URI oceanography professor selected for Fulbright Award to advance ocean renewable energy - Stephan Grilli, distinguished professor of ocean engineering and oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, has received the Fulbright Tocqueville Distinguished Chair Award to conduct research and teach in France.
Developing a responsible coastal-offshore wind interface through startup innovation — SeaAhead - Call for Applications: SeaAhead and Ørsted will select eight startups to give 5-minute pitches before an audience of offshore wind and blue economy stakeholders in the Northeast. Applicants will also be eligible to receive one of up to three one-year SeaAhead Startup Community Memberships, sponsored by Ørsted.
Sea Grant to Offer Expert Assistance for Communities, Stakeholders in Offshore Wind Energy - Jennifer McCann has been selected as the Offshore Wind Energy Liaison for the National Sea Grant College Program in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy. McCann, the extension director for Rhode Island Sea Grant, will seek to strengthen Sea Grant’s network capacity to contribute and respond to the nation’s rapidly evolving offshore wind energy development.- URI researchers awarded $1.2 million federal grant to study floating offshore wind turbines - Offshore wind turbines with a fixed foundation built into the seafloor, like those constructed off Block Island, are not economical in water more than 200 feet deep. A new system of floating turbines is now in development that would allow for electricity generation in deeper water farther offshore where winds are more favorable. To optimize […]
URI Wins Award for Monitoring Future Offshore Wind Farm Facilities - The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) of the U.S. Department of Interior has awarded a team led by HDR, Inc. a 5-year $10 million contract to continue providing environmental monitoring services for future offshore wind farm facilities. The University of Rhode Island is a key member of the team. The award of the Real-time […]
Preferences for community benefits for offshore wind - Tyler, Grant & Bidwell, David & Smythe, Tiffany & Trandafir, Simona. (2021). Preferences for community benefits for offshore wind development projects: A case study of the Outer Banks of North Carolina, U.S. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning. Read full text.
Working Waterfronts Podcast Features URI’s Jen McCann - Tune in to the latest episode of the Working Waterfronts Podcast which features our very own Jennifer McCann (University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center & Rhode Island Sea Grant) and Susan Daly (Rhode Island Marine Trades Association & Composite Alliance of RI) who discuss the role that working waterfronts contribute to the Blue Economy with host Ashley Bennis (Texas Sea Grant).
Apply Now: 2021 URI Launch Lab Entrepreneur Fellowship - Apply for this 3-week virtual immersive program to get paid to build your idea into a product/service/project with a commercial or social enterprise focus.
New Class: Hacking4Oceans - Apply now for the University of Rhode Island's new interdisciplinary class— Hacking4Oceans aimed at helping students tackle complex problems critical to our oceans while inventing and adopting new technologies with a team of engineers, scientists, social scientists, MBAs, and policy experts from the University of Rhode Island.
NIUVT Fellowship Accepting Applicants - The NIUVT Fellowship is a development opportunity for organizations in this geographically close and technologically overlapping undersea technology ecosystem to deliberately develop mid-career professionals on a path to senior leadership positions.
RI Blue Economy Podcast Features URI GSO Dean Bontempi - Dr. Paula Bontempi, the dean of the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography, joined Rhode Island Commerce's Blue Economy Podcast to discuss how the world of academia is preparing students to take ocean exploration and research to the next level. 
URI to Host Offshore Wind Workforce Development Webinar with Student Panelists - The University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center will host a panel of industry experts and university students at its second session of the Offshore Renewable Energy: Learning as We Go Webinar and Podcast Series focused on workforce development.
URI Survey Finds Offshore Wind Farms Reduce the Value of Recreational Boating Experiences - A survey of recreational boaters conducted by a team of University of Rhode Island researchers found that offshore wind farms detract significantly from the boating experience.
Special Edition of The Oceanography Society Magazine on Offshore Wind - Have you read the latest issue of The Oceanography Society's magazine? This special edition is dedicated to Understanding the Effects of Offshore Wind Energy Development on Fisheries!
URI Bay Campus to Sponsor Blue Innovation Symposium - The University of Rhode Island Bay Campus is proud to be a sponsor of the Blue Innovation Symposium. The symposium is the premier event in New England for connecting the marine technology industry for education, networking and facilitating partnering opportunities. 
Science and Engineering Fellows Program Applications Open - Recognizing a need to foster the development of research skills in students from underrepresented cultural backgrounds, the College of the Environment and Life Sciences (CELS) and the College of Engineering (EGR) partnered in 2012 to create the Science and Engineering Fellows Program for students (in these majors).
Apply Now: NOAA Scholarships - Are you interested in a scholarship and paid summer internship with NOAA? Consider applying for the Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship or the Educational Partnership Program with Minority Serving Institutions (EPP/MSI) Undergraduate Scholarship. Applications are open from September 1, 2020, through February 1, 2021.
Ørsted Hosts Fishinar Series to Encourage Angler Input in Offshore Wind Farm Plans - The developer that owns the Block Island Wind Farm, Ørsted, is sponsoring a virtual Fishinar Series designed to encourage angler input in the offshore wind farm planning process. Recreational anglers appreciate offshore wind farms for their artificial reef effect which creates a hotspot for gamefish such as Black Sea Bass and Tuna.
