During the 2025–26 academic year, we developed a special Faculty Spotlight Series, i.e. a series of stories about URI research successes facilitated by our research computing resources and support. We’re thrilled to share the first few articles from this new series — from A&S, CELS, CHS, Engineering, GSO and Pharmacy. I hope you enjoy reading these!

Rachel Schwartz — Biology, CELS | November 12, 2025

Decoding the Tree of Life

Large-scale genomics and evolutionary genetics depend on substantial compute power, storage, and reproducible workflows on URI research computing resources.

Genomics | Evolution | HPC | Unity

Read the story (https://web.uri.edu/iacr/faculty-spotlight-rachel-schwartz-biology/)

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Rob Coyne — Physics, A&S | October 28, 2025

Exploring the Cosmos Through Computation

Gamma-ray burst and gravitational-wave research rely on computational pipelines, HPC resources, and research-computing support to turn massive datasets into astrophysical insight.

Physics | Gravitational Waves | HPC | Data Pipelines

Read the story (https://web.uri.edu/iacr/faculty-spotlight-rob-coyne-physics/)

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Manshu Yang — Psychology, CHS | November 14, 2025

Quantitative Health Psychology at Scale

Simulation studies, Bayesian methods, longitudinal data, and missing-data methods become more rigorous and efficient with URI HPC resources and expert support.

Health Psychology | Simulation | Bayesian Methods | Unity

Read the story (https://web.uri.edu/iacr/faculty-spotlight-manshu-yang-psychology/)

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Roxanne Beinart — Oceanography, GSO | December 8, 2025

A Powerful Symbiosis

Microbial ecology and genomic sequence assembly benefit from high-memory computing, scalable storage, and accessible research-computing support.

Oceanography | Microbial Ecology | Bioinformatics | High-Memory Computing

Read the story (https://web.uri.edu/iacr/faculty-spotlight-roxanne-beinart-gso/)

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Russell Shomberg — Ocean Engineering / GSO | March 26, 2026

AI for Ocean Science Applications

Student teams, Unity resources, and AI methods such as NeRFs and Gaussian splatting are helping develop 3D reconstructions of deep-sea habitats and icebergs.

Ocean Engineering | AI Lab | 3D Reconstruction | GPUs

Read the story (https://web.uri.edu/iacr/faculty-spotlight-russell-shomberg-gso/)

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Chris Hemme — Pharmacy / RI-INBRE Molecular Informatics Core | April 23, 2026

Molecular Informatics for Biomedical Discovery

Bioinformatics, multi-omics, data management, VR training, and AI workflows benefit from Unity, the Open Storage Network, and regional research-computing access.

Pharmacy | Bioinformatics | Multi-Omics | AI

Read the story (https://web.uri.edu/iacr/faculty-spotlight-chris-hemme-pharmacy/)

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Nick Pizzo — Oceanography, GSO | May 8, 2026

Machine Learning for Ocean Currents

Deep learning, satellite observations, GPU-enabled simulation, and Unity access are helping researchers infer high-resolution ocean surface currents from data.

Oceanography | Machine Learning | GPUs | Unity

Read the story (https://web.uri.edu/iacr/faculty-spotlight-nick-pizzo-gso/)

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A huge thanks to both the faculty and our student team for making these happen. Much appreciated!