The latest round of Rhode Island Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC) collaborative research grants pumps another $814,042 into climate change research and economic development in the Ocean State.

Through these seed grants, Commerce RI and STAC are supporting projects in an area where Rhode Island has the potential to foster world class research.

Announcement of the funding to six multi-disciplinary teams, awarded on a competitive basis, took place Thursday morning at the University of Rhode Island Narragansett Bay Campus.

“R&D, innovation and globally traded industries are job creators in the United States,” RI Gov. Gina M. Raimondo said. “Research is a critical component and Rhode Island is in a unique position to take the research, data and findings from these six teams and turn it into jobs impacting our economy for generations to come.”

The STAC funding also aims to make Rhode Island an international leader in understanding and predicting the response of marine organisms and marine ecosystems to climate variability.

Gov. Raimondo told the audience gathered in the Coastal Institute Building auditorium: “Climate change is a reality. We are the Ocean State — we’re uniquely vulnerable.”

Other dignitaries joining Gov. Raimondo included URI Provost Donald DeHayes and STAC co-chairs David Savitz, Brown University Vice President for Research, and Gerald Sonnenfeld, URI Vice President for Research and Economic Development.

STAC Executive Director Christine Smith said the group of researchers joined 65 other teams who have received a total of $9.8 million distributed since the inception of the program in 2006.

“These teams were selected because of the excellence of the science proposed as well as the potential to secure follow-on funding,” she said. “You have a high bar to live up to.”

Those earlier awardees, said Smith, have pulled in a combined $43.7 million in follow-on funding for research, new patents and projects, and improvements to research infrastructure in the state of Rhode Island.

This year’s teams represent deep expertise in oceanography, supercomputing, environmental conservation, genetics, toxicology, and aquatic pathology to examine how marine life in Narragansett Bay is responding to climate change. Data from these projects will lead to improved strategies for fisheries and aquaculture management, new tools for monitoring ecological change, and a 3D modeling system for coastal waterways that can enhance risk assessment, infrastructure planning and tracking of toxic spills.

DeHayes echoed the importance of the seed grants, saying they supported not only research and enterprise at institutions of higher education, but also contributed to economic development in Rhode Island.

He also noted that the STAC grants constituted the state’s match for the Rhode Island NSF Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), now in the fifth year of a five-year, $20 million grant and awaiting word on whether the next five-year, $20 million dollar proposal will be approved by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

RI NSF EPSCoR is led by URI and comprises partner institutions Brown University, Bryant University, Community College of Rhode Island, Providence College, Rhode Island College, Rhode Island School of Design, Roger Williams University, and Salve Regina University.

Coupled with the RI IDEA Network for Excellence in Biomedical Research (INBRE), RI NSF EPSCoR’s impact extends beyond research support, DeHayes said. The collaborative programs bring institutions and agencies together to build research capacity, increase competitiveness and educate and train the next generation of scientists.

In his comments, Savitz said the STAC grants served multiple purposes, including funding research that has practical implications and addresses real problems, and support for collaborative research that cuts across disciplines and institutions.

Sonnenfeld credited the state for seeing the wisdom of investing in research and providing a match for the EPSCoR grant. The funding expands the breadth and depth of the research and allows Rhode Island to compete at the national level.

Likewise, he said, the RI Small Business Innovation Research or Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) grants provide support critical for economic development: “They help start-up companies move forward and do research that they otherwise could not afford.”

In a prepared statement, Stefan Pryor, Rhode Island Secretary of Commerce, said, “Through these seed grants, Commerce RI and STAC are supporting projects in an area where Rhode Island has the potential to foster world class research.”

The 2015 teams and their projects are:

Diatom Community Composition as an Indicator of Coastal Ecosystem Change ($158,722)

This project will bring together four scientists from different fields to explore coastal biogeochemical responses to climate change and develop new assessment tools for monitoring ecological change.

• Rebecca Robinson, University of Rhode Island
• Tatiana Rynearson, University of Rhode Island
• Warren Prell, Brown University
• David Murray, Brown University

Canaries in Narragansett Bay?  Untangling the Ecological Response of a Key Diatom Genus to Environmental Change ($118,895)

This project links an academic scientist with expertise in genetics and a federal agency scientist with expertise in predictive modeling to examine how the base of the food web in Narragansett Bay is changing in response to changes in environmental conditions.

• Tatiana Rynearson, University of Rhode Island
• Jason Grear, US Environmental Protection Agency

Marine Disturbance Disease and Climate Change in Rhode Island’s Coastal Waters:  Merging Higher Trophic Level Population Dynamics Models/Datasets with Lower Trophic Level Climate Forecast Models ($139,952)

This team will use physical oceanography and aquatic pathology to integrate historic datasets to understand the relationship between physical and chemical changes in the ocean and various health issues affecting coastal fish and shellfish of commercial interest.

• Lewis Rothstein, University of Rhode Island
• Kathleen Castro, University of Rhode Island
• Marta Gomez-Chiarri, University of Rhode Island
• Roxanna Smolowitz, Roger Williams University

A Proteomics Approach to Analyzing Phenotypic Plasticity versus Adaptation in the Response of Marine Invertebrates to Climate Change ($131,799)

This team will study the proteins in a common invasive marine species to determine if it is adapting to local stress factors within one generation or going through genetic changes over multiple generations.    The findings will be used to predict the impact on economically important fisheries and aquaculture.

• Steven Irvine, University of Rhode Island
• Niall Howlett, University of Rhode Island
• Thomas Meedel, Rhode Island College
• James Clifton, Brown University

Pushing to New Limits for Models of RI Bays and Sounds ($160,449)

This trans-disciplinary project combines expertise in coastal waterway modeling and supercomputing model development to create a new 3D modeling tool that extends our existing ability to understand coastal turbulence for such things as risk assessment, infrastructure planning, tracking of toxic spills and fisheries/aquaculture management.

• Baylor Fox-Kemper, Brown University
• Lewis Rothstein, University of Rhode Island
• Christopher Kincaid, University of Rhode Island
• David Ullman, University of Rhode Island
• Edward Durbin, University of Rhode Island
• Dale Leavitt, Roger Williams University
• David Taylor, Roger Williams University

Narragansett Bay Apex Predators’ Response to Toxic Chemicals and Climate Change ($104,225)

Working in partnership with the federal Environmental Protection Agency, a research scientist with expertise in shark biology and molecular toxicology will study the sensitivity of predators to persistent chemicals in Narragansett Bay.

• Rebeka Rand Merson, Rhode Island College
• Diane Nacci, United States Environmental Protection Agency

From RI NSF EPSCoR & RI STAC