CELS News Article
Winter, 2007
2006 Coastal Fellows Celebration and Honors
By: Rudi Hempe, CELS News Editor and Reporter
---------------------------------------------------------Forty-four Coastal Fellows were honored Dec. 12 for completion of their research
projects that began last spring and involved countless hours of study,
collaboration with faculty and staff members and ended with a heartfelt pat on the
back from URI administrators.
For the first time, four of the students were presented with scholarships for the
posters they created summing up their project findings.
“This is my favorite day of the whole year,” said President Robert L. Carothers
who called the Coastal Fellows Program the “embodiment of the culture for
learning collaborative partnerships. I have myself a great sense of pride in what
you are doing,” he told the students and their mentors.
M. Beverly Swan, Provost, noted the concept behind Coastal Fellows—having
undergrad students collaborate with faculty and staff on research projects—was
the vision of Carothers. When Carothers proposed the concept of student/faculty
research collaboration, “some thought his vision was more of a hallucination,”
quipped Swan, adding that few thought it would be impossible to get all parties
together.
Jeff Seemann, dean of the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, also
had praise for the program saying “This is where learning meets discovery.”
Tara Watson, coordinator of the program since last summer, credited Deborah
Grossman-Garber former director of CELS outreach, Barbara Nowicki and Rosie
Lalli who were involved in the start of this year’s program.
The Galanti Lounge at the URI library was jammed with visitors viewing the
colorful posters describing each of the projects. Faculty and staff members who
worked with the students on their projects were there as well as parents.
At the close of the ceremony, Dennis Nixon, CELS associate dean for academic
affairs, announced the scholarship winners.
Scholarship Winners
First prize, $500, went to Danielle Duquette, a marine biology major, whose
project was “Mechanics of Suction Generation During Feeding in Little Skates.”
Her mentors were Cheryl Wilga, Shannon Gerry, Jason Ramsay and Jocelyne
Dolce. Presenting all awards were URI President Robert Carothers and URI
Provost M. Beverly Swan.
Second prize, also $500, went to Amanda Meisner, a major in environmental
science and management, for her project on “Detecting Algae Density within
Ninigret Pond using a Quester Tangent Single Beam Acoustic Instrument.” Her
mentors were John King, Carol Thornber, Emily Shumchenia and Heather
Shannon.
Third prize, $425, was shared by Carolyn Schmiedel and Abigail Guy, who
collaborated on a project called “Matrix Metalloproteinase Production in C.
virginica and Cross-reactivity of Antibodies.” Their mentors were Marta GomezChiarri and Caitlin Vaughn.
2006 Coastal Fellows Projects
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Emily Blair, marine biology; “Mapping Subaqueous Soils in Rhode Island
Estuaries;” Mark Stolt and Maggie Payne.
Jennifer Blake, nutrition and dietetics; “Assessment of Produce Consumption
and Purchase Patterns of Farmers’ Market Patrons.” Nancy Fey-Yensan and
Linda Sebelia.
David Blanchard, environmental horticulture; “Growing Food for Rhode Island’s
Hungry: A Unique Partnership Between the College of the Environment and Life
Sciences and the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.” Brian Maynard and
Nancy Fey-Yensan.
Angie Bonin, biology; “BT Resistance in Silk Worms.” Marion Goldsmith.
Danielle Boudreau, coastal management and policy; “Narragansett Bay Scape:
The Importance of the Conimicut Quahoggers.” Robert Thompson.
Stephen Carpenter, coastal management and policy; “A Comparison of Mortality
Among Juvenile Quahogs Seeded into Two Coastal Salt Ponds in RI.” Boze
Hancock.
Lisa Conner, animal science; “Urgency and Uncertainty of Avian Influenza.”
Fred Launer.
David Conover, marine affairs; “Documenting and Describing Shoreline Access
in South County.” Robert Thompson.
Emily Field, marine biology; “Baseline Survey of Macroalgae in Greenwich Bay.”
Carol Thornber and Emily Jones.
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Sarah Flinn, nutrition and dietetics; “The Farm Fresh Table: Development and
Delivery of a Nutrition Education Program to Enhance Consumption of Fresh
Produce by Farmers’ Market Patrons.” Nancy Fey-Yensan and Linda Sebelia.
Jessica Gloor, biology; “Developing SSR Markers in Fine-leaved Fescues.”
Rebecca Brown.
Jeffrey Grant, aquaculture and fishery technology; “Preliminary Analysis of
Condition and Gonad Index of the Northern Quahog in Narragansett Bay.”
Michael Rice and Carolina Morroquin.
