College of the Environment and Life Sciences

06/02/2026

From greenhouse work and independent research to exploring the science of herbal medicine, URI student Kaylyn Wood is turning her passion for plants into a meaningful career path.

A double major in plant sciences and psychology, Wood says hands-on learning has helped her build confidence, develop practical skills, and discover new ways plants can improve people's lives.

Through hands-on classes, greenhouse work, and research opportunities, Kaylyn Wood found a career path rooted in plants, wellness, and entrepreneurship. She's now double majoring in plant sciences and psychology with minors in entrepreneurship and cannabis studies.

06/01/2026

You belong at URI 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

This month and every month, we celebrate a community where everyone is welcome and valued.

06/01/2026

What role do Rhode Island’s historic stone walls play in supporting wildlife?

URI Environmental Science and Management graduate student Madalyn Stoltz is investigating how these iconic landscape features may contribute to biodiversity and ecosystem resilience across the state.

Stoltz is working alongside professors Kathleen Carroll and Shelby Rinehart on the Stone Wall Project. “The impacts of stone walls on wildlife communities has never been studied in the United States, making this a novel study,” she says.

Her research recently earned the Godzala Research Award from the Rhode Island Natural History Survey.

Read the full story: https://www.uri.edu/news/2026/05/the-hidden-ecological-role-of-rhode-islands-historic-stone-walls

KINGSTON, R.I. – May 29, 2026 – For Madalyn Stoltz, a master’s student in the University of Rhode Island’s environmental science and management program, Rhode Island’s historic stone walls are more than remnants of the past. Through camera trap research and ecological fieldwork, she is stu...

06/01/2026

From caring for older adults in Florida to mentoring future healthcare professionals at URI, Dr. Matthew Calestino ’94 has spent his career connecting science, compassion, and patient care.

Now, he’s giving back to the next generation through teaching and a family scholarship that honors a legacy spanning decades of healthcare education.

Read more:

Dr. Matthew Calestino ’94 credits his URI education with laying the foundation for a career in internal medicine. He now returns to URI to support future laboratory professionals and honor his family’s longstanding connection to healthcare education.

05/29/2026

Researchers from the University of Rhode Island and Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management wrapped a successful first field season for a collaborative wild turkey research project supported by the National Wild Turkey Federation Research Grant Program and Rhode Island NWTF State Chapter.

The team tagged 40 hens and 20 gobblers with transmitters and exceeded disease sampling goals while studying how disease may impact turkey reproduction and habitat use across Rhode Island’s urban-to-rural landscape.

The effort also helped support restoration work in East Texas through the relocation of 28 Eastern wild turkeys.

Read the full story:

With funding provided by the NWTF’s national Research Grant Program, RIDEM, and grassroots support from the Rhode Island NWTF State Chapter, RIDEM and the University of Rhode Island began their first field season of trapping for a collaborative research project in January and were able to hit thei...

05/28/2026

URI’s annual AAPI Heritage Month luncheon celebrated community, culture, and student leadership. Among this year’s Asian Cultural Ambassador Award recipients was Kalsoom Fatima, a landscape architecture major and president of the South Asian Student Association (SASA).

“Collaboration across different cultural backgrounds allows individuals to learn from one another, challenge assumptions, and build mutual respect,” she says.

Read more:

KINGSTON, R.I. – May 27, 2026 – The University of Rhode Island’s fourth annual Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month luncheon celebrated diverse communities found at URI and their partnerships. The annual program brings speakers to URI each spring to talk about their own education...

05/28/2026

Dr. Johanna Harvey, assistant professor of wildlife disease wildlife ecology in URI's Department of Natural Resources Science, is helping reshape how we understand avian flu in wild birds.

Her new Wildlife Monographs paper, among the first by a URI faculty member published in the flagship wildlife science journal, examines how highly pathogenic avian influenza is spreading across migratory bird populations and what it means for wildlife conservation and public health.

Read more:

KINGSTON, R.I. – May 27, 2026 – Johanna Harvey, an assistant professor of wildlife disease wildlife ecology at the University of Rhode Island, has described bird flu in public presentations as a quiet virus with loud consequences. Now she’s published a new paper in Wildlife Monographs, describ...

05/28/2026

Hey new CELS students, your advisors can't wait to meet you at Orientation!

05/28/2026

“Inclusivity takes intention.”

From plant sciences to public history, URI student Sharday Johnson is building bridges across disciplines and communities.

The 2026 Inclusive Excellence Award winner advocates for first-generation students on campus through Rhody F1rst, connects STEM and the humanities through research and community history projects, and helps document overlooked stories from Rhode Island’s Revolutionary War history.

Read more:

A recipient of the 2026 Undergraduate Student Inclusive Excellence Award, Sharday Johnson advances first-generation student support, interdisciplinary learning, and campus-wide inclusion through advocacy and historical preservation.

05/27/2026

What if farms could stay green through drought, store more carbon, and boost biodiversity?

That’s what researchers, farmers, and community partners are exploring through silvopasture at URI’s Peckham Farm in partnership with the Tomaquag Museum.

The panel conversation at today's Rhode to Regenerative conference highlighted how the Silvopasture Project is bringing together Indigenous knowledge, ecological restoration, regenerative agriculture, and community partnerships to build healthier soils, stronger biodiversity, and hands-on learning opportunities for future generations.

By combining trees, grazing pasture, and livestock within the same landscape, the project is restoring a degraded former sod field, protecting local waterways, increasing climate resilience, and creating a living classroom rooted in traditional ecological knowledge and land stewardship.

Pictured left to right: Don Ruggieri, URI Ph.D. candidate in Natural Resources Science; Samantha Cullen-Fry, Indigenous Empowerment Center Manager at the Tomaquag Museum; and Laura Meyerson, URI Professor of Natural Resources Science.