Rhode Island Foundation awards $125,000 to fund URI projects

THE ENDEAVOR is the research vessel stationed at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography. The Rhode Island Foundation awarded $125,000 in grants to fund work on shoreline protection and the shellfish industry by the Coastal Resources Center at the Graduate School of Oceanography.  / COURTESY THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND
THE ENDEAVOR is the research vessel stationed at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography. The Rhode Island Foundation awarded $125,000 in grants to fund work on shoreline protection and the shellfish industry by the Coastal Resources Center at the Graduate School of Oceanography. / COURTESY THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND

SOUTH KINGSTOWN – The Rhode Island Foundation awarded $125,000 in grants to fund work on shoreline protection and the shellfish industry by the Coastal Resources Center at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography.

The funds will be administered by the University of Rhode Island Foundation.

“These projects focus on the smart, long-term management and protection of our coastline and our aquatic natural resources. Both initiatives are coordinated, multi-stakeholder approaches that position Rhode Island to prepare for a changing coastline and enhance shellfish resources for the benefit of the state’s economy, environment and quality of place,” Jenny Pereira, the Foundation’s grants program officer for the environmental sector, said in a statement.

A $75,000 grant will fund work on the Rhode Island Shoreline Change Special Area Management Plan, which will improve coastal resiliency to erosion and flooding caused by storms or sea level rise by collecting new data and developing effective policies.

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The remaining $50,000 will fund the second year of the R.I. Shellfish Management Plan, which will provide policy guidance regarding state management and protection measures for shellfish resources, such as bay quahogs and oysters, in state ocean waters.

The Foundation looked to several pools of funding in making the grants, including $25,000 from the donor-advised Spartina Fund.

“These gifts from the Rhode Island Foundation address the very things people think of when they hear the words Ocean State: the bounty of our waters and the integrity of our coastline,” URI Foundation President Michael J. Smith said.

The shoreline change special area management plan is a collaborative effort between the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council, the Coastal Resource Center, R.I. Sea Grant, R.I. Geological Survey, the URI Graduate School of Oceanography and the URI College of the Environment and Life Sciences. Other funders include the R.I. Bays, Rivers and Watersheds Coordination Team and the URI Coastal Institute.

The shellfish management plan is a partnership between the Coastal Management Institute at the CRC, the R.I. Sea Grant, state Department of Environmental Management and the CRMC. Other funders include the van Beuren Charitable Foundation, the Sharpe Family Foundation and the Prospect Hill Foundation.

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