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Momentum Research & Innovation

DIVISION OF RESEARCH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

HOW ACADEMIC RESEARCH LEADS TO WORLDWIDE SUCCESS.

Message from the Interim Vice President for Research and Economic Development

It is truly my delight to highlight the exceptional research and scholarship at the University of Rhode Island and welcome readers to this issue of Momentum: Research & Innovation . This issue is the first I’ve stewarded as URI’s interim vice president for research and economic development for almost a year. It’s been terrific to get to know the amazing people doing research at URI and learn the breadth and depth of their impact. It is such a joy for our whole URI community to celebrate the success of Aria Mia Loberti ’20. I had the honor of sitting next to Aria and her beautifully trained guide dog Ingrid during the 2018 URI commencement ceremony where, as a sophomore, she was being recognized for receiving the Research and Scholarship Excellence Award, she is still the youngest person to earn this award. It was a sweltering day and she and her companion were the epitome of kindness and grace. Aria’s trajectory from URI to Hollywood stardom has been thrilling to follow and Aria’s advocacy for human rights is an inspiration to all and speaks to our core values at URI. I am also humbled and honored to celebrate major achievements of our outstanding URI faculty. Professors Steven D’Hondt of Oceanography and Sunshine Menezes of Environmental Communication were inducted as American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) fellows. This is one of the highest honors academic scientists can obtain and they are recognized as being some of our country’s most distinguished leaders. Katheryn Ramsey, assistant professor of cell and molecular biology is supported by a prestigious National Institutes of Health, Maximizing Investigators’ Research grant for her work in bacterial disease. I can’t emphasize enough the honor these faculty bring to URI. This issue of Momentum also captures the growing research at URI aimed at solving our global problem of plastic pollution on our land, in our seas, and as we are increasingly aware, in our

bodies. Last spring, URI convened a group of global leaders for an inaugural Plastics Forum that included scientific experts from a variety of backgrounds and policy leaders. I recognize Professor Vinka Craver, associate dean of research in the College of Engineering and professor of civil and environmental engineering who leads the URI Plastics Land to Sea Initiative and Kathleen Shannon in the Division of Research and Economic Development who were tireless in creating and convening this enriching forum. URI faculty are also working to be part of the solution to the plastics problem. Associate Professor Melissa Omand is creating biodegradable ocean instruments with a prestigious Convergence Accelerator funded by the National Science Foundation. This issue highlights ways URI researchers push boundaries to improve human lives. Nicole O’Malley, assistant professor of music therapy is investigating the neurobiological impacts of music, Amina Kothari, director of the Harrington School of Communication and Media and professor of journalism is examining the impacts of technology on how we communicate, and Professor Drew Zhang, Alfred J. Verrecchia endowed chair in artificial intelligence and business analytics, is applying artificial intelligence to financial and health care settings. We celebrate the innovative spirit of our students and faculty, and we highlight URI’s partnership with our URI Research Foundation (URIRF). Peter Rumsey, URIRF’s chief business development officer, is leading a Resilient Innovative Sustainable Economies via University Partnerships (RISE-UP) program that is supporting students and faculty with financial support from the Navy to catalyze innovation and incubate startup companies. There is such a breadth of energy and excellence at URI, I am humbled daily and grateful for the opportunity to steward our research ecosystem.

Bethany D. Jenkins, Ph.D. Interim Vice President URI Division of Research and Economic Development Professor, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and Graduate School of Oceanography

“This issue highlights ways URI researchers push boundaries to improve human lives.” - Bethany D. Jenkins, Ph.D.

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Inside this issue: Aria Mia Loberti notes how much her academic background has helped her successful launch into her acting career. written by Molly Stevens ’20 10 Two URI Professors Honored as AAAS Fellows 6 Finding the Light

THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND Marc B. Parlange, Ph.D. President, URI Bethany D. Jenkins, Ph.D. Interim Vice President URI Division of Research and Economic Development

34 Why Pathogenic Bacteria Cause Disease As an assistant professor of cell and molecular biology, Kathryn Ramsey studies why pathogenic bacteria cause disease. written by Allison Farrelly ’16 40 The Impacts of Technology on Communication Technology is rapidly changing the world we live in—especially the way we communicate and connect. written by Allison Farrelly ’16