How does the media affect public perception of OWE? - Dr. David Bidwell, an associate professor of Marine Affairs at the University of Rhode Island, discusses a 2019 paper looking at gatekeeping theory with regard to the Block Island Wind Farm (BIWF) of which he was a co-author of.
Real Jobs Rhode Island Sponsoring Foundation 2 Blade (F2B) Virtual Training - Join the Business Network for Offshore Wind for a Foundation 2 Blade (F2B) training program sponsored by Real Jobs Rhode Island. The three-part virtual training is free (a savings of $2,500) to Rhode Island-based businesses interested in entering the offshore wind energy industry. Sign up today!
Dr. John King Wins URI Foundation & Alumni Engagement Excellence Award - Dr. John King, Emeritus Professor of Oceanography at The University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography, is one of the select recipients of the 2020 URI Foundation & Alumni Engagement Excellence Award.- Rhode Island Governor Raimondo Announces New Strides Towards Offshore Wind - This week, Governor Raimondo's administration announced that Rhode Island will pursue a competitive request for proposals (RFP) to procure up to 600 MW of new offshore wind energy. This latest effort is in-line with Governor Raimondo’s Executive Order 20-01, which placed Rhode Island on a path toward meeting 100 percent of its electricity demand with renewable energy resources by 2030.
One URI Doctoral Student Who Is Making Strides in Offshore Wind Research - For Jennifer Amaral, a University of Rhode Island ocean engineering doctoral student, offshore renewable energy represents an exciting area of ocean study “Offshore wind farms have been quite common in other countries for a long time, and it’s exciting that the United States is adopting more offshore energy options now.” 
URI Researchers Help Develop Protocols to Identify and Protect Ancient Native American Cultural Sites - Two URI researchers— David Robinson (Marine Archaeologist) and John King (Emeritus Professor of Oceanography) worked alongside the Narragansett Indian Tribal Historic Preservation Office to develop a set of best practice protocols for identifying and protecting ancient Native sites on the Continental Shelf. Known as drowned sites, these areas were submerged by rising sea levels over the last 16,000 years.
Call for Applications: BlueGreen Innovation Challenge | Up to $7,500 in Prizes - SeaAhead, National Grid, and the Cambridge Innovation Center have partnered to establish the BlueGreen Innovation Challenge which supports novel approaches to interconnected challenges in Rhode Island. This systems design challenge will leverage one of the state’s key assets - its university students - to conceive and develop big ideas at the energy-food-urban community-coastal nexus. 
Providence Journal Tips its Hat to the BAIRD Symposium - The latest Providence Journal Fishing Report nodded to Rhode Island Sea Grant and the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography Coastal Resources Center for answering questions about the effects of offshore wind on the fishing community. 
Providence Business News Highlights BAIRD Symposium as Editor’s Choice - The annual Ronald C. Baird Sea Grant Science Symposium provides a forum for researchers, resource managers, and stakeholders to discuss the most current science in various areas important to Rhode Island coastal communities and coastal and ocean environments.
RI Blue Economy Report Identifies Offshore Wind as an Economic Sector - The Rhode Island Blue Economy Report and Executive Summary (produced in partnership by the University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center at the Graduate School of Oceanography and Rhode Island Sea Grant) highlights offshore wind as a vital economic sector.
Rhode Island Targets 100 Percent Renewable Energy by 2030 - A recent ecoRI News article details the steps necessary for Rhode Island to reach its goal of achieving 100 percent renewable energy by 2030. Tim Faulkner reviews the solutions under consideration as presented by the Office of Energy Resources (OER). 
URI Partners with DEM to Generate New Fishing Status Maps Using AIS - Dr. Tom Sproul (Department of Environmental & Natural Resource Economics) and Julia Livermore (RI Department of Environmental Management) are partnering on a new study— "Fishing Status of Vessels Using the AIS: A Big Data and Machine Learning Approach".- Offshore Wind Can Change Habitats for the Better - ecoRI News interviewed Jen McCann about the projected growth of offshore wind in U.S. waters and what that might mean in terms of impacts, both positive and negative.
New England Looks to Europe to Assess Environmental Impacts of Offshore Energy Facilities - At the second of four webinars in the 17th annual Ronald C. Baird Sea Grant Science Symposium, scientists from the University of Rhode Island and elsewhere heard from researchers in Europe, where offshore wind power has been commonplace for decades.
Ask the Experts Gains Local Traction - The Westerly Sun interviewed Jennifer McCann, CRC Director of U.S. Coastal Programs & Rhode Island Sea Grant Extension Leader, along with Mary Ellen Hawkins, URI Energy Fellow, about the new stakeholder engagement tool that they have spearheaded— Ask the Experts.- Rhode Island: The Winds of Change - This Offshore Source Web Exclusive takes a deep dive into Rhode Island’s unique offshore wind experience through the stories, insights, and perspectives of the men and women at the forefront of US offshore wind development.
