Aboard GSO, Spring 2022
2021
Biweekly throughout summer and fall, Bay Campus volunteers take water samples at Narragansett’s South Ferry Town Beach for analysis at the URI Watershed Watch Lab to detect levels of fecal coliform or enterococci bacteria. At no time in 2021 is the water unsafe for swimming or regulated shellfishing.
About 2,000 guests visit the Bay Campus for Science Saturday on Sept. 18. The family-friendly day features 30 ocean-science exhibits under a tent on Knauss Quad, guided tours to campus attractions, on-stage talks and presentations, and a county-fair atmosphere befitting GSO’s 60th anniversary celebration.
The Coastal Resources Center begins celebrating the 50th anniversary of its founding. To commemorate five decades of doing globally impactful aquatic research and management for R.I., the U.S. and with international partners, CRC hosts a celebration on Knauss Quad entitled “Successes and Future of Coastal Management.” The event highlights domestic and international achievements, honors partners and alumni, and announces new awards for coastal management practitioners.
Faculty, staff and students gather on the GSO pier to celebrate R/V Endeavor—honoring her 45 years in service to ocean research and marking her final days at the school’s original wooden pier. Endeavor will continue operations until the arrival of Narragansett Dawn, and home port in Davisville, R.I., during reconstruction of the GSO pier.
On October 1, R/V Endeavor sets out with eight enthusiastic educators on board—this year’s participants in the Rhode Island Teachers at Sea program. During the three-day mission, a miniboat is launched. Dubbed Square Mile by the Central Falls, R.I., 3rd and 4th graders who built it, the miniboat is crossing the Atlantic while collecting data using a sensor pack installed by Central Falls High School students.
GSO professor Robert Ballard delivers this year’s Charles and Marie Fish Lecture at District Hall in Providence to a full audience of all ages, both in person and online. His presentation, “Adventures In Deep Sea Exploration: Living the Dream,” reviews recent work in deep water exploration using telepresence technologies, which allows anyone with a computer to go along on the expedition.
The first signs of campus renewal emerge as the Pier and Pumphouse Replacement project begins. Construction fencing surrounds the site and strict access protocols ensure public safety. Planning for long weeks of pile driving and careful timing of changeovers to temporary seawater intake lines continues.
A new high-water mark in research funding is achieved: GSO received $25.4 million in the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2022 (Q3 of 2021).
The GSO community gathers on Knuass Quad for an End-of-Year Celebration. Festivities include mingling, dancing, gathering around fires to relax and build s’mores, and an opportunity to catch up in person after nearly two years of remote work.
Students in OCG 561, Biological Oceanography, presented the results of their independent research projects at the Mosby Center in this annual conference style poster presentation.
Three Saildrones set out from Newport Harbor for the Gulf Stream to gather data—sea-surface temperature, sea-surface salinity, oxygen, and especially, carbon dioxide—over the course of six months. The project, with guidance from co-principal investigator and GSO professor Jaime Palter, is collecting data that can help researchers better understand global warming.
2022
To mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus and its variants, URI institutes voluntary, regular PCR testing on the Bay Campus. Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to take advantage of the free service, which is provided two days per week.
Postdoc Matt Ramirez receives the URI Chaplains Association MLK Peacemaker’s Award in recognition of outstanding work among the Bay Campus community as a leader in improving justice, diversity, equity and inclusion at multiple levels.
The second year of the Student-Alum Networking Seminar Series begins. Erin Markham, M.S. ’15, formerly a chemical oceanography student with Rainer Lohmann, presents “Just Over the Bridge: Mapping the Path to a Career in Hydrographic Survey” and engages in informal discussions with students.
GSO faculty, students and staff participate in the 2022 Ocean Sciences Meeting, which is conducted entirely online. The virtual conference is attended by thousands, and GSO scientists give more than 60 presentations during the week-long gathering.
Ten URI undergraduates sail on board R/V Endeavor for the research cruise component of a URI Honors course led by GSO professor Melissa Omand. The six-day cruise takes place in two expedition legs with research focused in ocean plastics and underwater sound, and includes multiple live broadcasts coordinated by the Inner Space Center.
The 8th Annual Scott W. Nixon Lecture is given. In “Shaping Our Future: Ensuring Sustainable Life in the Coastal Zone,” three panelists discuss the urgent need to address climate change in the coastal zone including impacts on riverine systems, watershed dynamics, estuarine nurseries, saltmarsh drowning and ecosystem diversity.