Professor, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology and Graduate School of Oceanography Editorial Board Melissa McCarthy, M.A. ‘99, Editor-in-Chief Chris Barrett ‘08 Amy Dunkle Allison Farrelly ‘16 Shaun Kirby ’07 Molly Stevens ‘20 Contributing Writers

Michael Blanding Allison Farrelly ‘16 Shaun Kirby ‘07 Molly Stevens ‘20

The American Association for the Advancement of Science named Oceanography Professor Steven D’Hondt and Clinical Professor of Environmental Communication Sunshine Menezes to its fellowship. written by Molly Stevens ’20

Layout & Design: Krisanne Murray, DesignRoom.co Photography: Beau Jones ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

44 Artificial Intelligence

16 Tackling Plastics at URI

Professor Zhu (Drew) Zhang has dedicated more than 20 years of his life to the study and advancement of AI spanning from financial markets to health care.

URI hosted its inaugural Global Plastics Forum, bringing together more than 80 local, national, and international experts tackling the impact of plastics throughout the world. written by Shaun Kirby ’07

written by Molly Stevens ’20

48 Rhode Island Rising

20 Made to Degrade

A new multimillion-dollar Navy grant called the Resilient Innovative Sustainable Economies via University Partnerships (RISE-UP) is helping students create their own companies—and spur

URI’s Melissa Omand works with transdisciplinary team to develop plastic products that break down in the ocean. written by Shaun Kirby ’ 07 28 Beat of the Music (Therapy) Assistant Professor Nicole O’Malley uses music therapy to treat patients with physical, cognitive, communicative, and social/emotional challenges. Her lab will be the first in the region that focuses on the neurobiological impact of music. written by Shaun Kirby ’07

the state’s innovation economy. written by Michael Blanding

Momentum: Research & Innovation is published by the vice president for Research and Economic Development with editorial, graphic design, and production by the Office of University Research External Relations.

For more information contact: Melissa McCarthy, M.A. ‘99, Editor-in-Chief Director, University Research External Relations University of Rhode Island

75 Lower College Road Kingston, RI 02881 USA Telephone: 401.874.2599 E-mail: melissa@uri.edu Website: web.uri.edu/research

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Finding the Light from

“It honestly surprised me how much my

academic work helped me then

and helps me every single day, now, as a professional actress.”

Aria Mia Loberti ’20 is no stranger to hard work. As a University of Rhode Island (URI) Honors Program student with a triple major in philosophy, political science, and communication, and double minor in ancient Greek and rhetoric, she immersed herself in her studies, graduating summa cum laude . She then received a master’s degree in ancient rhetoric on a Fulbright Scholarship at Royal Holloway, University of London. In 2021, she began her Ph.D. at Pennsylvania State University—on track for a research career. Life, however, had another path in mind. During the first semester of her doctorate, Loberti landed her debut acting role as the lead in All The Light We Cannot See . The World War II drama follows a teenager in the French Resistance. It premiered on Netflix in November 2023. Her life of classrooms and ancient texts morphed into one of constant travel and screenplays. Loberti moved to Budapest, Hungary, to begin the six month process of filming the adaptation of Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. Produced and directed by Shawn Levy, the series also stars Mark Ruffalo and Hugh Laurie. “It honestly surprised me how much my academic work helped me then and helps me every single day, now, as a professional actress,” Loberti says. While at URI, Loberti published articles in peer reviewed journals and presented her work at conferences around the world.

academic research to worldwide success. written by MOLLY STEVENS ’20

- Aria Mia Loberti

Aria Mia Loberti ’20 acting in All The Light We Cannot See.

