That\u2019s where advisors like Anthony Mercurio come in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mercurio serves on GSO\u2019s Advisory Council, where he brings a private industry perspective to GSO\u2019s top-tiered academic setting. He has spent the last four decades working for Marsh McLennan, one of the world\u2019s largest risk management consulting firms, where he provides advice to private industries around the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His perspective is important given the school\u2019s desire to expand the career options for its graduates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHistorically, the primary pathways for graduates of GSO were academia, the federal government, and industries like gas and oil,\u201d he says. \u201cGSO leadership recognizes that it\u2019s important for the school to develop new pathways.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mercurio believes that one potential pathway is the insurance industry since its foundation is risk assessment, which requires skills in data analytics, forecasting, and modeling\u2014all of which students develop at GSO.
\u201cIn an era of climate change, assessing risk is largely about the weather, and weather is all about the oceans,\u201d says Mercurio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe industry is not good at adjusting for large trends,\u201d says Mercurio. \u201cIt relies on past data to project forward. But that doesn\u2019t account for the fundamental shifts caused by climate change. Assessing risk is growing more complex and the industry needs to refine its scientific approach. GSO graduates are uniquely positioned to address coastal impacts of these changes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The development of additional career pathways has never been more important. Research funding from agencies such as NOAA and the NSF has been significantly reduced, including funding for academic institutions\u2014all of which have been major career paths for GSO graduates.<\/p>\n\n\n One recent casualty was a partnership between GSO and Mercurio\u2019s company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Inflation Reduction Act passed by the previous administration provided funding for universities to create partnerships between academia and private industry,\u201d says Mercurio. \u201cWe were going to form a partnership with GSO to find ways to expand the blue economy. But that has all been derailed. The people we were working with in government aren\u2019t even employed there anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even with these challenges, GSO is moving forward. The Bay Campus is undergoing a major renovation, which includes the construction of the Ocean Robotics Laboratory and a new 200-foot research vessel, Narragansett Dawn.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The school has also partnered with Propeller Ventures to attract private equity money for ocean-based environmental products developed by students and professors at the school. The company\u2019s venture capitalists are looking for GSO to provide ideas that they can invest in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere\u2019s often a big gap between academia and the private equity world,\u201d says Mercurio. \u201cThe Propeller fund is designed to bridge that gap.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mercurio\u2019s career in risk management was completely unplanned. He grew up in Westerly, R.I., graduated from URI with a B.S. in biology, and dreamed of attending GSO for his graduate degree. But finances got in the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI had to get a job,\u201d he says. \u201cI had an offer from a zoology professor to help with research on a nearly extinct mouse in the Florida Everglades, but when I realized that my job would be to pitch a tent and count mice, I decided to pass.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s when chance intervened. Throughout high school and college, Mercurio spent summers working on a 50-foot sailing yacht based in Watch Hill, first as crew and later as captain. When the owner asked what his plans were after graduation, he admitted he didn\u2019t have any. That\u2019s when the owner suggested that Mercurio work for his company in New York City. That company turned out to be one of the biggest insurance consulting companies in the world, and during his 40 years at Marsh McLennan, Mercurio rose through the ranks to managing director.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, as he approaches retirement, he\u2019s planning his return to the ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He and his wife bought a custom 56-foot Boreal sailboat built in France and plan to sail the Mediterranean for a year or two. The plan, which has yet to be finalized, is to take a blue water shakedown cruise to northern Norway in preparation for an extended voyage to circumnavigate North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But for now, Mercurio\u2019s attention is still focused on helping GSO position itself for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is an incredible time for GSO,\u201d says Mercurio. \u201cWe have great students, faculty, and leadership. We have new facilities, a new research vessel, an oceanfront campus. There aren\u2019t many schools in the country that have that combination of resources.\u201d\u2002<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Bill Ibelle With the national economy in flux, fulfilling GSO\u2019s mission to \u201cbuild the blue economyworkforce\u201d requires the ability to adapt to a changing world. That\u2019s where advisors like Anthony Mercurio come in. Mercurio serves on GSO\u2019s Advisory Council, where he brings a private industry perspective to GSO\u2019s top-tiered academic setting. He has spent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7,1987],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-190856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aboard-gso","category-publications"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190856","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\/2120"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=190856"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":190858,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/190856\/revisions\/190858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=190856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=190856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=190856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u201cIn an era of climate change, assessing risk is largely about the weather, and weather is all about the oceans.\u201d<\/blockquote>Anthony Mercurio \u201985<\/cite><\/div><\/section>\n\n\n
An Unplanned Career<\/h3>\n\n\n\n