🌾🌊 #FieldworkFriday: What does a baseline presence of microplastics in Narragansett Bay look like? #URIGSO Ph.D. student MC Cicenia recently wrapped up the first field season of the SIMCoast (Socio-Ecological Impacts of Microplastics in Coastal Ecosystems) project. ➡️ buff.ly/FSIzlc0

From PFAS in New Jersey rivers to black carbon in Atlantic Ocean sediments to hydrothermal vents nearly 13,000 feet below the sea surface, #URIGSO alum Sam Katz, M.S. '21, Ph.D. '24, has followed his curiosity wherever it leads. ➡️ : buff.ly/8aWAm9G

🚢 On #DayOfTheSeafarer, we recognize the people whose skill, dedication, and hard work make ocean science possible! We're sharing *People of R/V Endeavor*, a series highlighting just a few of the captains, engineers, technicians, and crew members who spent years supporting research on our ship.

🌊 Today's front page of The Providence Journal takes a closer look at beach replenishment efforts in Rhode Island. It features #URIGSO alum Emily Hall, M.S. '23, now a coastal geologist with the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council. ➡️ Read the story here: buff.ly/JmeZmH5

#WhereInTheWorldIsGSO 📌 North of Fogo Island, Newfoundland, Canada 🧊 This spring, #URIGSO's Mingxi Zhou and members of his Smart Ocean Systems Lab were in the field mapping icebergs using the Robotic Iceberg Sentinel (RISE) system, a platform they developed right here on the Bay Campus!

🪴 Last night, #URIGSO alum & Alumni Relations and Communication Coordinator Veronica Berounsky, Ph.D. ’90, got a chance to meet URI's newest botanical celebrity: Morticia the corpse flower! She was visitor #3,420 when she stopped to catch the rare bloom and experience its infamous aroma for herself.

We love cheering for Rhody the Ram 🐏, but what if #URIGSO had its own ocean-themed mascot? 🌊 Meet the contenders: 🐙 Olli the Octopus 🦪 Quinn the Quahog 🦭 Grace the Gray Seal Who gets your vote? Or do you have a better mascot idea for GSO? 👀 #NationalMascotDay

Last week, #URIGSO hosted the "Air-Sea Interaction: A Symposium in Honor of Isaac Ginis and Tetsu Hara,” celebrating the careers and scientific contributions of two longtime faculty members ahead of their retirement. Congratulations to Isaac Ginis and Tetsu Hara on this well-deserved milestone! 🎉

🐟 The URI Coastal Institute has received $24 million from the U.S. Department of State to continue and expand its fisheries work in the Philippines, building on eight years of collaboration to strengthen fisheries management and coastal livelihoods in the region. ➡️ Read more: buff.ly/RVpchw2

Nathan Vinhateiro, Science Director of the URI Coastal Institute and a research professor at #URIGSO, spoke with @carlosrmunoz.bsky.social at the @bostonglobe.com about a new study investigating more than a century of coastal change on Block Island. 🔗 www.bostonglobe.com/2026/06/08/m...

🌊 We had a great time celebrating World Ocean Day at @rwpzoo.bsky.social on Sunday! Visitors joined us for hands-on ocean science activities, from slipping on a “blubber glove," testing their predictions with a sink-or-float challenge, to ocean science careers. Thanks to everyone who joined us!

🌊 Happy World Ocean Day! From crashing waves along our coast to the deepest parts of the sea. From microscopic plankton to vast ocean currents. From student fieldwork aboard small boats to discoveries made on research vessels around the globe. The ocean connects us all. 🌎 #WorldOceanDay

🌈 🌊 This Pride Month, we celebrate the vibrant contributions of the LGBTQ+ community in ocean science & beyond. Our strength comes from the diversity of our community, and we're committed to fostering a safe, welcoming environment where everyone can thrive, contribute, and belong. #ScienceForAll

#URIGSO researchers found that hurricanes can intensify winds over nearby ocean waters even while the storm’s center remains 60–120 miles offshore. As a hurricane approaches land, friction from the land surface slows winds onshore, creating an imbalance that can strengthen winds over the ocean.

As part of an ongoing National Park Service project focused on marsh migration, #URIGSO researchers established monitoring sites, deployed loggers/cameras, & measured elevations using RTK GPS and laser scanning technology at Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historical Park in Maryland.