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“At its core,” Loberti tells us, “my research was about how words have power to shape our reality. And that is the power of storytelling. And of acting.” Loberti’s character, Marie-Laure, transmits coded illegal radio messages from occupied France to the Allies, facing the life-threatening danger of being discovered by the Nazis. One of her avid listeners is Werner (Louis Hofmann), a young German soldier who has been tasked, against his will, with tracking down Marie-Laure. To lay the foundation for Marie-Laure’s tragic, yet hopeful story, Loberti painted a picture of what life would have been like for her character. Her ability to dive in head first is something she attests to her rigorous academic training. “I would sit for hours and make spreadsheets that connected book passages to lines in the script,” Loberti says, “like I was preparing for a thesis.” She researched historical accounts of the Nazi occupation, listened to radio recordings from the period, dug up archival photographs, and studied the liberation of Marie-Laure’s town, Saint-Malo. With the help of a dialect coach, she perfected Marie-Laure’s period-accurate voice. As a first-time actress, it was also crucial for Loberti to spend time analyzing her characters’ psyche. “I did a lot of research into what makes us us—what develops our tendencies and personalities,” she describes. “I try to connect moments in a character’s life to sounds, songs, textures, fabric, scents, gestures, even tastes, that I can use to find their physicality and emotionality.” On set, this extensive preparation helped Loberti become Marie-Laure. Now that the series is out, her performance has garnered commercial and critical acclaim. The Hollywood Reporter labeled her debut “a radiant lead performance.” Loberti received the Toronto International Film Festival Rising Star Award, was an Entertainment Weekly Breaking Big Honoree, and is a nominee for Best

Her rhetoric research proves invaluable as she navigates, not only a new career, but important milestones for inclusion in media.

just an acting role. Her rhetoric research proves invaluable as she navigates, not only a new career, but also important milestones for inclusion in media. Marie-Laure is the first character who is blind, particularly a lead, to be authentically portrayed in a project of this caliber. “We are creating a language, essentially, about authentic representation in storytelling,” she says, “and about blindness and low vision that doesn’t yet exist in public consciousness.” Loberti, who has low vision, has spent her life flipping people’s assumptions on their heads. She’s advocated for human rights since she was four years old, presenting at forums ranging from the Rhode Island State House to the United Nations. Leading the Golden Globe nominated All The Light We Cannot See is her latest method of smashing the glass ceiling. By hiring an unknown actor to play Marie-Laure, Levy and Netflix made history. “Our series,” says Loberti, “challenges stigmas and stereotypes that have, unfortunately, been enforced across a hundred years of filmmaking.”

She encourages audience members who may have never been exposed to blind and low vision culture to experience it as just that—a culture. “No two members of the blind community experience vision the same,” says Loberti. “That’s why authentic casting matters. Blindness is a spectrum that deserves to be celebrated, not questioned or pitied.” Loberti is open about not feeling represented in media—whether it be books or films—and recognizes that others from historically marginalized groups feel the same. Serendipitously, she took several classes at URI about this very subject. She credits her professors for preparing her to tackle these big questions. “I am the representation I never had as a child,” Loberti says. “I am determined to change the narrative.” All The Light We Cannot See is available now on Netflix. Loberti’s next project, The Spiderwick Chronicles , will premiere in 2024.

ARIA MIA LOBERTI ’20

Breakthrough Performer at the Film Independent Spirit Awards. Her rise is even more remarkable because it almost never happened. When a former childhood teacher sent her the global casting call for Marie-Laure in October 2021, Loberti almost did not submit herself for consideration. Loberti made a self-tape, reading for the starring role alone in her dorm. With no prior acting experience, she never expected her first audition to lead to anything more than a fun afternoon trying something new. To her shock, she stood out amongst thousands of auditions. After three weeks worth of callbacks, Levy himself called to tell Loberti she got the part. Loberti describes the incredible opportunity as one of the greatest honors of her life—and she considers it more than

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THE AAAS CONNECTS BOTH SCIENTISTS AND NON-SCIENTISTS ALIKE—SUPPORTING ALL THOSE WHO STRIVE TO ADVANCE SCIENCE IN A PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY.

Two URI Professors Honored as AAAS Fellows

written by MOLLY STEVENS ’20

This year, the American Association for the Advancement of Science named oceanography Professor Steven D’Hondt and Clinical Professor of Environmental Communication Sunshine Menezes to its fellowship ranks. Nominated by fellow scientists, the appointments recognize those making significant contributions to scientific research, teaching, technology or administration. The URI professors join a family including Ellen Ochoa, W.E.B. DuBois, and Thomas Edison. With members in more than 100 countries across dozens of fields of study, the association brings together researchers engaged in scientific study and those who advance the field. The URI fellows exemplified the society’s ethos perfectly with D’Hondt, a field- and lab-based research scientist, and Menezes, a science communication leader, both joining in the same class. But getting the fellowship wasn’t easy. Even the nomination process is competitive, with the association’s smaller steering groups being allowed only to nominate a small number of people. Then, there is a multi-step review process and, finally, a vote by a leadership council determines the winners.