Corrie Haley, environmental economics and management; “The Price we Pay:
Ecotourism’s Contribution to Conservation in Monteverde, Costa Rica.” Alan
Masters
Michelle Hetu, environmental science and management; “Biological Control of
Purple Loosestrife (Lythum salicaria) Along the Pawcatuck River.” Denise Poyer.
Jennifer Hordern, animal science, “Urgency and Uncertainty of Avian Influenza.”
Fred Launer.
David Israel, wildlife conservation and biology; “East Harbor Benthic Invertebrate
Survey, Summer 2006.” Sheldon Pratt.
Justin Kandler, microbiology; “Effects of cpxR Mutation on Vibrio anguillarum, a
Bacterial Pathogen of Fish.” David R. Nelson and Maureen Varina.
Amanda Karch, marine biology; “Gill Slit Kinematics During Ventilation and
Feeding in Bamboo Sharks.” Cheryl Wilga
Marissa Kelly, geology; “Using Traces to Assess Hydologic Processes and
Nitrogen Cycling in a Rhode island Stream.” Kelly Addy, Alison Milliman and Art
Gold.
Lauren Killea, biology; “Benthic Survey of Mud Shrimp and Mantis Shrimp
Populations in the West End of Ninigret Pond.” John King, Carol Thornber and
Emily Shumchenia.
Nick Larghi, marine biology; “Monitoring Oyster Recruitment to North Cape
Oyster Restoration Sites in Rhode Island.”Boze Hancock.
Patrick Lyons, marine biology; “Study of Nuisance Drift Algae on Cape Cod
National Seashore.” Carol Thornber, John Portnoy and Evan Gwilliam.
Beth McArdle, biology and secondary education; “Determining the Best Method
of Storing Water Samples Over Time.” Linda Green, Elizabeth Herron and Tara
Watson.
Jenny McGovern, marine biology; “A Day in the Life of a Water Sample.” Linda
Green, Elizabeth Herron and Tara Watson.
Sean Moreschi, aquaculture and fishery technology; “Mapping Progression of
American Lobster (Homarus americanus) Shell disease Over Time in Semi-Field
Conditions.” Barbara Somers and Kathy Castro.
Sophia Narkiewicz, civil engineering, “Evaluation of Native Grasses for Highway
Slope Stabilization.” Rebecca Brown and Carl Sawyer.
Amie Parris, marine biology; “Potential Impacts of Future Reductions in the
Density of Phytoplankton Blooms on the Benthic Environment in Narragansett
Bay.” Scott Nixon, Betty Buckley and Steve Granger.
Sally Paul, environmental science and management; “The Ability of the Monarch
Butterfly Larvae (Danaus plexippus) to utilize Diet Containing the Invasive Plant
Black Swallow-Wort (Vincetoxicum nigrum). Richard Casagrande and Lisa
Tewksbury.
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Marissa Picca, wildlife conservation and biology; “Modeling Tick Encounter Risk:
Landscape Features and Small Rodent Abundance.” Thomas Mather, Nathan
Miller and Sarah Rodgers.
Kate Rego, animal science; “Investigating the Effects of Vitamin E
Supplementation on Immune Function in Mature Ewes.” Katherine Petersson and
Maureen Brindly.
Mike Riccio, “East Passage, Narragansett bay, 2006 Boat Density Study.”
Candace Oviatt, Chris Calabretta and Brooke Longval.
Sara Schroeder, coastal management and policy. “Understanding Human Uses
in Narragansett Bay.” Tracey Dalton.
Mike Slocum, aquaculture and fishery technology. “Partial Replacements of Fish
Meal in Diets of Summer Flounder (Paralichthys dentatus).” David Bengston.
Carl Smith, chemistry; “Identification of the Down-Stream Genes of rtx Operon, a
Hemolysin/Cytotoxin Operon of Vibrio anguillarum, Using inverse PCR.” David
Nelson.
Vanessa Venturini, environmental science and management. “Pawtuxet River
Restoration.” Thomas Ardito.
Jason Winiarski, biology.”Importance of Mercenaria mercenaria in the Filtration
of Phytoplankton in the Providence River.” Candace Oviatt.
Heather Wolfer, marine biology; “Seasonal Hypoxia in Narragansett Bay During
Summer, 2006.” Christopher Deacutis.
Amy Wynia, wildlife and conservation biology. “Vegetation Sampling and
Analysis of Ruffed Grouse Habitat in Western Rhode Island.” Scott McWilliams
and Erik Blomberg.
Andrew Yberg, environmental science and management. “Eastern Oyster Spat
Collection and Quahog Growth Rates in Potter’s Pond.” Perry Raso.
Michael Zompa, biology/chemistry; “Pax6 Gene Regulation Project.” Steve
Irvine and Vera Fonseca.