Undergraduate Research
Puerto Rico and the Blue Economy: Towards an Energy Independent Island
After Hurricane Maria, parts of Puerto Rico had no power for over a year. Can clean energy help?
Author: Kristin Huizenga
I am a PhD student studying Biological Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography. My interests are in food webs, ecology, and the interaction of humans and the ocean, whether that is in the form of fishing, pollution, climate change, or simply how we view the ocean. I am currently researching the decline of cancer crabs and lobsters in the Narragansett Bay.
Climate Change
It’s getting hot in here: IPCC and the ocean
With unequivocal evidence that humans are warming the planet, what does the future hold for the ocean and for us?
Book Review
Reading “All We Can Save” against the backdrop of climate crisis
With near daily reminders that the impacts of climate change are already here but with few concrete steps being taken,…
Biodiversity
To Combat World Hunger, Protect Biodiversity
Variety is the spice of life – or if you are an ecologist you might say “biodiversity” is the spice…
Pollution
Sea lions and seals and PFAS, oh my: Location still matters for Australian pups
I recently found myself falling down a chemical pollutant rabbit hole. Every news source seemed to be shouting “PFAS chemicals…
Plastic Pollution
Let them eat plastic – Animals eating microplastic could choke the ocean
Plastic pollution may bring to mind big images - dead birds, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and beaches filled with…
Parasitism
Getting warmer – How will climate change shape disease?
Is a warmer world really a sicker world? When it comes to the ocean, it's not always that clear. However,…
Coastal Management
Of rain and reefs: Future downpours in French Polynesia could change the coast
In many ways, coral reefs are the Goldilocks of the ocean. But as climate change shifts conditions near many of…
Conservation
Two by two includes corals too? Researchers call for a coral “Noah’s Ark”
In the Bible, the story of Noah’s Ark describes a storm so intense and so long that the earth is…
Fisheries
It’s a match! Cod do best when paired with copepods
What makes or breaks the young life of a cod? Maybe it's food. Researchers investigated the overlap between young cod…
Cyclones
Crushed it: Sea turtles can help us understand hurricanes in the mid-Atlantic
Predicting what hurricanes will do is a matter of life and death, but when Hurricane Irene headed north in 2011,…
Ecology
Consider the marsh crab: Climate change shifts which species are key
Munching, nibbling and burrowing their way through life, the humble marsh crab can now add “keystone species” to its ecological…
Coastal Management
Fig leaf or laurel wreath – When does “green” development help or hurt the ocean?
Making new coastal development more environmentally friendly seems like a win-win, but how much is helpful and how much is…
Behavior
A game of shark and ray: Rays act differently when sharks are around
As our oceans change, we don’t really know what the current decline of sharks means for stingrays, or for the…
Climate Change
The Blob: A movie monster of the sea
The Blob, the Pacific marine heatwave from 2016, sounds more like a movie monster than a natural phenomenon. Still the…
Biology
Follow the breadcrumbs: Sponges show how some animals clean up viruses
These days, hunkered down in our homes (if we are lucky) and washing our hands till they’re raw, it can…
Climate Change
Catch prey while the sun shines – Herring grow bigger when they can see their food
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a sea creature in possession of a home in higher latitudes (further from…
Coastal Management
Protections with a bite: Are toothed whales sheltered by South African Marine Protected Areas?
Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are often put into place to protect biodiversity and essential fish stocks, but toothed whales are…
Methodology
Want to know about water? Ask some sea creatures
There are animals that are constantly traversing places we have barely begun to understand. Animals can’t directly tell us what…
Methodology
Sea-sick – Examining ocean diseases through literature
From coral bleaching to sea star wasting disease, stories of an unhealthy ocean have been all over the news. But…