For four weeks, #URIGSO researchers were aboard the R/V Thomas G. Thompson studying deep-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystems in the Lau Basin near Tonga as part of the #NSFfunded #SnailRising Survey. 🌊 🦑 🐌 🧪 @symbiosisrox.bsky.social

🎉 #URIGSO student Alyssa Tsukada was recently named a 2025 Asian Cultural Ambassador Award winner at URI’s fourth annual Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month luncheon. ➡️ Congratulations, Alyssa! Read more: buff.ly/r1Ax4LZ

Three generations of #URIGSO plankton trawl assistants were out on the water together this week during the Narragansett Bay Long-Term Plankton Time Series’ regular collection. Since 1957, weekly samples have been collected to monitor phytoplankton communities and changing conditions in the Bay.

Two new URI studies will help decode more than a century of coastal change on Block Island, delivering scientific guidance and planning tools directly to the community through more than $800,000 in combined Rhode Island Sea Grant funding and matching support. 🌊 ➡️ buff.ly/bMEssRE

To our graduating oceanographers: congratulations on this incredible achievement. 🌊🎓 As you take your next steps, know that the work you do matters: for our ocean and coasts, our communities, and the future of our planet. We can’t wait to see where the tides take you next. Congrats, Class of 2026!

🎉 🎓 Congratulations to all of the new #URIGSO graduates! Today, degree recipients attended the Annual GSO Shirting Ceremony, a time-honored tradition celebrating GSO’s new grads. On Sunday, degrees will be conferred during the joint commencement ceremony for #URIGSO and CELS students.

Please join us in Studio Blue for the opening reception of #URIGSO student Alyssa Tsukada's new exhibit, The Little Things: Exploring Nature's Mirrored Microscopic Morphologies. More info: buff.ly/38dzFbK

🐟 What can a tiny bone inside a fish’s head tell us about PFAS contamination and how these “forever chemicals” move through the food web? ⚠️ Viewer discretion advised: This video contains fish dissection for scientific research. 🌊 🧪 🦑

Cool postdoc opp at @urigso.bsky.social with @kristylewisphd.bsky.social 🌊

#FieldworkFriday 🌊 Can kelp farming help buffer the impacts of local ocean acidification? Fiona Teevan-Kamhawi, Ph.D. candidate at #URIGSO, and assistant professor Hongjie Wang explored that question using a 2-acre sugar kelp farm in Point Judith, Rhode Island, as a case study.

🎓️ Graduate spotlight: After years spent studying the physiology of phytoplankton at #URIGSO, Maggie Bernish is graduating with her Ph.D. in oceanography ✨ Working with #URIGSO Assistant Professor Keisuke Inomura, Maggie developed a model of global phytoplankton physiology.

🌊 The University of Rhode Island has been awarded a three-year, $954,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to help cultivate the next-generation workforce to support Rhode Island’s Blue Economy. ➡️ buff.ly/jRpBsRi

🌊 #URIGSO was well represented at the Spring Meeting of the New England Estuarine Research Society (NEERS) in Plattsburgh, N.Y.! ➡️ GSO students Philip Yang, Taylor Leitch, and Malachy McCaffrey received Alum Fund Awards to support their travel and presentations.

#URIGSO student Paola Román Morales is studying PFAS bioaccumulation in mangrove oysters. In Puerto Rico, she collected oysters and water samples, and deployed passive samplers, to better understand contaminant exposure in coastal ecosystems & communicate the findings to local communities. 🦪

Topographic Rossby wave lecture by the bay!

🌸 🌊 Ending the semester the best way we know how, with views of Narragansett Bay! Happy last day of classes, from #URIGSO 💙

🎓 #URIGSO’s Asta Habtemichael will be one of two student commencement speakers on May 17th! 🌊 Graduating with his doctorate, Asta was a member of GSO’s Lohmann Lab & a trainee in the STEEP Superfund Research Program, where he studied how persistent pollutants move through marine food webs.

🌊 Tomorrow is URI’s Day of Giving. From Rhode Island's coasts to the global ocean, #URIGSO students are making an impact. Stand with the URI community and champion research that makes a difference! Every gift counts: buff.ly/U2CcfWu

🌊 📍Scenes from Bay Days on the URI Narragansett Bay Campus It was a great few days bringing URI students, faculty, and staff together to experience research, community, and life on our vibrant coastal campus. Thanks to everyone who joined us!

