2020 was a year like no other at the Graduate School of Oceanography.
When the COVID-19 pandemic first impacted the URI Narragansett Bay Campus community, the faculty, students and staff quickly adapted to a “new normal,” from virtual learning, to new lab procedures and keeping key research facilities running safely. The GSO family also aided our Rhode Island neighbors during this unprecedented crisis, using their unique skills to gather and provide personal protective equipment for healthcare workers, modify ventilators, and support our fishing and aquaculture communities. Despite the upheaval, a new crop of GSO graduate students completed their degrees, GSO supported more than $34 million in federal and state research, and its people continued to expand ocean science outreach across the globe.
I returned to GSO in September 2020, after the fiscal year came to a close. This report is thus a reflection of the outstanding leadership of my predecessor, Bruce Corliss, who completed his eight-year tenure as dean in August.
This report is not an exhaustive document. Rather, it provides a broad overview of activities and accomplishments across the GSO community, illustrating the creativity and dedication of these ocean, coastal, and air/sea professionals.
In 2021, we will craft a strategic plan and define a clear path for the long-term evolution of our beloved institution.
As this annual report went to print, we have completed the first half of fiscal year 2021, and I have enjoyed listening to and learning from colleagues at GSO and on the Bay Campus about needs and priorities. Early in 2021, we will craft a strategic plan and define a clear path for the long-term evolution of our beloved institution, encompassing both scientific and infrastructure needs and also addressing how GSO can become a leader in diversity, equity and inclusion.
Next year will also mark GSO’s 60th anniversary. I am in awe of our school’s history and its accomplishments, and am thrilled to lead it into its next decade, which also kicks off with the United Nations’ Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. GSO is unique in its capabilities that link ocean exploration, research, decision support, policy and economics, and we look forward to the next sixty years of new ocean frontiers in science and technology.
This is a time of great change here at GSO—the campus will soon be humming with new construction, the regional class research vessel is taking shape in Louisiana and new faculty continue to join our community.
I hope you enjoy this snapshot of a most incredible year. Thank you for your support of GSO!
Paula S. Bontempi, Ph.D.
Dean, University of Rhode Island
Graduate School of Oceanography