The University of Rhode Island is a worldwide leader in coastal and ocean planning because of their expertise in oceanography, sociology, sustainable fisheries, coastal resource management, and engineering. URI researchers are trusted partners in renewable energy siting, construction, and implementation.
- Analysis of Effects of the Block Island Wind Farm on Rhode Island Recreation and Tourism Activities. - Using social science methods to assess the effects of the Block Island Wind Farm on tourism and recreation activities.
- Assessing Avian Fine-scale Movements Near the Block Island Wind Farm - We are assessing tern and plover fight behavior near the Block Island Wind Farm to determine exposure risk.
- Assessing Impacts of Offshore Development and Habitat Alteration on Distribution and Abundance of Birds - Assess impacts of such disturbances or alterations on bird distribution and abundance.
- Assessing Impacts of the Block Island Wind Farm on Recreational Saltwater Fishing - This study uses qualitative and quantitative data to assess effects of the Block Island Wind Farm on recreational saltwater angling.
- Benthic Ecology study with Fugro Renewables, Cornwall, UK - Researchers collaborated with a marine ecologist from Cornwall UK to examine the impacts of offshore renewables on marine ecology, and reef effects.
- Benthic Monitoring during Wind Turbine Installation and Operation at the Block Island Wind Farm, Rhode Island. - This study gathered real-time data during the installation and initial operations of the Block Island wind turbine generators and provided benthic habitat information for U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.
- Beyond the beach: Tradeoffs in tourism and recreation at the first offshore wind farm in the United States - Smythe, T., Bidwell, D., Moore, A., Smith, H., and McCann, J. 2020. Beyond the beach: Tradeoffs in tourism and recreation at the first offshore wind farm in the United States. Energy Research & Social Science, 70, 101726. Read full text.
- Block Island Wind Farm Structural Monitoring - The goal of this study is to monitor the natural frequencies, damping characteristics, and deformations of the jacket structures currently in service at the Block Island Wind Farm. The information will be used to check design assumptions and inform future designs.
- Chains of trust: Lessons on public engagement from the United States’ first offshore wind farm - Dwyer, J. and D. Bidwell. 2019. Chains of trust: Lessons on public engagement from the United States’ first offshore wind farm. Energy Research & Social Science, 47:166-176.
- Characterization of Impact Pile Driving Signals During Installation of Offshore Wind Turbine Foundations - This study analyzed measurements of piles used during the construction of offshore wind farms to investigate variations in rise time, decay time, pulse duration, kurtosis, and sound received levels as a function of range and azimuth.
- Cyclic Axial Load Testing of Piles for Jacket Foundations - The goal is to investigate the behavior of pipe piles under axial cyclic loading considering the effects of time and large numbers of cycles. The information will be used to improve foundation design procedures for piled offshore wind jackets.
- Design and Evaluation of Wave Energy Conversion Devices to Power Ocean Surveillance Systems and Sensor applications - The systems used the heave motion of the buoys to produce useful electrical power.
- Designing Port Infrastructure for Sea Level Change: A Survey of U.S. Engineers - This research gauges the U.S. port and marine infrastructure engineering community’s attitude and approach to planning for sea level change for maritime infrastructure projects.
- Developing Protocols for Reconstructing Submerged Paleocultural Landscapes and Identifying Native American Archaeological Sites in Submerged Environments - Best practices for advancing the current understanding of submerged paleocultural landscape distribution on the Outer Continental.
- Ecological Service Value Index (ESVI) for the Rhode Ocean Special Area Management Plan (Ocean SAMP) - Design of a value index (macrositing tool) and application to the Ocean SAMP area.
- Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Impacts on Elasmobranch (sharks, rays, and skates) and American Lobster Movement and Migration from Direct Current Cables - Analysis of the effects of EMF on the behavior of sharks, rays, skates, and lobsters.
- Electromagnetic Field Impacts on American Eel Movement and Migration from Direct Current Cables. - Analysis of the effects of electromagnetic fields associated with the HVDC Cross Sound Cable on the American Eel.
