Research | Climate Resilience

How is GSO contributing to climate resiliency efforts locally and around the world?

As climate change continues to impact environments worldwide, communities are facing increasing challenges from extreme weather events, sea-level rise, and human-induced activities. Leveraging our expertise in ocean science and coastal management, GSO stands at the forefront of research and innovation dedicated to comprehensively addressing climate resilience. Through interdisciplinary collaborations and pioneering research initiatives, we are committed to understanding and mitigating the impacts of climate change and paving the way for a more sustainable and resilient future.

RI-CHAMP system revolutionizing storm preparedness

The first-of-its-kind storm modeling system developed by GSO’s Isaac Ginis & a team of URI colleagues keeps Rhode Island emergency and disaster officials ahead of strong storms.

Real-time storm info

One of the longest-running beach surveys in the world

GSO’s Beach Survey Program has been monitoring sandy shorelines along the south shore of Rhode Island since the 1960’s. Collected data measures beach elevation, erosion and sediment transport.

Shoreline change

Land in many cities sinking faster than sea levels are rising

Using radar images of the earth’s surface collected from orbiting satellites, GSO researchers measured subsidence in 99 coastal cities worldwide.

Sinking cities

Climate Resilience Research

Name	Leaders	Themes
Coastal Resources Center	Jennifer McCan Elin Torrell	The CRC helps communities become more effective stewards of their coastal/marine resources by partnering with stakeholders to apply science and find solutions to societal issues
Rhode Island Sea Grant	Tracey Dalton	RISG is one of 34 programs in the National Sea Grant College Program working to enhance environmental stewardship and long-term economic development and responsible use of coastal and marine resources.
McMahon Ocean Ecogeochemistry Lab	Kelton McMahon	The McMahon lab examines the roles that food web architecture play in the function and resilience of marine ecosystems, and how climate change and human-environment interactions alter those relationships.
Ocean Carbon Lab	Hongjie Wang	The Ocean Carbon Lab studies the biogeochemistry of seawater and sediments in the contexts of coastal aquaculture, ocean alkalinity enhancement, ocean acidification and marine CO2 removal.
The Robinson Lab	Rebecca Robinson	Biogeochemistry and paleoceanography: our research focuses on the grand chemical cycles of nitrogen and carbon in the marine environment.
Marine Ecosystems Research Laboratory	Candace Oviatt	MERL has several current research projects focusing on climate change, primary production, and organism metabolism within Narragansett Bay.
Fish Trawl Survey	Jeremy Collie	With over 65 years of data, the GSO Fish Trawl Survey is one of the longest continuous records of fish and invertebrate relative abundance in the world.
The Narragansett Bay Long-Term Plankton Time Series	Tatiana Rynearson	Beginning in 1957, weekly samples have been collected to assess the phytoplankton community and characterize the physical parameters of Narragansett Bay, making it one of the world’s longest-running plankton surveys.
Walsh COAST Lab	J.P. Walsh	The COAST Lab uses GIS, sediment coring, seafloor mapping, process measurements and laboratory analyses to determine how materials move and accumulate along shorelines and in the sea.
Ocean Circulation and Biogeochemistry Lab	Jaime Palter	The lab studies ocean circulation in order to understand the cycling of carbon, oxygen, nutrients, and the ocean’s role in climate.
Hurricane Modeling Group	Isaac Ginis Tetsu Hara	Our research interests focus on the structure, variability, and dynamics of the coupled ocean-atmosphere system from small to large space and time scales.
Wei Lab	Matt Wei	The lab uses geophysical data, numerical models, and machine learning to study tectonics and earthquakes.