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“These organisms, on average, live on so little energy that they directly challenge our understanding of what it means to be alive.”

STEVEN D’HONDT Professor Oceanography

- Steven D’Hondt

Core sediment samples.

When he earned his doctorate in geological and geophysical sciences at Princeton University, there were only four or five micropaleontologist openings in the country, including one at URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO) which D’Hondt claimed. At the University for more than 30 years, D’Hondt has led the Subsurface Biospheres team of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, and he was an executive committee member of the Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles and been cited more than 10,000 times. D’Hondt and his hundreds of global collaborators have over the years better understood the microbial organisms that challenge our definitions of life. Yet, countless frontiers remain unexplored, including how these organisms interact with one another and how the study of these microscopic creatures apply to human life. One of D’Hondt’s current projects, in collaboration with the Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center, stems

from a concept first proposed in the 1950s that the radioactive splitting of water supports microbial life in marine sediment. This research has bolstered understanding of how to manage nuclear waste. “We may not yet know how we can extend human life from these microbes living forever,” D’Hondt says, “but we learn basic things about how to engage the world in other ways. And it’s not predictable. We don’t know what we are going to learn that is of use, but we do learn things that are of use.” D’Hondt says that his research is only possible because of his collaborators—who range from undergraduate students to fellow tenured professors—and because of opportunities like the AAAS fellowship and financial support of the University. “It is a tremendous privilege to be paid to learn things that people didn’t know before and share that with the world,” he says.

Professor Steven D’Hondt has dedicated 25 years to studying the subsurface biome of the ocean floor, working with his peers and students around the globe. The AAAS fellowship honors his work on the diversity and processes of microbiological communities within subseafloor sediments. “This is a globe-spanning biome that we know very little about,” D’Hondt says. “I’ve been fortunate to spend much of my career exploring it.” Although these organisms reside miles below 70 percent of the planet’s surface, they can survive and are rarely studied. “It’s an underexplored living world right here on our own planet,” D’Hondt says. Steven D’Hondt

beneath the ocean floor is significant on its own, and D’Hondt is fascinated by the makeup of the marine organisms. Surviving at mind-bogglingly low rates of respiration, they must either live an extraordinarily long time (perhaps millions of years) or reproduce on far less energy than previously thought possible. “These organisms,” D’Hondt says, “on average, live on so little energy that they directly challenge our understanding of what it means to be alive.” D’Hondt began his academic career at Stanford University, where he received a bachelor’s degree in geology. He then worked for the U.S. Geological Survey in California, studying ocean history by searching for evidence of ancient asteroid and comet impacts in marine sediment.

The sheer scope of so many living things so far

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science communication can promote broader public engagement with STEM topics, build public agency, and improve decision-making. One of the primary components of Menezes’ work, and a key element in her teaching, is understanding the opportunities for, and challenges of, inclusive communication. “People talk about the general public all the time, but that’s not a real thing,” Menezes says. “There are many different types of public audiences out there, and if we want to communicate well, we have to understand who specifically we are trying to communicate with and what their priorities are, as well as our communication goals.” Whether writing, speaking, teaching, or working with partners outside of academia, Menezes works to make space for more scholars to improve their science communication skills. “A lot more people could be great science communicators if they had the support and the learning to do it better,” she says. “Science communication is not for everyone, but there are more and more people coming from the academy who want to explore science communication in big or small ways. They need support to do it well.” Menezes was recognized by AAAS because of her work to champion inclusive science communication, which aims to amplify the insights of groups whose perspectives have been minimized or ignored by the scientific community. She speaks to her discipline’s need for continued evolution. “We can learn so much from varied lived experiences and expertise. It’s important to make sure we’re recognizing the various types of knowledge that people bring to societally important topics that relate to science,” she says. People from marginalized communities—which can be related to race, ethnicity, gender, disability, and sexual orientation—are often actively or passively excluded from scientific conversations. “We’ve got some major social, societal problems that science can provide insight on,” Menezes says, “but the solutions require a lot of conversations about what we’re all willing to do and not willing to do. That’s not a scientific question, that’s a social question, and we will only find the best solutions if all affected parties are part of the conversation.” Hence Menezes strives to train URI students, staff, and faculty, as well as people from other universities, nonprofits, and corporate businesses, in inclusive science communication. And the efforts have worked, with the institute counting more than 3,700 people completing its trainings. That training allows journalists, researchers, and other science communicators to more effectively spark conversations about science. “Millions of people around the world every day are impacted by the Metcalf Institute,” she says. “It has been an immense privilege to do this work, and I’m excited to keep shifting the paradigm of science communication in my next chapter.”

