Aboard GSO, Spring 2020
Compiled by Kathleen Beck, edited by Peter Hanlon
2019
GSO professor Arthur Spivack was appointed by Governor Gina Raimondo and the Rhode Island Senate as one of nine experts to advise the Rhode Island Executive Climate Change Coordinating Council in its work to better prepare the state for future uncertainties.
Professor Karen Wishner received the Paper of the Year award from the Deep-Sea Biology Society for her paper entitled “Ocean deoxygenation and zooplankton: Very small oxygen differences matter.”
Professor Bob Ballard led a search aboard the exploration vessel, Nautilus, to solve the mystery of Amelia Earhart’s disappearance. The search for the aviation pioneer’s plane was funded by the National Geographic Society and featured in an October 20th television documentary. While the exact location of Earhart’s plane remains a mystery, the expedition gave the public a glimpse of the latest ocean exploration technology and scientific expertise, including remotely operated underwater vehicles and autonomous surface vessels.
Congressman Jim Langevin and his staff visited the Narragansett Bay Campus to view the Greenfins Aquaculture Facility—including the daily tuna feeding—with GSO dean Bruce Corliss and College of the Environment and Life Sciences professor Terry Bradley
Oregon State University officials in charge of the construction of the three National Science Foundation-funded Regional Class Research Vessels visited the Narragansett Bay Campus to provide an update on the project status and capabilities of R/V Resolution.
At the end of its last meeting during Dean Bruce Corliss’ tenure, the Dean’s Advisory Council gave the departing dean a commissioned painting by URI alumnus Eric Lutes of R/Vs Endeavor and Resolution sailing side by side. Lutes previously memorialized Endeavor in a painting now located in the entrance to the Ocean Science and Exploration Center.
In conjunction with the Climate Change Art & Action exhibition, the URI Providence campus featured a public panel presentation on URI’s climate science research. The community forum featured information on the impact of climate change in the region and recommended actions individuals can take. The discussion included presentations by GSO faculty Jeremy Collie, Isaac Ginis and John W. King, and Pam Rubinoff from the Coastal Resources Center and Rhode Island Sea Grant.
The 2019 URI Lifetime Service Society Induction Ceremony honored retired employees with service of 40 years or more to URI. Of the 18 employees recognized, GSO had three honorees. Sara Hickox (42 years), Director of the Office of Marine Programs, Eric Klos (43 years), Coordinator, NBC Facilities and Operations, and Donald Robadue (41 years), Associate Coastal Resources Center Manager.
Charles Mandeville (’81, Ph.D. ’95) received the GSO Dean’s Award at the 14th annual URI Distinguished Achievement Awards. Mandeville is the Volcano Hazards Program Coordinator at the U.S. Geological Survey and manages the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program. Stephen Greenlee (M.S. ‘82) was also recognized as a President’s Award recipient. Greenlee is President of ExxonMobil Upstream Business Development Co., and vice president of ExxonMobil Corp.
Dean Bruce Corliss received the Service Recognition Award from Senator Sheldon Whitehouse at the senator’s annual Energy, Environment & Ocean Leaders Day.
The Coastal Institute released “Narragansett Bay Watershed Economy: The ebb and flow of natural capital.” The study provides a comprehensive overview of the watershed’s economy and analyzes the value of 13 economically beneficial sectors that rely on the region’s natural capital.
With funding from the National Science Foundation, the Inner Space Center conducted live interactions from onboard the research vessel, Laurence M. Gould, as it transported scientists, research gear and other provisions to Palmer Station, Antarctica. Participants from schools and museums, as well as on Facebook Live, were able to ask questions of polar scientists.
Bay Campus Outfitters opened in the Coastal Institute building. The new Narragansett Bay Campus store offers a wide array of GSO apparel and merchandise.
GSO staff travelled to Houma, La. for the Regional Class Research Vessel Quarterly Meeting Review, and got a first-hand update on the construction of R/V Resolution.
James Kennett, professor emeritus at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and former GSO faculty member, gave the Norman Watkins Memorial Lecture, titled “The Catastrophic Younger Dryas Cosmic Impact 12,800 years ago.” The lecture was established by the Watkins family in memory of Norman Watkins who was a professor at GSO from 1970 until his death in 1977.
The Coastal Resources Center kicked off a GSO-funded program to provide a baseline assessment of aquaculture in Rhode Island, and to identify issues and challenges for this sector of the blue economy, with the Aquaculture Workshop for Municipal Leaders. Sponsored by R.I. Sea Grant, the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council and the Ocean State Aquaculture Association, the educational workshop gave municipal officials an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of aquaculture in the ocean state by meeting growers, hearing from experts and discussing relevant aquaculture topics in a collaborative, facilitated format.
GSO faculty, staff and alums participated in the American Geophysical Union’s Fall Meeting, and an alumni event provided an opportunity for 70 friends and colleagues to reunite.
The Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute held its first planning meeting. More than two dozen participants from the institute’s five members—URI, Ocean Exploration Trust, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, University of New Hampshire and University of Southern Mississippi—met with NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research officials to develop a strategic vision for the program’s first five years and lay the groundwork for collaborative activities.