Faculty

Earth’s mantle is a complex and heterogeneous mixture. Understanding the chemical composition of the mantle, which comprises over 80% of Earth’s volume, and how its activities influence our atmosphere, are crucial.

A team of 17 University of Rhode Island faculty and students depart this week for a month-long expedition to the waters off Antarctica to study the feeding behavior of krill, a key organism in the food chain in the Southern Ocean.

A debate among scientists about the dynamics of the Cascades subduction system in the western United States has taken a major step toward being resolved, thanks to new evidence provided by a team of international researchers led by University of Rhode Island Professor Christopher Kincaid.

An article in the current issue of BioScience, co-authored by Tatiana Rynearson, associate professor of oceanography at the URI Graduate School of Oceanography, calls for the establishment of a national network to monitor the diversity of marine life, a bellwether of ocean and human health.

The Graduate School of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island is providing URI undergraduates interested in earning a Master of Oceanography degree with a chance to get a jumpstart on their coursework and complete the degree just one year after finishing their bachelor’s degree.

The journal Deep Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography has celebrated the career of Emeritus Professor of Oceanography Tom Rossby, devoting its January issue, titled "Modern Physical Oceanography and Professor H.T. Rossby" to his life and work.

The Deep Carbon Observatory, a decade-long $500 million research project to discover the quantity, movement, origin, and forms of carbon deep inside the Earth, has released a landmark 700-page book, Carbon in Earth, which outlines questions that will guide the program through 2019 and beyond.

Scott Nixon was posthumously awarded the 2013 Citation for Scientific Excellence at the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) 2013 Aquatic Sciences Meeting in New Orleans. His daughter, Beth Nixon, accepted the award on his behalf.

The full citation is available at this link.

On Wednesday, February 6, Dean Bruce Corliss presided over the formal opening of Studio Blue, a multimedia coastal and ocean learning commons designed to exhibit creative works in a variety of media that are inspired by and imbue the research of marine and coastal scientists. The artists and their scientist counterparts were in attendance to discuss their works, both to the audience as a group, and individually after the formal program.  

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) announced that Dr. David L. Evans, former Director of the Center for Sustainability: Earth, Energy, and Climate at Noblis, Inc., will serve as the association’s new Executive Director.

“We are thrilled to have Dr. Evans as a part of the NSTA team,” said NSTA President Dr. Karen L. Ostlund. “He is a prominent scientist and a distinguished and visionary leader who will guide the association’s future course and continue to establish NSTA as a leader in STEM education.”