GSO’s Victoria Fulfer awarded the University of Rhode Island Graduate School Outstanding Doctoral Research Award

May 22, 2024
Victoria Fulfer aboard RV Endeavor.

May 22, 2024

The University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography is pleased to announce the recognition of two outstanding graduate students for their significant achievements as they graduate with doctoral degrees.

Victoria Fulfer (Ph.D. ‘24) was awarded the University of Rhode Island Graduate School Outstanding Doctoral Research Award 2024 for her exemplary doctoral research. Fulfer’s dissertation focused on the spatial and historical distribution of microplastic particles in Narragansett Bay sediments, providing valuable insights into the source-to-sink transport of microplastics in estuarine and coastal ocean ecosystems. The results of this research, with advisor and GSO professor J.P. Walsh, were published in Scientific Reports last August. 

During her time at GSO, Fulfer also studied coastal debris dynamics in Vietnam as part of a Fulbright Research Scholarship and analyzed microplastic samples from around the world as part of The Ocean Race. 

(L-R) Rebecca Lippit, GSO Ph.D. candidate, recieved a certificate for completing a microcredential with the graduate school called the Equitable and Inclusive Teaching and Pedagogy Badge; Victoria Fulfer (Ph.D. ’24); Diana Fontaine (Ph.D. ’24)

Diana Fontaine (Ph.D. ‘24) was honored with the Certificate for Excellence for Outstanding Contributions to Graduate Professional Development as Graduate Assistant and Writing Consultant. Fontaine’s contributions to graduate professional development, including her work as a writing consultant and author for publications such as Aboard GSO, highlight her dedication to supporting her peers and fostering academic growth. Under advisor and GSO professor Tatiana Rynearson, she completed a dissertation titled, Drivers of Phytoplankton Diversity and Primary Production Across Time and Space: Insights from the Northeast U.S. Shelf.’

Congratulations to these new GSO alums on their accomplishments!