The world’s oceans and coastal areas are major food sources, transportation routes, economic hubs and tourist attractions. They are also important ecosystems, brimming with life that can be harmed and even destroyed by human activity.
It’s a delicate balancing act, managing coastal and ocean resources. It requires a knowledge of science, but also of economics, cultural values, and the intricacies of public policy. For 35 years, students and professionals seeking that complex set of skills have enrolled in the University of Rhode Island’s marine affairs program.
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URI was the first in the nation to take this approach, a departure from the specialized approach to marine affairs that was the norm for generations. In 1969, however, a government commission had issued a report saying the United States needed to manage its marine resources in a more organized, comprehensive way, and recommended several reforms, including creation of what is now the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
URI had contributed two members to that commission: John Knauss, then dean of the Graduate School of Oceanography, and professor Lewis Alexander, then chairman of the URI Department of Geography. Aiming to educate professionals to take this new approach, they created an academic program that combined science with a range of disciplines.
A student seeking a master’s degree, for example, will take courses on ocean uses and marine science, the economics of marine resources, international ocean law, and electives such as community planning, geology, fisheries technology, oceanography and political science.
Students also do research and outreach projects spanning everything from fishing quotas in Alaska, to offshore wind parks in Denmark, to tourism in the Bahamas, to alternative development plans for Quonset Point.
“Management of the oceans is increasingly important and receiving greater attention worldwide,” said Lawrence Juda, a marine affairs professor and department chair. “We’ve got the science, but how do we apply it? How do we govern human use of the coastal/ocean environment in a manner that will foster the sustainability of natural systems? These are vital questions that our program addresses.”
“We established the model for interdisciplinary work in the field of marine policy,” said Richard Burroughs, a marine affairs professor for two decades.
The program’s first students were mostly naval officers learning about the law of the sea. But over time, new laws and an increasingly sophisticated – and environmentally conscious – approach to marine resource management in the United States and worldwide have increased the demand for people with this broad range of skills.
More than 2,000 students from the United States and 35 other countries have graduated from URI’s marine affairs programs, which range from an undergraduate major in the College of Life and Environmental Sciences, to two master’s degree programs (a nine-month intensive program for professionals, and a two-year more extensive program), a joint master’s and law degree program with Roger Williams University, and since 1998, a doctoral program.
Alumni are scattered around the world, often in top policy-making positions. In the United States, program graduates include several top administrators at NOAA, numerous staff members in the National Marine Fisheries Service, and many U.S. Coast Guard officers. And program faculty conduct research, advise policy-makers and present their work from New England, to Alaska, to the Philippines.
“We have people we can call in almost every government agency that we know through their work with us as a student or seeing them professionally in various roles,” Burroughs said. “That allows us to stay very close to contemporary public-policy issues.”
The diversity of the student body itself also creates a rich learning environment, said Kristen E. Mallek, a Connecticut native and second-year master’s student. She grew up near the coast, has worked at aquariums, and is now doing research on how aquariums can increase public awareness of a variety of marine issues, from sustainable fisheries, to coastal development. In her classes, she’s heard about other students’ experience in the shipping business, on the Coast Guard, on research vessels, and in different countries.
“It’s fantastic,” she said. “Not only are they from all over, but a lot of people have totally different experiences.”
Paul Philippe Razafinjatovo, who completed his master’s degree in December, is a Fulbright Scholar who serves in the Madagascar Coast Guard.
“My country is facing many important marine issues – fisheries depletion, maritime transportation, port development, environmental problems,” he told a URI public-affairs officer. “The URI program has prepared me for jobs doing almost anything related to the sea. I might return to the Coast Guard, but I could also be assigned to be a policy-maker in the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Transportation, or the Ministry of Fisheries.”
International graduates of the program have gone on to manage marina development in Egypt, advise the national shipping office in Liberia, serve as a United Nations consultant in East Timor, write coastal management legislation in Indonesia, and manage environmental programs for the U.S. Agency for International Development in Vietnam, among other things.
“Our department has had a significant impact on marine policy, and it’s a long-term, cumulative impact from sending many professionals out into the world,” said Juda.
Asked what kinds of challenges today’s graduates face, Burroughs said the “next frontier” is to develop good ways to bring everyone into the discussion of marine affairs – so all the stakeholders’ voices are heard – and then offer real, workable solutions that recognize the competing interests, even if not everyone comes out happy.
Without people who understand where each side is coming from, and who try to serve as a bridge, disagreements about marine resources can devolve into ugly fights and lawsuits, Burroughs said. “I don’t think that’s a good way to make public policy decisions,” he said. “You want a broad sector of the public involved, not just lawyers and judges.”
