Examples of major initiatives are:
The Subduction Factory
The lithospheric plates that make up the surface crust of the Earth are continuously being created at mid-ocean ridges and being destroyed at subduction zones where they are pulled down into the mantle of the Earth. At these collisional subduction zones, ocean sediments, altered oceanic crust, and lithosphere ar
e cycled from the surface into the Earth's mantle and processed through this "Subduction Factory." These materials play an important and unique role in the formation and evolution of island and continental arc volcanoes above subduction zones. In particular, budgets of magmatic volatile species (e.g., water and carbon dioxide) are central to the behavior of these dynamic systems, affecting the properties of the mantle, the formation of magma, and the explosivity of volcanic eruptions. Currently, research on these questions is being conducted at GSO by Assistant Professor Katie Kelley, Professor Steve Carey, Professor Chris Kincaid, and their students.
Life in Extreme Environments 
Expeditions led by GSO scientists are yielding an incredible view of life in deeply buried marine sediments. This view of subseafloor life occurs is changing understanding of the limits of life on Earth and other worlds. It is also shedding light on the co-evolution of Earth and its inhabitants. Subseafloor microorganisms exhibit great diversity in their metabolic capabilities. They are exceptionally clever at exploiting even the slightest chemical reactions in order to sustain life. To date, microorganisms have been found in sediments from depths of more than 800 meters below sea floor and there is no reason to believe that we have yet reached the bottom of the biosphere. This research is carried out by Professors Steven D'Hondt, Arthur Spivack, David Smith, and their students.
The Marine Nitrogen Cycle
Population growth, urbanization, expanding water and sewer infrastructure, and fertilizer use has increased the flux of nitrogen to estuaries in recent decades. Most of this added nitrogen is thought to be removed from the estuary sediments by the process of denitrification leading to a reduction of the effects of runoff and non-point source nitrogen pollution. 
However, a recent GSO study has discovered that a climate-induced decrease in annual primary productivity has lead to a decrease in organic matter in Narragansett Bay, which in turn has at times reversed the net flux of nitrogen to the Bay's sediments. Thus continual monitoring of the Narragansett Bay nitrogen cycle is extremely important in understanding the local effects of climate change. This ongoing effort is led by Professor Scott W. Nixon and his research group at GSO.
Understanding the characteristics of the open ocean nitrogen cycle in ancient times under different climate conditions will help us discern possible modern-day effects of climate change on bio-geochemical cycles. Associate Professor Rebecca Robinson uses nitrogen isotopic analyses to ascertain the oceanic nitrogen budget of the past.
Hurricane Prediciton
Hurricanes are now the greatest existing threat to coastal communities, affecting: people and society, commerce, energy security, infrastructure, and the coastal ecosystems. This threat was underscored by the devastating 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons in the Gulf of Mexico. 
The expertise in ocean/atmosphere modeling provided by Professors Isaac Ginis, Lewis Rothstein, and colleagues at GSO along with NOAA's meteorological forecasting has resulted in the development of a coupled hurricane-ocean prediction model, called GFDL/URI hurricane model. Further improvements of the operational model are an ongoing task. Concurrently, the GSO team is actively involved in developing a new generation of a Hurricane Weather, Research and Forecast (HWRF) model in collaboration with EMC/NCEP scientists, focusing on wave-wind interactions. A high priority for future tropical cyclone research is to reduce the uncertainty in storm track, intensity, and the factors that drive them, to provide targeted warnings and emergency preparations to provide timely and reliable information to populations and locations at risk.
Antarctic Ocean Circulation
How is climate change affecting the health of the Antarctic polar ice cap? Are the increased winds and warming that the region has experienced lately having an impact on the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that girdles the southern continent? Two GSO oceanographers, Drs. Kathleen Donohue and Randy Watts, are trying to answer these questions. 
They have been awarded a five-year grant by the National Science Foundation to measure this current that flows around Antarctica. The current acts as a conduit transporting water among Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. The nature of this flow has consequences for local, regional, and global ecosystems and climate. The GSO scientists want to understand the dynamics of the Current by measuring its transport rate over time. The Drake Passage located between Antarctica and the tip of South America is the Current's narrowest passage, a choke point that is an ideal location for this experiment. They have recently deployed 35 current and pressure recording inverted echo sounders across the Passage. These instruments will provide the observations that will help us understand why the current is there, what forces it, and what controls its variability, and how it responds to climate change.
The Inner Space Center
The Inner Space Center is closely associated with the Institute for Archaelolgical Oceanograpy and it lies at the crossroads of Archeology, Sociology, Geological Research, Outreach, and Education. Its vision at GSO is to is to create an environment onshore that replicates the control onboard ships at sea. This is accomplished by making use of its global video, audio, and data communication links via satellite to Internet 2. This facilitates the participation of scientists, students, and the general public in oceanographic expeditions in real time from shore. The Inner Space Center will solve many problems related to the difficulties of conducting oceanographic research, including the limited amount of space onboard research vessels, the amount of time and expense it takes to travel to remote sites, and other physical restrictions that may prevent people from participating live. This concept should revolutionize oceanographic science. Principle contacts for this initiative are Dr. Robert Ballard and Dr. Dwight Coleman.