SUNSHINE MENEZES Clinical Professor Environmental Communication

Sunshine Menezes GSO alumna Sunshine Menezes is a clinical professor and served as executive director of URI’s Metcalf Institute from 2006 until 2023. Housed in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences, the Institute conducts science training for journalists, communication training for researchers, and hosts a plethora of public programs. As executive director, Menezes led a growing community of academics, state and federal agencies, nonprofits, businesses, community representatives, and news

organizations nationwide to advance informed, inclusive public conversations about science and the environment. “Science communication is absolutely critical for sustaining and improving research,” says Menezes, who has a background in both lab and field-based research and environmental policy. Researchers cannot be limited to talking only to each another about the impact of their work. They must be able to engage with individuals outside of their own discipline and with diverse public audiences. When done well, Menezes argues,

“SCIENCE COMMUNICATION IS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL

FOR SUSTAINING AND IMPROVING RESEARCH.”

- SUNSHINE MENEZES

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TACKLING PLASTICS AT URI

written by SHAUN KIRBY ‘07

“Our lives are becoming inundated with micro and nanoplastics. About 30 percent of dementia cases, for example, can be affected by adjusting modifiable factors. Environmental toxins like microplastics are one of those factors.” - Jaime Ross

Chris Gaynor, climate justice specialist, Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management , Linda Molnar, p rogram director, Technology, Innovation and Partnerships, National Science Foundation (NSF-TIP) , Ebenezer Owusu-Addo, director, Kwame Nkrumah, University of Science and Technology (KNUST) , Ghana Jess Vandenberg, professor, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, University of Washington photos by Shaun Kirby ‘07

In May 2023, the University of Rhode Island (URI) hosted its inaugural Global Plastics Forum, bringing together more than 80 local, national, and international experts from organizations tackling the impact of plastics throughout the world. The event served as a sounding board for researchers and decision-makers to devise real-world applications for their research and policy around the health and environmental impacts of plastic pollution.

“WE CAN’T SOLVE THE PLASTIC PROBLEM BY OURSELVES, AND WE HAVE SEEN THE COMMITMENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF RHODE ISLAND TO ADVANCING OUR THINKING ON THIS TOPIC, REGIONALLY AND ACROSS THE UNITED STATES.” - BETHANY D. JENKINS

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“We can’t solve the plastic problem by ourselves, and we have seen the commitment at the University of Rhode Island to advancing our thinking on this topic, regionally and across the United States,” says Professor Bethany D. Jenkins, interim vice president of Research and Economic Development at URI. “I am excited that we can foster these conversations and ideas.” The University already has a critical mass of faculty and students investigating the impacts of plastic pollution. Victoria Fulfer, a URI Ph.D. graduate, has found that Narragansett Bay sediments are a basin for tons of plastic waste, while Jaime Ross, assistant professor at URI’s George and Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience and Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, is examining the potential hazards of plastics exposure to our brains. Through a recent study on mice exposed to microplastic beads, Ross and her team found that the material broke through the blood brain barrier and entered into their brains, causing increased spontaneous motion. “Our lives are becoming inundated with micro- and nanoplastics,” Ross stated at the forum. “About 30 percent of dementia cases, for example, can be affected by adjusting modifiable factors.

Kay Ho, research scientist, Atlantic Coastal Environmental Sciences Division

Demi Fox, New England regional coordinator, NOAA Marine Debris Program; Nicole Skyleson, environmental scientist, Narragansett Bay Commission; Kathleen Shannon, URI Research Strategic Initiatives.

