Research | Blue Economy

How can Rhode Island invest in its blue economy as a means to grow sustainably?

Rhode Island has always supported and benefited from its blue economy and marine-based businesses that rely on the state’s considerable coastal and ocean resources. Today, this $5 billion-plus economy employs more than 6% of Rhode Islanders across seven sectors. The future of a sustainable blue economy depends on a rich quality of place, the protection and management of resilient coastal and ocean assets, a skilled workforce and thriving innovation.

The value of Rhode Island’s Blue Economy

GSO is committed to working with partners to implement the strategies and actions described in this report towards the development of a robust blue economy.

Read the report

GSO prof. developing biodegradable plastic

Omand is developing biopolymers that combine bacteria with a plastic material that is consumed by the bacteria and dissolves, leaving no plastic behind in the ocean.

Dissolving Sensor

The urgency and the unknown

Offshore wind—a source of clean, renewable energy—offers great potential for Rhode Island, and the nation overall, to meet its stated goals for reducing carbon emissions.

What’s the catch?

Blue Economy Research

Name	Leaders	Themes
Coastal Resources Center	JP Walsh Jennifer McCan Elin Torrell	(CRC) helps communities become more effective stewards of their coastal/marine resources by partnering with stakeholders to apply science and find solutions to societal issues
Rhode Island Sea Grant	Tracey Dalton	One of 34 programs in the National Sea Grant College Program working to enhance environmental stewardship and long-term economic development and responsible use of coastal and marine resources.
Coastal Institute	Elin Torrell	The CI supports the growth of multi- and interdisciplinary coastal ecosystem research, discourse, and policy engagement at URI.
NOAA Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute	Adam Soule	RI is the lead institution of the OECI, which develops new ocean technologies to explore the vast, underexplored regions of the ocean.
Marine Ecosystems Research LaboratoryA Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute	Candace Oviatt	MERL has several current research projects focusing on climate change, primary production, and organism metabolism within Narragansett Bay.
Fish Trawl Survey	Jeremy Collie	With over 63 years of data, the GSO Fish Trawl Survey is one of the longest continuous records of fish and invertebrate relative abundance in the world.
The Narragansett Bay Long-Term Plankton Time Series	Tatiana Rynearson	Beginning in 1957, weekly samples have been collected to assess the phytoplankton community and characterize the physical parameters of Narragansett Bay, making it one of the world’s longest-running plankton surveys.
Ocean Robotics Program	Multiple	Faculty from both GSO and Ocean Engineering are using and developing robotic platforms for marine environments ranging from shallow coastlines to the deepest parts of the world’s ocean.
Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Institute	GSO RIDEM CELS	Research led by the RIDEM, GSO and CELS, with additional collaboration, cooperation and/or input from the fishing community, non-government organizations, and additional academic institutes that informs fisheries management.
Ocean Carbon Lab	Hongjie Wang	The Ocean Carbon Lab studies the biogeochemistry of seawater and sediments in the contexts of coastal aquaculture, ocean alkalinity enhancement, ocean acidification and marine CO2 removal.
Omand Lab	Melissa Omand	The Omand lab studies the physical movement of organic carbon in the ocean. We specialize in situ imaging and optical proxies from autonomous platforms.