Aboard GSO, Fall 2022
There is no doubt that 2022 will go down as a pivotal year in the history of the Graduate School of Oceanography and the URI Narragansett Bay Campus. Thanks to Rhode Island voters who approved $100 million in a General Obligation bond for the Bay Campus. This investment will allow URI to usher in the next phase of campus revitalization with our partners from the College of Engineering and the College of the Environment and Life Sciences.
I am grateful to the state for this opportunity, to URI, President Marc Parlange and his team, and to all of our partners on campus for their boundless support. This success is a direct result of the work our community has done to further the opportunities in research and education for the thousands of students that have passed through our campus, and in anticipation of the thousands to come. Soon, faculty, students, staff and partners will have access to the facilities they require and deserve for their future research endeavors. We have always had the talent, but we have not had the infrastructure to achieve our dreams. With these facilities, and the incredible people who will work in them, we will lead the nation in strategic areas of ocean workforce development and can expand our efforts to build a thriving blue economy here in Rhode Island.
I’m happy to report that Bay Campus renewal is already well underway. The new pier is expected to be completed in early 2023, and will serve R/V Endeavor in its final research cruises before the arrival of R/V Narragansett Dawn in 2024. We also anticipate groundbreaking for the Ocean Robotics Laboratory in 2023, a new hub for the rapid development and deployment of sophisticated robotic systems for sensing and sampling the world’s oceans. In this issue of Aboard GSO you’ll learn about some of these next-generation technologies being tested through the Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute, headquartered here on the Narragansett Bay Campus.
To take advantage of this moment in our history, GSO needs a shared vision. In the coming months I will be asking the campus for help in developing a strategic plan and laying a path for the long-term evolution of our beloved institution. This process and our goals will be wide-ranging and encompass both scientific and infrastructure needs but also, critically, address how GSO and its members can be leaders in justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI). Towards that goal, I’m pleased to introduce Assistant Dean for JEDI Princess Metuge in this issue. Princess joined GSO this year and, working with the campus-wide JEDI Committee, has quickly established herself as a catalyst for change in our community.
We are, of course, first and foremost a school, and so it’s been a pleasure to welcome another class of graduate students to GSO this fall. The addition of these emerging ocean science leaders strengthens our community and introduces new perspectives on ocean exploration, discovery and research. I am also happy to welcome a new faculty member, assistant professor and chemical oceanographer Fenix Garcia Tigreros, whom you will meet through her profile in this issue.
I hope you enjoy the stories of GSO’s people and projects in the following pages, and as always thank you for your continued support of this institution. Have a wonderful end to 2022!
Best wishes,
—Dean Paula Bontempi, Ph.D. ’01