Sarah Bednarski is a junior at the University of Rhode Island, working towards a Bachelor of Science in geological oceanography with a minor in climatology and a certificate in geographical information systems (GIS). She started her career enlisted in the Navy on active duty in San Diego, CA for 6 years before switching to reserves in 2018 and pursuing further education at CCRI from 2018-2020. During this time, she achieved certificates in emergency management and homeland security. After studying at CCRI, she took a year off from academia for deployment to Djibouti, Africa before transferring to URI to study geological oceanography and climatology. In addition to these studies, she is an Environmental and Coastal Fellow working with Isaac Ginis and Austin Becker on wind and road low point analysis for the Rhode Island Coastal Hazards, Analysis, Modeling & Prediction project (RICHAMP). After she graduates in December 2025, she hopes to continue her education as a graduate student at URI in the MESM or Master of Oceanography programs, conducting research on topics such as natural hazards, weather, climate, geological oceanography, natural hazard response, and coastal resilience. Sarah’s interest in these topics was sparked during childhood from movies such as “Twister” and “The Day After Tomorrow” but has continued throughout her career with a focus on coastal resilience.

Potential research ideas that she may explore in graduate school include whether or not RICHAMP would be beneficial for the veteran-lead disaster response organization Team Rubicon, or if it would benefit volunteer organizations as a tool.