featured_media":22143,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1089"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22141"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22159,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22141\/revisions\/22159"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22143"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/cels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}