URI Graduate School of Oceanography

10/09/2026

Research Professor Melissa Omand is using artificial intelligence to uncover the chemical makeup of “marine snow,” tiny particles that drift through the ocean.

The team is collecting images and physical samples across four regions: coastal Ghana, the equatorial Atlantic, the New England shelf, and the California Current. In collaboration with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and the University of Ghana, the team collected samples from two of these sites last summer.

By pairing marine snow images with data on geochemical properties, microplastic content, and collection locations, the researchers aim to train AI models to identify what these particles contain and help scientists understand how the models reach their conclusions.

➡️ https://buff.ly/LhO2s1e

📸 University of Ghana research team recovering a camera-equipped sediment trap array in summer 2026; Researchers from the University of Ghana pull samples from the ocean for geochemical properties to be examined in the lab. (Photos courtesy Colleen Durkin, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute)

10/09/2026

"Reed, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee and a member of the Appropriations Committee, has pointed to the station’s proximity to the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography as part of the case for the move." 💪 🌊

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Marine Operations Center–Atlantic is scheduled to be fully operational at Naval Station Newport by the end of January 2027, completing a move from Norfolk, Virginia, that U.S. Sen. Jack Reed spent more than a decade working to secure. Reed, D...

10/08/2026

Please join us in congratulating Dr. Elin Torell on her new role as Interim Director of GSO Research!

Dr. Torell has been part of the URI community since 2002. Since becoming director of the Coastal Institute in 2022, she has guided interdisciplinary research development, partnership growth, and long-term program planning across URI’s coastal and marine enterprise. She also serves as principal investigator of the NSF-funded Rhode Island Network for Excellence in Science and Technology (RI-NEST) initiative to strengthen research infrastructure and capacity in R.I.

🎉 Congratulations, Dr. Torell!

10/07/2026

Introducing the R/V Warfish! 🌊

A traditional 45-foot Downeast-style lobster boat built by Provincial Boats, Warfish is equipped for coastal oceanography and supports research throughout Narragansett Bay and the Sounds. The vessel allows University of Rhode Island to bring researchers and students onto the water for hands-on marine science and serves as a floating classroom.

Today, Warfish hosted a demonstration of AUV acoustic navigation and tracking off Jamestown, sponsored by NOAA OECI.

10/05/2026

🍎🌊 At , we love teachers!

Teachers are some of our most important partners in bringing ocean science to K-12 students. They bring their classes to the URI Bay Campus for field trips; build miniboats with us & Educational Passages; welcome us into their schools for interpretive programs; collaborate with our faculty on broader impacts; and bring what they learn with us back to their classrooms!

Many Rhode Island K-12 teachers have even gone to sea with us aboard the through our RI Teachers at Sea program, getting firsthand experience with shipboard research.

From the classroom to the coast to the open ocean, thank you to the teachers who work with us to help the next generation understand and explore our ocean. 💙

➡️ Looking for K-12 ocean science resources? Explore our Ocean Classroom Investigations, featuring lesson plans and videos for educators: https://buff.ly/idS6usK@

10/05/2026

❄️ What can AI tell us about the ocean’s “snowfall”?

Research Professor Melissa Omand is leading a new project that uses artificial intelligence to analyze images of marine snow — tiny sinking particles that transport carbon, nutrients, and other material from the ocean’s surface to the deep sea.

University of Rhode Island's Omand & University of Maine collaborators will teach AI to predict what marine snow particles are made of based on characteristics visible in underwater images, such as size, shape, and appearance. To do that, researchers will build a database that pairs images with physical samples and information on their chemical and geochemical properties, including microplastic content.

If successful, the approach could automate some of the labor-intensive work of classifying marine snow, allowing scientists to get more information from the thousands of images collected by underwater cameras.

The three-year project is funded by nearly $700,000 from the National Science Foundation. Read more: https://buff.ly/LhO2s1e

📸 Marine snow particles detected by a flux camera on a MINION float during summer 2026. (Photo courtesy of Melissa Omand)

10/02/2026

🦪 What does it take to get that oyster on your plate?

Specialized gear, hard work, and a whole lot of science.

A new story from Ecori News takes a closer look at Rhode Island’s oyster farming industry, including the gear farmers use, the challenges they face, and the push-and-pull between aquaculture and other uses of the coast.

The story features insight from two -connected experts:

🔬 alum Jacqueline Rosa, M.S. '26, who studied how water quality and farming practices affect oysters in the lower West Passage of Narragansett Bay for her master’s thesis. Her research found that young oysters raised in floating gear survived at roughly three times the rate of those grown in bottom cages, and that the less labor-intensive FlipFarm system produced oysters just as healthy as traditional surface cages.

🌊 Rob Hudson, a marine associate and aquaculture specialist with Rhode Island Sea Grant, discusses the challenges of balancing aquaculture with other coastal uses and the importance of communication between farmers and waterfront communities.

Read the full story: https://buff.ly/nVOgqXc

📸 Bonnie Phillips, ecoRI News

10/01/2026

Meet the University of Rhode Island's Deep Autonomous Profiler (DAP), a lander and water-column profiler that collects measurements and samples from the deep ocean. The DAP can measure temperature, salinity, oxygen, and density; capture video; record sound; and collect water samples throughout the water column or while resting on the seafloor.

researchers and their collaborators aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson are using these measurements to investigate how water moves through the Kermadec Trench, northeast of New Zealand, and how oxygenated water is renewed in one of the deepest, under-explored environments on Earth.

During this cruise, the DAP has been deployed to depths of nearly 7,900 meters! 🌊

📸 Photo from Professor David Smith

09/30/2026

This week, was happy to host URI research administrators on the Narragansett Bay Campus. These professionals support faculty research in myriad ways, so it was great to show them firsthand how their crucial work makes ocean research, exploration, and discovery possible. (Plus, they got to meet ROV Lil' Rhody, bottom right corner.)

09/28/2026

🎣 From Fish Trawl Assistant to the leadership of NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center Narragansett Laboratory: Meet alum Anna Mercer ’15, Ph.D., whose career has been built on collaboration and communication.

As a GSO graduate student, Mercer spent two years as the weekly Fish Trawl Assistant, learning how to deploy and retrieve fishing gear aboard the Cap’n Bert. Today, Mercer serves as chief of NOAA’s Cooperative Research Branch and director of the Narragansett Laboratory, where she leads research that brings scientists and the fishing community together to collect and apply data that informs fisheries management.

“I spent a lot of time listening earlier in my career, and now whether it’s on the phone or at the dock or in the wheelhouse, it’s still important to just listen and learn," Mercer says. "Learning how to make connections and build the trust required to make a difference, ultimately, that’s the foundation of cooperative research."

🌊 Read Anna’s story and learn how her time at GSO helped shape a career connecting science, fishermen, and the people who depend on ocean resources: https://buff.ly/dI2RGEb