- Electromagnetic field studies with marine and fisheries biologist, Pangalia Environmental, UK - URI and Gill Andrew, Pangalia Environmental, UK have collaborated on electromagnetic field studies funded by U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Deepwater Wind, and National Grid.
- EMF Study of the Block Island Wind Farm Export and Inter-Array Cables, New Shoreham, Rhode Island. - Surveys EMF levels along the sea2shore cable as well as statistical analysis of possible effects on marine organisms.
- Faring well in offshore wind power siting? Trust, engagement and process fairness in the United States - Firestone, J., C. Hirt, D. Bidwell, M. Gardner, and J. Dwyer. 2020. Faring well in offshore wind power siting? Trust, engagement and process fairness in the United States. Energy Research & Social Science, 62:101393. Read full text.
- Field Observations During Wind Turbine Foundation Installation at the Block Island Wind Farm, Rhode Island - The preliminary findings of the acoustic monitoring of the construction of the Block Island Wind Farm
- Fishing Status of Vessels Using the AIS: A Big Data and Machine Learning Approach - The overarching goal of this study is to generate improved maps of fishing effort and landings values at sea. A technical study is needed because established methods are known to contain substantial inaccuracies, and newer approaches have not been applied to species of interest in Southern New England’s offshore wind lease areas.
- Gatekeeping and communities in energy system transition: A study of the Block Island Wind Farm - Gilbert, C., H. Smith, D. Bidwell, S. Smythe, A. Moore, J. McCann, and E. Miller. 2019. Gatekeeping and communities in energy system transition: A study of the Block Island Wind Farm. Environmental Communication. DOI: 10.1080/17524032.2018.1561484.
- Habitat Use and Selection of Black Scoters in Southern New England and Siting of Offshore Wind Energy Facilities - Regional black scoter study using satellite telemetry and spatial modeling techniques over 2 winters.
- Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy on Recreational Choices: A Survey of the Block Island Tourists. - Survey methods to examine the impact of offshore wind energy production on the number of trips taken and on the choice of recreational activities conducted in Block Island.
- Innovative Anchoring System for Offshore Wind - The goal of this study is to develop a cost-effective anchoring system for floating offshore wind turbine platforms.
- Integrating social and ecological research on the impacts of offshore wind farms in North America - Talya ten Brink, Tracey Dalton, and Julia Livermore. Integrating social and ecological research on the impacts of offshore wind farms in North America. December 2020 (in press). In book: Researching people and the sea: methodologies and traditions. Chapter 11. Springer Nature / Palgrave Publishers. Read full text.
- International Marine Spatial Planning Symposium Series. - Symposia provided coastal and ocean practitioners from around the world with training, assistance, lessons learned from the Ocean SAMP process.
- Investigation of Users’ Preferences for and Values of Recreational Boating Activities Associated with the Block Island Wind Farm - Investigation of on-the-water users’ preferences for recreational boating trips associated with off-shore wind farms in and around Rhode Island waters.
- Marine bird distribution, University of St. Andrews, UK - Researchers partnered with the Centre for Research into Ecological and Environmental Modelling at the University of St. Andrews, Fife, UK to estimate the density of marine birds in relation to offshore wind energy siting.
- Marine bird study with Aarhus University, Denmark - URI collaborated with National Environmental Research Institute, Aarhus University on the assessment of the effect of offshore wind energy development on marine birds.
- MARIne mammal Monitoring at Block Island using Acoustics (MARIMBA). - Development of a underwater acoustic detection system that will classify, track and display vocalizing whales near offshore wind facilities.
- Marine spatial planning for the European Union - URI expert assisted the European Union (EU) and its member states in implementing the EU Marine Spatial Planning Directive.
- Modeling the impacts of hurricanes on proposed offshore energy sites in northeastern US - PhD student, Boma Kresning is employing an advanced coupled ocean-atmosphere modeling system to better understand hurricane loadings on proposed offshore wind farms in northeastern US as his PhD thesis.
