NARRAGANSETT – A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration-backed research effort will continue to operate out of the University of Rhode Island for at least the next five years, the university announced late last month.
The NOAA Ocean Exploration Cooperative Institute, headquartered at URI’s Bay Campus in Narragansett, also includes the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, University of New Hampshire, University of Southern Mississippi and Ocean Exploration Trust. Together, these organizations develop and use new technologies to enhance understanding of the seafloor.
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In 2019, NOAA selected URI as the institute’s headquarters, overseen by the university’s Graduate School of Oceanography.
“The renewal of the OECI is a great reflection of the tremendous experience, creativity and productivity of each of the affiliated institutions,” URI professor and OECI Executive Director Adam Soule said in a statement, “but even more, it speaks to the tremendous benefit of having all of these institutions working cooperatively to help NOAA achieve its mission.”
Five years after the initial NOAA selection, URI says, the institute has mapped more than 190,000 square miles of seafloor, collected almost 3,000 hours of seafloor video footage and carried out more than 200 uncrewed systems deployments.
These efforts support NOAA’s “mission to expand our knowledge of the unknown ocean, making amazing new discoveries along the way,” NOAA Ocean Exploration Director Jeremy Weirich said in a statement. “Additionally, OECI contributions support a range of NOAA and other federal priorities, including restoration of the Gulf of Mexico’s mesophotic deep benthic communities, offshore wind leasing, and conservation within U.S. marine national monuments and sanctuaries.”
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