After a short delay, our research team headed out for the spring transect cruise on the R/V Hugh R. Sharp. With room for only 14 scientists, no special guests on board like last spring, but we will get it all done! @whoi.edu @urigso.bsky.social @wellesley.edu @uslter.bsky.social Thank you #nsf !

Our recent paper on using thermal imagery from geostationary satellites to infer surface currents was published! We call the method GOFLOW 🧪🌊 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🌎 Our blue planet lives up to its name! The ocean covers more than 70% of Earth’s surface & holds about 97% of its water. With the ocean as our ally, we empower world-class educators, students, & scientists, and develop solutions to the world's most important challenges. #HappyEarthDay from #URIGSO!

🪸 Scientists are using innovative coral propagation techniques to restore deep-sea coral communities. Join URI's Inner Space Center LIVE from a restoration expedition to learn how experts monitor/restore corals on the seafloor & why long-term restoration is critical to rebuilding these habitats. 🌊

🌊 A team of researchers, including #URIGSO's @nickpizzooceans.bsky.social, has developed a new AI-powered way to study ocean currents. #GOFLOW uses thermal images from weather satellites already in orbit to map ocean surface currents in unprecedented detail, with no new hardware required. 🧪

🌊 🪢 URI honors students explored Narragansett Bay with #URIGSO! They developed skills in boat handling, knot tying, sensor deployment, navigation, & data analysis while gaining a deeper understanding of the ocean as a connected system of physics, ecosystems, nutrient cycles, and marine life.

☀️ 🪹 🌼 A sure sign of spring: our ospreys have returned to the University of Rhode Island Narragansett Bay Campus! Thanks to the Rhode Island Energy crew, who added a platform to a utility pole on campus this week, for keeping the birds safe and preventing any disruptions to electric service!

🌊 🚢 Ever wonder what kind of roles are needed for a successful restoration expedition? Join National Marine Sanctuary Foundation & #URIGSO's Inner Space Center live to hear from a variety of talented professionals as they describe their jobs at sea. This event is great for younger audiences, too!

Take a timeline cleanse to watch clam mating in action and the resulting clam babies. External fertilization is a hoot!

#URIGSO postdoc Teresa Schwemmer is testing how limestone-treated seawater affects quahog larvae during their first 48 hours. The work connects to a field study in Winnapaug Pond, comparing juvenile growth near vs. farther from a golf course that applied limestone. 🌊 🦑 🧪 @jaimepalter.bsky.social

#URIGSO alum Diana Fontaine, Ph.D. ’24, shares how her year as a Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellow allowed her to bring her ocean science background into the policy world, making a real-world impact in the office of Congresswoman @dorismatsui.bsky.social 🌊 🧪 🦑 Read more: buff.ly/9JzMW32

🌊 From the smallest organisms to top predators, ocean life depends on phytoplankton. But new research from #URIGSO's Keisuke Inomura & colleagues shows climate change could make them less nutritious, potentially reshaping marine food webs. ➡️ Read more from MIT: news.mit.edu/2026/climate...

🪸 Members of the Marine Ecology & Technology Lab are off the coast of Louisiana & Mississippi, deploying and recovering ALBEX seafloor landers to track long-term conditions near deep-sea corals. 🌊 🦑 🧪 This work supports Gulf restoration following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: buff.ly/5229YMN

Dozens of state leaders and hundreds of URI students, faculty, and staff celebrated the University’s success and impact during URI Day at the State House. Representing #URIGSO, J.P. Walsh’s COAST Lab shared locally relevant research on microplastics & long-term shoreline change. ➡️ buff.ly/YCjQyg2

Congrats to #URIGSO's Emmanuel Oyewole, who has received the Nature Conservancy-URI Student Research Award! His work examines whether artificial reef effects of offshore wind infrastructure boost local biological production or concentrate existing marine biomass from surrounding fishing grounds 🌊 🦑

📖 Looking for an obscure paper, resources to support your research, an old cruise report, or just a beautiful spot to study with views of Narragansett Bay? Six miles east of URI's Kingston campus sits the Pell Marine Science Library at the URI Bay Campus!