URI Coastal Institute announces 2023 Emerging Coastal Leaders

December 15, 2023

Dec. 14, 2023

The University of Rhode Island Coastal Institute is pleased to announce it 2023 Emerging Coastal Leader awardees. Awardees were selected based on their academic achievements and exceptional work as emerging leaders in their chosen fields of study.

  • Sonia Rufulio-Coronado, College of the Environmental and Life Sciences, Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
  • Asta Zerue Habtemichael, Graduate School of Oceanography, Chemical Oceanography
  • Rebeca Linhart, College of the Environmental and Life Sciences, Biological and Environmental Sciences
  • Jason Noel, College of Engineering, Ocean Engineering
  • Emmanuel Oyewole, College of the Environmental and Life Sciences, Marine Affairs

The Emerging Coastal Leaders Program is a new awards program offered by the Coastal Institute for URI graduate students from interdisciplinary backgrounds who aspire to pursue careers in coastal, marine, and estuarine science and management. Each year, five awardees will be selected. The program is designed as a two-year appointment and provides emerging leaders with:

  1. A modest stipend to further their research endeavors (i.e., conference attendance, peer reviewed publication, research supplies).
  2. Professional support and promotion of their achievements.  
  3. Access to the Coastal Institute Senior Fellows network for mentoring to foster future internship and research opportunities.
  4. Inclusion in special organized events, such as the annual fellow field trip, film screenings, and lectures.

Congratulations to this year’s GSO awardee:

Asta Zerue Habtemichael
Asta Zerue Habtemichael is a Ph.D. candidate in Chemical Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography and a trainee in the STEEP Superfund Research Program. He is a mixed-method researcher who combines social science and natural science research methods to study the effects of contaminants of emerging concern in the environment and public health. Asta’s planned professional trajectory revolves around refining our scientific, regulatory, and cultural understanding of chemical pollution, and to design a more inclusive and integrated approach to address persistent pollutants.

Learn about the other 2023 Emerging Coastal leaders.