In the framework of the Northeast US Shelf Long-Term Ecological Research program (NES-LTER), I examine the environmental and biological characteristics of the coast of Rhode Island to better understand how the environment and fisheries production are connected, especially in light of environmental variability and climate change. My work, under the supervision of Pr. Susanne Menden-Deuer (Graduate School of Oceanography, University of Rhode Island), focuses on linking environmental conditions with plankton community composition and plankton process rates, in order to deepen our understanding of the factors governing the fate of primary production. Data from the past 2 years suggests we have strong seasonal and coastal gradients in terms of phytoplankton community structure and population dynamics. Food webs are more tightly linked in winter than in summer. We find significant correlations between the environmental and biological variables which help us understanding the present coastal food web to better predict the food web structure in future.