{"id":192682,"date":"2026-05-07T11:27:23","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T15:27:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/?p=192682"},"modified":"2026-05-07T11:28:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T15:28:13","slug":"commencement-2026-oceanography-student-learns-about-outsized-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/news\/commencement-2026-oceanography-student-learns-about-outsized-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Commencement 2026: Oceanography student learns about outsized impact"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Phytoplankton research provides once-in-a-lifetime opportunity<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

May 7, 2026<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Tiny photosynthetic organisms in the ocean called phytoplankton play a crucial role in the global carbon cycle and influence Earth\u2019s climate. Margaret Bernish<\/a> is fascinated by them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI love phytoplankton because they\u2019re so important to the global cycling of nutrients and energy despite being so small,\u201d said Bernish, who will earn her doctorate in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Graduate School of Oceanography<\/a> this spring after applying mathematical models to determine how the physiology of phytoplankton is affected by climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudying phytoplankton is one of the ways in which we can measure and observe the response of the ocean to different perturbations,\u201d she said. \u201cI used a variety of mathematical models to study phytoplankton physiology and ecology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Bernish presented her research at an oceanography conference in Xiamen, China in 2025.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

One of Bernish\u2019s proudest achievements at URI was developing a model of phytoplankton global physiology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI believe it will be a good tool for climate scientists and microbial ecologists to evaluate and predict how the ocean will respond to different climate scenarios, such as increased surface temperatures, decreased dissolved oxygen concentrations, etc.,\u201d said Bernish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cincinnati, Ohio, native has conducted her research in Assistant Professor Keisuke Inomura<\/a>\u2019s Quantitative Microbiology Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMaggie has sophisticated coding skills, allowing her to quickly and accurately revise codes and develop mechanistic modeling,\u201d said Inomura. \u201cWith her skills and independent thinking, she brought true innovation to the group.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As much as Bernish thrived in the lab, one reason she pursued her Ph.D. at URI was the opportunities to conduct field work in the ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI heard about the collaborative spirit of the faculty and students, but I was especially excited by the requirement of participating in a research cruise,\u201d said Bernish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the requirements for doctoral students is to go on a research cruise that is at least five days at sea. Bernish went on two five-day trips, one in 2025 and one earlier in 2024, in which she joined scientists who were working on long-term ecological research on the Northeast U.S. Shelf. Bernish assisted in phytoplankton sampling and incubations, measured phytoplankton fluorescence, and conducted nutrient limitation experiments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Bernish on a Fall 2024 NES-LTER cruise, where researchers worked to characterize the changing planktonic food webs on the Northeast U.S. Shelf. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Another highlight of Bernish\u2019s Ph.D. studies was the opportunity to present her research on \u201cModeling the Coexistence of Two Marine Picocyanobacteria Under Changing Nitrogen Availability\u201d at an oceanography conference in Xiamen, China, in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPresenting at that conference was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity,\u201d said Bernish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Bernish\u2019s short-term goal is to publish her research on phytoplankton physiology and community composition under different climate scenarios, her long-term objective is to become a professor of biological oceanography.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to develop a lab group that operates at the intersection of modelling and empirical work, and I want my research to be focused on how these two very different facets of phytoplankton research can better supplement each other,\u201d said Bernish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another important goal for Bernish is to help young people from underrepresented communities gain skills and access to greater opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA large barrier for entry into marine and earth system science is learning how to code,\u201d said Bernish. \u201cI want to develop a program to help lower that barrier where adolescents in underserved communities can learn to use scientific programming and coding to answer questions about the world around them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bernish\u2019s pursuit of scientific discovery has led to many memorable and beneficial experiences. Someday she\u2019ll be able to help others realize their educational and scientific aspirations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Margaret Bernish will earn her Ph.D. in oceanography from GSO after studying the physiology of phytoplankton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4762,"featured_media":189100,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-192682","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192682","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\/4762"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192682"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192682\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":192692,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192682\/revisions\/192692"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192682"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192682"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192682"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}