URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Winter_2015_Melissa-McCarthy

"We are leading the charge to understand what is happening to our resources, which will aid us in developing a response to preserve and protect them for generations to come." -Carol Thornber

Infrastructure and Research RI NSF EPSCoR has invested in state-of-the-art instrumentation shared by the state’s EPSCoR community to boost research capacity as scientists seek answers to how climate variability and environmental change affect marine life and habitats. “We enhance research infrastructure through investments in facilities and cyber-infrastructure, as well as with research equipment and supplies for all partner institutions,” Thornber notes, referring to the three core facilities that serve RI NSF EPSCoR researchers. The Marine Science Research Facility at URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography provides flow-through seawater with temperature-controls and space to house marine life. Environmental chambers give precision control for cold-water work on polar species. The Rhode Island Genomics and Sequencing Center (RIGSC) at URI’s College of the Environment and Life Sciences works in tandem with Brown University’s Proteomics Shared Resource Facility to provide the latest specialized instrumentation to the EPSCoR community. The RIGSC offers services in robotic sample preparation, DNA library preparation, DNA sequencing (Sanger and Next Generation), fragment analysis, quantitative PCR and the identification of microbial species and phenotypes. Services available at the Proteomics Center include proteomic analysis such as protein gel electrophoresis, peptide fractionation, and in-gel digestion. Scientists and students across the state use the center to study proteins. Although not an EPSCoR facility, the Center for Computation and Visualization (CCV) at Brown University is accessible to all participants and allows construction of genomes from the sequencing data. The cyber-infrastructure linking

Under the current grant, RI NSF EPSCoR focuses on three key areas of advancement: research and development infrastructure capacity, science education and outreach, and economic development. The question “What is the response of marine life to climate variability?” drives the mission, with teams of scientists across the state studying three specific questions about adaptation, food webs, and pathogens: • What are the stress responses and evolutionary potentials of marine organisms in response to climate change? • How are the structure and function of coastal marine food webs and biogeochemical cycling being directed in response to climate change? • How will global climate change affect the ecology of marine pathogens and parasites? The pursuit of answers is compelling on multiple fronts and extends far beyond the state’s borders. Rhode Islanders work in jobs and own businesses tied to the ocean, from fishing to tourism, restaurants and retail. Consider how warmer water temperatures affect the pathogens that cause disease in their marine organism hosts. More diseased fish means staggering economic losses because there will be fewer fish to catch, which shuts down businesses, cuts jobs, and harms quality of life. Less fish to eat also affects dietary health. Think, too, about how Rhode Island’s 400 miles of coastline make tourism the second largest industry, supporting 45,000 direct and indirect jobs and producing $5.8 billion annually in tourism-related sales, according to data from CommerceRI. Rising sea levels and any imbalance in the coastal ecosystem pose significant environmental threats with enormous economic consequences.

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