{"id":172082,"date":"2021-05-04T17:02:47","date_gmt":"2021-05-04T21:02:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/?p=172082"},"modified":"2021-05-04T17:02:47","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T21:02:47","slug":"nina-santos-makes-a-difference-by-combining-lifelong-love-for-oceanography-passion-for-the-environment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/news\/nina-santos-makes-a-difference-by-combining-lifelong-love-for-oceanography-passion-for-the-environment\/","title":{"rendered":"Nina Santos makes a difference by combining lifelong love for oceanography, passion for the environment"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
May 3, 2021<\/h5>\n

Nina Santos might be graduating with a master\u2019s degree in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Graduate School of Oceanography this May, but her enthusiasm for the marine sciences and the ocean traces all the way back to her childhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father was a scallop fisherman my entire life,\u201d said Santos. \u201cI\u2019ve seen that environment all my life and that\u2019s how I got interested in oceanography and biology.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following the urge to share her passion with the world, the New Bedford native conducted educational programs for families and students during and after college to teach them about the environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cKids these days are not as connected to the environment as I was or our parents were,\u201d Santos said. \u201cI wanted to tell them why they need to care about it and how they can do it. Through that, I realized I have a passion for education but I wanted to explore research as well and wanted to connect the two.\u201d<\/p>\n

Santos credits the faculty and unique research programs and opportunities at the Graduate School of Oceanography for making her want to pursue a degree at URI.<\/p>\n

\u201cI learned a lot being at the GSO; one of my accomplishments is just being around these faculty members to learn from them and become a part of the research community,\u201d Santos said.<\/p>\n

One of Santos\u2019 greatest achievements and memories at URI was getting the opportunity to attend various local and national scientific conferences.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to the National Ocean Sciences meeting in San Diego last spring right before the COVID-19 lockdown,\u201d Santos said. \u201cI\u2019ve never had any research experience before starting my M.S. at GSO. Being in a room full of great ideas and incredible minds who were passionate about the same thing as I was one of the greatest experiences of my life. To step into that world, soaking it all in, and creating a goal in my head of what I should be reaching for was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working with her adviser, Assistant Professor of Oceanography Kelton McMahon, Santos\u2019 master\u2019s thesis research paper examines the competition between two important fisheries species in Narragansett Bay and southern Rhode Island \u2014 black sea bass, which are originally from farther south, and the Atlantic cod, which are native to the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe black sea bass are increasing in Rhode Island waters and the cod are cold water fish that are already affected easily by the warming of the ocean,\u201d Santos said. \u201cMy research focuses on what it would mean to these species if warm-water species like the sea bass become more abundant in their range: how much overlap there was between their diets, and what resources they were using in that area.\u201d<\/p>\n

In January, Santos started her doctorate in ecological sciences at the University of Maryland. In the future, she wants to explore the connections between science and policy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make sure that policymakers know what science has to offer so they can try to make better and informed decisions for the environment,\u201d she said. \u201cWorking for the Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or another government agency would be my dream job.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of her fondest memories of URI is time spent at Narragansett Town Beach, but she is grateful to the URI community for the incredible journey she has experienced.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been to various events and even participated in the Global Climate Strike,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat I will miss the most is the great student body we have that cares about many important issues. That\u2019s what we need more of today.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Meet recent GSO graduate Nina Santos, whose research examines the competition between two important fisheries species in Narragansett Bay and southern Rhode Island \u2014 black sea bass the Atlantic cod.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2165,"featured_media":172088,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[894,813,2861],"class_list":["post-172082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-fisheries","tag-kelton-mcmahon","tag-nina-santos"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172082"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":172097,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172082\/revisions\/172097"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}