Today, U.S. Senator Jack Reed announced $250,000 in new federal funding to initiate a shoreline protection project at the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Bay Campus. Reed, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee who sought to fund the project for URI, says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will launch and oversee the shoreline protection effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis project will help protect new infrastructure investments that URI will be making at the Bay Campus to support the $125 million research vessel Narragansett Dawn<\/em><\/a> and other campus improvements. This new federal funding means URI can focus more resources on its Bay Campus Master Plan<\/a> and its marine research, ocean exploration, and education missions,\u201d said Senator Reed, who visited URI\u2019s Bay Campus this week to meet with faculty and educators at the URI Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO).<\/p>\n \u201cWe are grateful to Senator Reed and his continued support of ocean research and technology development at the University,\u201d said URI President Marc Parlange. \u201cThese funds help keep URI as a leader in the Blue Economy, fueling economic growth and providing educational opportunities for our students and the greater community.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTomorrow\u2019s ocean leaders, entrepreneurs, and stewards are hard at work today on the URI Bay Campus,\u201d said GSO Dean Paula Bontempi. \u201cSenator Reed\u2019s support is critical as we continue to invest in tools for Rhode Island\u2019s growing blue economy, including the groundbreaking Ocean Robotics Laboratory, R\/V Narragansett Dawn<\/em>, and her new pier already under construction.\u201d<\/p>\n Senator Reed worked for years to successfully help the National Science Foundation (NSF) build and modernize a new fleet of ocean research vessels. In 2018, NSF selected the East Coast Oceanographic Consortium<\/a> (ECOC), led by URI\u2019s Graduate School of Oceanography, to operate a new $125 million regional research vessel, one of only three such research ships in the nation.<\/p>\n Narragansett Dawn will support scientific studies and the testing of new ocean technologies. The ship will also offer education and public engagement opportunities for teachers, undergraduate and graduate students and the public.<\/p>\n