URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography to host Science Saturday

September 11, 2026
Enjoy a free, family-friendly day on Sept. 26 at Science Saturday at URI’s Narragansett Bay Campus. Take in the latest in coastal and ocean exploration, discovery and science. (URI photo/Andrea Gingras)

Dozens of free interactive exhibits and behind-the-scenes tours await guests on URI’s Narragansett Bay Campus

Sept. 11, 2026

The public is invited to a family-friendly day on Saturday, Sept. 26 at the University of Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay Campus, home of the Graduate School of Oceanography, Department of Ocean Engineering, and numerous other organizations, which together create a world-renowned community of coastal and ocean scientists, engineers, managers, policy experts, educators, and students.

Science Saturday is an opportunity for guests of all ages to learn the latest in ocean exploration, discovery, science, technology, and management. The free event is also a chance to enjoy behind-the-scenes tours, interactive experiences, and conversations with a wide variety of coastal and ocean experts.


The event will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Narragansett Bay Campus, 215 South Ferry Road, Narragansett.

Guests can tour campus facilities, such as the Ocean Robotics Laboratory, which celebrated its opening in June with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. (URI photo/Michael Salerno)

Dozens of interactive ocean science exhibits will explore topics including deep-sea creatures, Rhode Island’s blue economy, how communities are responding to climate change, the impacts of ocean acidification, and the hidden world of underwater sound.

The new Ocean Robotics Laboratory will be open for tours where guests can see the facility’s 30′ long by 20′ wide test tank, as well as numerous ocean robots used to better understand our ocean planet. Right next door, visitors can take part in live deep-sea exploration from the Pacific Ocean at the Inner Space Center’s “mission control.”

Several of GSO’s small research boats will be on display, along with an opportunity to try on a survival suit. Guests are invited to tour the Ann Gall Durbin Aquarium to get an up-close look at local sea life and visit the Marine Geological Samples Laboratory to step into a giant refrigerator where scientists keep sediment cores from around the world.

In the Ann Gall Durbin Aquarium, visitors can get an up-close look at local sea life. (URI photo/Andrea Gingras)

The latest art exhibit from The Synergy Project, featuring works made in collaboration with artists from Art League RI and scientists from URI and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, will be on display in The Coastal Institute’s Studio Blue. Guests are also invited to join in fun activities like volcanic eruption demonstrations and hands-on crafts.

Several Rhode Island-based food trucks will be onsite with savory and sweet options. Science Saturday 2026 is a Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management certified Green Event, with GSO making concerted efforts around sustainability to achieve this certification.

The URI Graduate School of Oceanography is grateful for BankNewport’s generous support as Science Saturday’s T-shirt sponsor.

Registration for this event is suggested but not required.