Your connection to the ocean is profound and complex.
We rely on the world’s oceans for our fisheries, energy, recreation, transportation, and our sense of connection to the natural world. But coastal and marine environments face increasing challenges from climate change, overuse, and pollution. The field of marine affairs involves building relationships, drawing information from multiple disciplines, and creating a clear overview so that communities can protect our oceans, and ensure human well-being.
The Marine Affairs Department at the University of Rhode Island was the first program of its kind in the nation, and is recognized as one of the most important. Our pioneering faculty have played a critical historical role in the development of coastal and ocean management programs in the U.S. and abroad, and their research attracts scholars and students from around the world.
News
- Marine Affairs Graduate Students Offer Community, Resources Through New Series
URI marine affairs professor honored for work studying global nuclear order - Beth Mendenhall’s work looks at the role of Treaty of Tlatelolco in Western Hemisphere
Faculty Office Hour: Communities and Wind Farms - As new offshore wind farm projects commence along the New England coast, who gets to have a say in where, or if, they happen? Professors David Bidwell and Emily Diamond, along with PhD candidate Shannon Howley, are studying how vulnerable groups and communities are reacting to their development, including residents’ and visitors’ attitudes toward the Block Island Wind Farm project and its impacts on tourism and recreation, as well as the role of the media in public perception of offshore wind farms.