- Offshore Resource Assessment and Design Conditions: A Data Requirements and Gaps Analysis for Offshore Renewable Energy Systems - Elliot, Dennis et al. “Offshore Resource Assessment and Design Conditions: A Data Requirements and Gaps Analysis for Offshore Renewable Energy Systems.” U.S. Department of Energy Wind and Water Power Program, report (2012). Read full text.
- Offshore Wind Projects and Fisheries: Conflict and Engagement in the UK and the US - Claire Haggett, Talya ten Brink, Aaron Russell, Michael Roach, Jeremy Firestone, Tracey Dalton, and Bonnie J. McCay. 2020 (in press). Offshore Wind Projects and Fisheries: Conflict and Engagement in the UK and the US. Oceanography.
- Perceptions of commercial and recreational fishers on the potential ecological impacts of the Block Island Wind Farm (US) - ten Brink, T. S., & Dalton, T. 2018. Perceptions of commercial and recreational fishers on the potential ecological impacts of the Block Island Wind Farm (US). Frontiers in Marine Science, 5, 439. Read full text
- Place meaning and consistency with offshore wind: An island and coastal tale - Russell, A., Firestone, J., Bidwell, D., and Gardner, M. 2020. Place meaning and consistency with offshore wind: An island and coastal tale. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 132, 110044. Read full text.
- 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.
- Price-based Inferences into the Socio-economic Impacts of the Block Island Wind Farm - This study employed quantitative evaluation of tourism impacts of Block Island Wind Farm using short-term rental market (i.e., Airbnb).
- Real-time Opportunity for Development of Environmental Observations (RODEO) - Collecting real-time measurements of the construction and operation activities at the Block Island Wind Farm for more accurate assessments of environmental effects and to inform mitigation measures.
- Resource selection and wintering phenology of White-winged Scoters in southern New England: Implications for offshore wind energy development - Researchers used satellite telemetry to document the winter phenology and site fidelity, as well as fine-scale resource selection and habitat use, of 40 White-winged Scoters along the southern New England continental shelf.
- Rhode Island Ocean Special Area Management Plan (Ocean SAMP) Design of a Southern New England Offshore Wind Demonstration Site - Optimization of the wind farm siting and layout using optimization methods (micrositing optimization).
- Sociocultural Adaptations to Renewable Energy Infrastructure in Aquapelagic Systems - This ongoing project experiments with decolonial ethnographic methods to explore the sociocultural effects of renewable energy transitions, utilizing the New England transition to offshore wind as a primary case study.
- Technical Support for Marine Spatial Planning in Other States and Countries - McCann provided lessons learned from ocean planning efforts and tailored technical support, including extensive study tours and recommendations reports, to states and countries seeking to resolve pressing coastal and ocean resources challenges.
- The Spatial Distribution, Abundance, and Flight Ecology of Birds in Nearshore and Offshore Waters of Rhode Island - This interim report for the Rhode Island Special Area Management Plan (SAMP) summarizes research from January 2009 through mid-February 2010.
- The Underwater Sound from Offshore Wind Farms - This study investigates and summarizes the underwater sounds that are associated with offshore wind farms during both the construction and operation phases.
- Understanding Marine Resource User Response to Ecological Impacts of Offshore Wind Energy: A Case Study of the Block Island Wind Farm - How the Block Island Wind Farm and its electricity transmission system affect the local marine ecosystem.
- Understanding the Relationship Between the Block Island Wind Farm and Indigenous Island Lives, Past and Present - Exploring the indigenous experience on Block Island and the social effects of the Block Island Wind Farm and its cables on current indigenous lives and the future of indigenous community life on the island.
- Underwater Acoustic Monitoring Data Analyses for the Block Island Wind Farm, Rhode Island - Methods, data, observations, results, and conclusions from analyses of underwater sound monitoring data that was collected during the construction of the Block Island Wind Farm (BIWF).
- University of Rhode Island (URI) Partnership for Energy - The URI Partnership for Energy establishes interdisciplinary partners to develop locally based solutions to energy issues.
- URI on tap as first to employ new Bourne tidal test site at Cape Cod Canal - URI was the first user of the new Bourne Tidal Test Site recently installed in the Cape Cod Canal in Buzzards Bay