Dr. Mary-Jane James-Pirri, a marine research associate at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, has been named the winner of the 2012 Award for Natural Resource Research by the northeast region of the National Park Service.

The award honors James-Pirri for her 12 years of research on salt marsh ecology and related studies at numerous national parks throughout the Northeast, including Minuteman National Historic Park, Boston Harbor Islands National Park, Saugus Ironworks National Historic Site and the Cape Cod National Seashore.

“My main focus is to try to help the Park Service better manage the resources in their parks,” said James-Pirri, a resident of Cumberland who earned her PhD in Biological Sciences from URI in 1996.

“MJ has been instrumental in the development of long-term monitoring protocols for the Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network,” wrote National Park Service Regional Director Dennis Reidenbach in announcing the award. “Her original research on horseshoe crabs and salt marsh ecology has helped guide park management practices, and her work as a mentor to students at the University of Rhode Island has exposed new students to National Park Service resource management careers.”

While James-Pirri typically has four or five different Park Service research projects underway at once, she has worked nearly continuously on studies of horseshoe crabs since 2000, beginning at Cape Cod National Seashore and expanding last year to Fire Island National Seashore, Gateway National Recreation Area, and Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, all on Long Island.

James-Pirri is one of more than a dozen scientists at the University of Rhode Island who are either employed by the National Park Service or who regularly conduct research funded by the Park Service.

For more information, please see the related URI press release, and the audio of the story aired on Rhode Island Public Radio.