November 2024 —April 2025
Historic Achievement
MARCH, 2025 — URI announces the granting of “R1” status from the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. As an R1 institution, URI joins a collection of U.S. universities noted for research excellence.
The promotion reflects URI’s broad impact and evolution into a world-class hub for research, innovation, entrepreneurship, and public scholarship. The Carnegie Classification system is widely recognized as a standardfor evaluating institutions based on their research activity.
URI’s R1 designation (“doctoral universities—very high research activity”) signifies that it has achieved the highest level of research activity, measured by the number of doctoral degrees awarded and the amount of spending on research and development. “R1” also acknowledges the University’s continued investment in academic programs and physical environmentand its commitment to fostering strategic partnerships with industry leaders and government agencies.
Right: R.I. Governor Dan McKee speaks to the good news and gives a nod to GSO for its part in reaching this milestone in URI history.
The Ocean State of Mind Film Fest celebrates stories that inspire a reconnection with the ocean by screening short ocean films curated from the 2024 San Diego Undersea Film Exhibition, one of the most prestigious underwater film festivals worldwide.
As part of the Coastal State Discussion Series sponsored by R.I. Sea Grant, a webinar “Small Coastal Operator Multi-Use Experience in Rhode Island’s Blue Economy” highlights current scientific research, finding solutions, and building partnerships focused on marine issues impacting coastal communities and environments.
A Memorial Bench Dedication Ceremony honors former, long-time GSO employees Donna Perreault and Clif Woodmansee. Family and friends gather to pay respects, share stories and celebrate the impact Donna and Clif had on the Bay Campus.
In the first quarter of FY 2025, GSO receives $39.4 million in research funding. Researchers also submitted and/or participated in more than $15.4 million in proposals.
During her annual dry dock at Senesco Ship Repair Yard, R/V Endeavor receives underwater hull prep and painting, renewal of sacrificial zinc anodes, about a thousand “ultrasonic thickness gauging” images of the hull, and a thorough survey of all underwater systems, in particular
the bow thruster and hydraulic variable pitch propeller system.
URI inducts 11 retired faculty and staff members into the Lifetime Service Society, honoring them for 40 years or more of service to the university. Former business manager Jane Miner began her career at GSO in 1977. “Jane was essential in supporting research around the globe by dozens of faculty and hundreds of graduate students.” said GSO professor David Smith.
At URI’s 2024 Fall Commencement, the university celebrates the accomplishments of more than 550 undergraduate and graduate students. GSO awards five Ph.D., seven Master of Science and three Master of Oceanography degrees.
R/V Endeavor begins EN727 and her 49th year of research cruises. The science team for EN727 will conduct the next installment of the North East Shelf Long Term Ecological Research (NES-LTER) Project.
“Unity, Resilience and Perseverance” lends thematic structure to Black History Month observances. A gathering at the Mosby Center shares words of inspiration and motivation, as well as uplifting songs and poems. The event affords the community an opportunity to embrace the uniqueness and richness of our cultures, identities, talents and strengths as well as a way forward.
A geothermal contractor drills an 800-foot-deep well on Knuass Quadrangle as part of a feasibility study for installation of geothermal energy to power HVAC systems for the planned Ocean Frontiers and Ocean Engineering buildings. The test gives the design team data to calculate the required geothermal well size and spacing and to estimate cost.
Because of grant termination notices from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), URI makes the difficult decision to end 11 staff positions funded by the terminated USAID grants at the Coastal Resources Center. The University’s human resources team works directly with those impacted—trailblazers in connecting natural and social science, supporting worldwide cultures and economies to manage with sustainable marine practices—to share resources and match them to new positions at the University where available.
In the second quarter of FY 2025, GSO receives $3.8 million in research funding. Researchers also submitted and/or participated in more than $9.4 million in proposals.
Employee Milestone Awards are announced by URI. 50 years of service by Research Professor of Oceanography D. Randolph “Randy” Watts is celebrated. Randy started at GSO in mid-August of 1974, the week after Richard Nixon resigned the U.S. presidency.
A briefing on the new “Decadal Survey for NSF’s Division of Ocean Sciences” discusses the extensive process of fact finding, analysis and interpretation by the National Academies of Science’s decadal survey committee.
The Harpoon Seminar delivers its perennial dose of science-based mirth. Lectures include “Observations of waves on the Bay Campus” by Rich Bell, Ph.D. ’09, and “On the fundamental dynamics of audience engagement with excessively prolonged speculative fiction series: a data-driven analysis of the competing influences of novelty, exhaustion, cognitive dissonance and completism” by Associate Professor Stephen Licht.
The 3rd annual Bay Campus Art Exhibition, featuring works by students, faculty and staff, opens in Studio Blue at the Coastal Institute building.
R/V Endeavor cruises out on EN728, a mission east and northeast of Sable Island and east of Nova Scotia, with the Canadian Department of Fisheries. More than a dozen moorings are recovered while CTDs, vertical plankton net tows, current profiling and under-way sampling are ongoing.
Representatives of URI, including GSO, tout the research, education, and region-wide impact of “Rhode Island’s university” during URI Day at the State House. Dozens of legislators, administrators, and other state leaders see first-hand the impact URI has on the region as students, faculty and staff members present a series of interactive exhibits.
In the third quarter of FY 2025, GSO receives $14.6 million in research funding. Researchers also submitted and/or participated in more than $29.6 million in proposals.