College of the Environment and Life Sciences

College of the Environment and Life Sciences The College of the Environment and Life Sciences at the University of Rhode Island.

The College of the Environment and Life Sciences (CELS), through its exceptional education, research, and outreach, works to improve the quality of life for all Rhode Island residents and the global community. We serve as a catalyst for stellar interdisciplinary collaboration through the strength of eight academic departments. We lead in the areas of environmental and life sciences, environmental

economics and management, policy, and design, and we dedicate ourselves to helping community members maximize their opportunities for success. Driven by a responsibility to provide access to higher education for our students and the public we uphold our Land Grant and Sea Grant heritage while growing and innovating for the 21st century. Departments Include:
-Biological Sciences
-Cell & Molecular Biology
-Environmental & Natural Resource Economics
-Fisheries, Animal & Veterinary Science
-Geosciences
-Marine Affairs
-Natural Resources Science
-Plant Sciences & Entomology

Every stream, lawn and parking lot can be part of the story of how nutrients reach Narragansett Bay. This summer, URI st...
09/04/2026

Every stream, lawn and parking lot can be part of the story of how nutrients reach Narragansett Bay. This summer, URI student Carissa Sherman used maps and environmental data to help trace that story.

As a CELS Summer Research Fellow, Sherman used GIS and the EPA's Pollution Load Estimation Tool to estimate nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution across six major subbasins spanning Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts — identifying which areas contribute the greatest loads.

The work could help pinpoint where pollution-reduction efforts, from riparian buffers to stormwater controls, could have the greatest impact.

🔗 Read more: https://web.uri.edu/cels/news/carissa-sherman-qa/

On August 25th, Dr. Jean Vandergheynst, Dean of the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, joined the URI Extensi...
09/04/2026

On August 25th, Dr. Jean Vandergheynst, Dean of the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, joined the URI Extension Environmental Management Fellows for their last Summer Industry Training (SIT) of the year! SITs are a series of field visits and micro-lectures designed to expose fellows to a variety of topics within Rhode Island's environmental sector. At this particular event, fellows participated in a discussion on advocacy in policy with Kate Sayles, Executive Director of the RI Land Trust Council, and Angela Tuoni, Director of Climate and Government Relations, and also participated in a conversation about cornerstone environmental literature with Chelsea Blanchette, an Extension graduate assistant. Later in the afternoon, fellows were given a tour of the Port of Galilee led by URI Energy Fellows Program alum David DeCost ‘16, an engineer at !
📷Photos by Rose Cavallaro

We are now accepting expressions of interest from mentors until September 18, 2026, and applications from URI students in Handshake (job #11294023) until October 16, 2026. Learn more and apply by visiting: web.uri.edu/coopext/get-involved

Lisa Tewksbury, URI biological control lab director and entomologist, recently joined NBC 10 WJAR to talk about spotted ...
09/04/2026

Lisa Tewksbury, URI biological control lab director and entomologist, recently joined NBC 10 WJAR to talk about spotted lanternflies.

If you were anywhere near our building on campus this morning, you probably heard the applause and cheers coming from CE...
09/03/2026

If you were anywhere near our building on campus this morning, you probably heard the applause and cheers coming from CELS!

We were thrilled to celebrate the recipients of the 2026 CELS Excellence Awards and recognize the tremendous contributions they bring to our college.

Please join us in congratulating:

⭐ Teaching Excellence Award: Dr. Chris Floyd
⭐ Research Excellence Award: Dr. Scott McWilliams
⭐ Service Excellence Award: Dr. Scott McWilliams
⭐ Staff Excellence Award: Toni Carreiro Fogleman
⭐ Extension Excellence Award: Christina DiCenzo
⭐ Outstanding Dedication: Ben Robbins, Daniel Meservey, and Dr. Camilo Villouta

Thank you to all of our award recipients for everything you do to make CELS such a vibrant and inspiring community!

Maja Nielsen, a graduate student in URI’s Biological and Environmental Sciences program, recently joined the Narraganset...
09/03/2026

Maja Nielsen, a graduate student in URI’s Biological and Environmental Sciences program, recently joined the Narragansett Bay NERR’s Teachers on the Estuary (TOTE) Program to share her research on how fishing induced shifts in population demographics of blue crabs cascades to impact salt marsh ecosystems.

As part of the workshop, Maja showed teachers how to use crab traps, seine nets, and transects to survey the many critters that call the salt marsh home. She also facilitated a classroom activity to map out salt marsh food webs and consider the consequences of shifting species composition.