Research on Offshore Renewable Energy (RORE)
A new Center of Excellence for Research on Offshore Renewable 
Energy
(RORE) is now in place at URI. This Center coordinates
and expands research in this area that is conducted at the Graduate
School of Oceanography (GSO) and the Colleges of Environment and Life
Sciences (CELS), Engineering (COE), and Arts and Sciences. (CAS). The
vision of this new Center is to advance R&D in the areas of
offshore wind, current, wave, and thermal energy to position the State
of Rhode Island as the national leader in ocean energy. Expertise of our researchers include: leading wind &
storm research; wind measurement; modeling
expertise in ocean/atmosphere circulation, currents, and waves; leading state-of-the art research in offshore oil & gas seafloor foundations; materials; ocean engineering; marine policy; artificial reefs; and marine environmental protection policy. The
Center compliments future manufacturing and offshore
services.
For additional information, see the RORE web page.
Photograph credit: Vestas
Marine Life Sciences
Single celled diatoms contribute about 40 percent of all of the
photosynthesis that occurs in the world’s oceans. Because of this, diatooms have a major impact on Earth’s climate by consuming carbon dioxide and releasing a lot of oxygen. Little is known about how diatoms will change with climate changes.
To address this important question, Assistant Research Professor Tatiana Rynearson was recently awarded an $852,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study the biogeography of these plankton. Prof. Rynearson pioneered the use of DNA fingerprinting of diatom and was part of the first team that sequenced the diatom genome.
Her funded research program requires sampling three specific species of diatoms from most of the world's oceans and then applyiing the DNA fingerprint techniques to study their pathways and the physical or chemical barriers that these plankton encounter. Prof. Rynearson is collaborating with Census of Marine Life scientists and other colleagues to collect the samples from long-term plankton surveys. The experimental program also includes growing diatoms under a wide range of conditions to investigate genetic adaptations. This information is critical for predicting plankton population responses to global change.
Arctic Oceanography
Ancient Arctic Environment
In late summer 2004, GSO professor Kate Moran co-led with Prof. Jan Backman of Stockholm University the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Arctic Coring Expedition (ACEX). This transformational ocean drilling mission to the Lomonosov Ridge near 88°N recovered the first long-term Cenozoic sediment record from the Arctic Ocean – ranging to 56 million years ago (Ma). At the base of the record, the presence of Apectodinium augustum (a subtropical marine
dinoflagellate) confirmed that evidence of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal
Maximum ( around 55 Ma) had been recovered. In 49 Ma sediments, the scientists on board were surprised to find remains from fresh water ferns (Azolla) , while above this section ice-rafted debris at the 46Ma level indicated a return to cool Arctic environments. 
Initial analyses also revealed an extensive hiatus encompassing about 26 million years that occurred below a short interval showing starkly alternating black and white layers that is now dubbed the "zebra" interval; thus, the time interval from the late early Miocene (18 Ma) to the middle middle Eocene (44 Ma) is missing. This indicated a dynamic tectonic history for the Lomonosov Ridge where parts of it were exposed above sea-level for an extensive period of time. Although the hiatus is a lost window in time for the Arctic paleoclimate record, it spawned other studies that integrated the regional tectonic history with ACEX results revealing a major oceanographic reorganization at 17.5 Ma–ventilation of the Arctic Ocean to the North Atlantic through the Fram Strait. These and other exciting results have attracted a number of investigators who are now studying the effects of these radical Arctic Ocean transformations on global ocean circulation patterns during the past glacial and interglacial times.
Present Day Arctic Ocean Bio-Geodynamics
The melting of Arctic sea ice is accelerating due to climate change, which is affecting the Arctic system in many ways, and changing the trophic structure from the top of the food chain to the bottom. Thus, it will be a challenge to construct carbon and biological-physical models in this region because of the dynamic conditions.
Professor S. Bradley Moran and his research group have initiated an interdisciplinary research program on biogeochemical studies in the Arctic Ocean. They have received continuous funding for over ten years on a wide range of projects including: climate-driven changes in the carbon cycle, shelf-basin interactions, boundary scavenging, artificial radioactivity, and hydrographic connections between the Arctic and Northern Atlantic during modern and last-glacial times. Currently, this group is funded on a 4-year, $50M NSF-NPRB investigation of the Bering Sea ecosystem (BEST), a 3-year study of the Arctic carbon cycle (SBI-III), and is participating in IPY expeditions with the Alfred Wegener Institute to the Arctic and Antarctic.
Role of Zooplankton in Arctic Food Webs
Marine Research Scientist Robert Campbell and colleagues have been involved in Arctic research for more than a decade studying the role that zooplankton play in Arctic marine ecosystems. Their studies support an emerging paradigm of a greater Arctic Ocean productivity than historic perception. The current modeling efforts are examining whether continued warming due to climate change might alter the food web dynamics in these regions. Ultimately, these studies will lead to a greater understanding of Arctic marine ecosystems as well as provide important ground-truth for model validation and predictive efforts. Such information is critical to development of mitigation associated with potential future oil and gas development in this region. Currently Campbell is funded by the four-year BEST program designed to improve our understanding of the effects of climate change on the Bering Sea ecosystem, which supports one of the most productive fisheries in the world. The research will focus on the role of zooplankton in the planktonic food webs of both ice covered and open water areas of the Bering Sea.