At URI, Maja studies ecology and ecosystem science and works in Dr. Shelby Rinehart's Bio-Funk Lab.

Seen roadkill on RI roads? Report it! It takes 30 seconds and helps make roads safer for wildlife and people.The Rhode K...
09/02/2026

Seen roadkill on RI roads? Report it! It takes 30 seconds and helps make roads safer for wildlife and people.

The Rhode Kill Survey gives Rhode Islanders a simple, anonymous way to report roadkill they've hit or observed — no personal info collected, and GPS location is optional. Only ONE question is required; everything else is optional.

Wildlife-vehicle collisions cost the U.S. billions of dollars each year. URI researchers are working to better understand the problem in Rhode Island, and every report helps build a clearer picture of where collisions happen — and where safer wildlife crossings could have the greatest impact.

Community reports are cross-checked against standardized field surveys and camera-trap research examining how animals use culverts.

Save this QR code to use in the future!

🔗 Read more: https://connectivityandconservation.com/rhode-kill

URI Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology Ying Zhang is co-leading the EcoCARE project, a $4 million National Science ...
09/02/2026

URI Professor of Cell and Molecular Biology Ying Zhang is co-leading the EcoCARE project, a $4 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant advancing coastal wetland management and restoration in Rhode Island and Louisiana, in collaboration with Louisiana State University.

The project brings together scientists, economists, policymakers, and community partners to develop new approaches using AI, molecular biomonitoring, coastal modeling, and economics to better understand and strengthen the resilience of coastal wetlands.

For Rhode Island, where approximately 90% of residents live within a 20-minute drive of the shoreline, the research has important implications for flood protection, habitat conservation, recreation, and community resilience.

🔗 Read more: https://www.uri.edu/news/2026/09/bay-to-bayou-uri-biologist-to-lead-4-million-nsf-grant-to-advance-wetland-restoration-in-rhode-island-and-louisiana/

📸 Left to right: Kris Lewis, Erin Peck, Kenneth Raposa, Jaclyn Witterschein, Zhang, Hui Zhou, Emi Uchida, and Julia Wyman. (Not shown, Michael Pürrer)

Not all birds play the same role in a bird flu outbreak.Some may dilute transmission. Some receive the virus. Others may...
09/02/2026

Not all birds play the same role in a bird flu outbreak.

Some may dilute transmission. Some receive the virus. Others may spread, shed, or move it across long distances. URI wildlife disease ecologist Dr. Johanna Harvey helped map out who's who.

Published in Wildlife Monographs, the study found something else striking: virus spikes tend to coincide with the arrival of young birds — still building their immune systems — into the population each year. And wild birds appear to be infecting domestic poultry far more often than the reverse.

Home bird feeders aren't a major risk. It's dense feeding sites that draw in large flocks, like geese, where transmission can take off.

Dr. Harvey calls bird flu “a quiet virus with loud consequences," and her work is helping researchers, wildlife managers, and public health officials better understand how it spreads, who is most vulnerable, and where intervention could make the biggest difference.

🔗 Read more: https://wildlife.org/wm-uncovering-bird-flu-superspreaders-and-vulnerable-species/

Image credit: Harvey et al. 2026

When coral reefs lose their structure, what happens to the fish that call them home?This summer, marine biology major So...
09/01/2026

When coral reefs lose their structure, what happens to the fish that call them home?

This summer, marine biology major Sofia Grabiel Butler traveled to Guana Island in the British Virgin Islands to investigate how coral reef habitat loss may be affecting sand-canyon gobies.

As a CELS Summer Research Fellow working with Dr. Graham Forrester and Katie Nickles, Sofia replicated a long-term experiment first conducted in 2000 to investigate whether declining goby populations are linked to a lack of reef refuges—or whether the gobies have instead changed their behavior.

One of her biggest takeaways? Gobies have a surprising “musical chairs” approach to shelter when predators appear. Understanding how the availability of these refuges affects goby populations could offer insight into the impacts of changing reef habitats.

Sofia also surveyed reef communities and helped relocate more than 50 threatened and rare corals as part of a restoration effort. 🪸

🔗 Read more from her: https://web.uri.edu/cels/news/sofia-grabiel-butler-qa/

09/01/2026

LSU is co-leading a new $4 million National Science Foundation Focused EPSCoR Collaboration award that connects Louisiana’s deltaic wetlands with Rhode Island’s salt marshes to build tools for coastal planning that work in both—and, the team hopes, in coastal systems nationwide.

Link in comments.

LSU Center for Computation & Technology LSU College of the Coast & Environment University of Rhode Island Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority LSU Health New Orleans

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