Environmental toxins like microplastics are one of those factors.” Additionally, through the University’s Plastics: Land to Sea initiative, more than $200,000 has been awarded to six faculty members conducting research on plastic pollution and its real-world impacts, from examining how microplastics affect human liver tissues to addressing inequitable impacts of pollution on marginalized communities. The University continues to support these conversations through the Empowering Plastics Solutions seminar series. Rebecca Altman, a writer and sociologist focusing on the history of plastics, kicked off the series this past October. Topics also included: evolving recycling techniques, community-centric solutions, ecosystem insights, and the circular economy of plastics.

Seray Ergene, assistant professor of management, URI College of Business

Sarah Davis, doctoral student, URI Biological and Environmental Sciences

For more information, visit www.plastics.uri.edu.

John Riendeau, business development executive, US Extruders

Vinka Craver, associate dean of research, URI College of Engineering

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MADE TO DEGRADE written by SHAUN KIRBY ‘07

URI’S MELISSA OMAND WORKS WITH TRANSDISCIPLINARY TEAM TO DEVELOP PLASTIC PRODUCTS THAT BREAK DOWN IN THE OCEAN

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The revelatory moment came for Melissa Omand when she, a physical oceanographer by training, saw her husband, Ben, struggling to develop an ocean sensor instrument without using plastics, expending effort for a device and racking up costs as he tested alternative materials. “And the instruments were pretty much a failure,” she recalls. “It is so painful when you’re on a research vessel and these tools don’t work the way you expect.” Omand, associate professor of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island, knew there was a better way to design and construct marine tools that would not contribute to the pollution of water bodies they were made to measure.

MELISSA ORMAND Associate Professor Oceanography

PLASTIC PROBLEMS According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), eight to 10 million tons of plastic each year end up in the world’s oceans. By 2050 the oceans will contain more pieces of plastic than fish in the seas. Additionally, most research examines how plastics collect and pollute the sea surface. Little is known about their impact on the deep ocean, and standards (set by organizations like the American Society of Safety Professionals) for measuring degradation rates do not account for their breaking down in cold, dark environments. “All of the focus for measuring degradation is set at 20 degrees Celsius in shallow water environments, but 99 percent of the ocean is deep and cold,” says Omand.

The big question for Omand is: Can we design a biomaterial purpose-built for ocean degradation and make it available for anyone using marine tools, from oyster aquaculturalists and fishermen to oceanographers like herself deploying a myriad of expendable sensors across the world? The answer became clearer in 2019 when Omand met Alyson Santoro, a marine biologist at the University of California-Santa Barbara. “We had a conversation about how to make floats I was designing more sustainable, and she suggested that maybe we could add microbes or other naturally occurring compounds like nutrients that would break them down,” she explains. Unfortunately for Omand, an important component of her MINION floats was made out of polylactic acid (PLA), a polymer found in almost any biodegradable plastic. PLA breaks down in only highly controlled waste facilities where temperatures reach 55 degrees

MINION floats, glass tubes containing sensors to measure the flow of carbon throughout the ocean’s water columns.

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Celsius and specific microbes are deployed to decompose the polymer. No marine environment, says Omand, can match those conditions. Enter PHB, or polyhydroxybutyrate , a polymer that many bacteria already produce as an intracellular food reserve. Some microbes, known as methanotrophs , munch on methane and have been found in abundance throughout the world’s oceans: the same methane that is often trapped in ocean sediments and potentially released as the climate warms. If instruments like drifters could be made out of PHB, theorized Omand and Santoro, then maybe a biodegradable option was possible after all. RESEARCHERS, ASSEMBLE! Through the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Convergence Accelerator Program, Omand and Santoro formed Nereid Biomaterials to test PHBs as a biodegradable material for marine applications. They teamed up with Mango Materials, a California-based company already established in creating biodegradable plastics, to provide pellets for experimentation and design. To ensure that an instrument made of PHB would break down in any marine environment, the group then brought on Anne Meyer, a synthetic biologist at the University of Rochester. The idea? Develop a way to adhere or blend living bacteria and non-living nutrients and enzymes into the biodegradable compound. “By compounding the plastic with these living cells and other naturally-occurring additives, we can help the material be really, really delicious for specific ocean microbes,” says Omand. “This work is still experimental, but if PHB is the grains, then these additives are the fruits and vegetables keeping the bacteria healthy to break down the plastic.” Omand’s main focus on the project, however, is to design and prototype end products made of PHB that members of ocean industries will use. She has long been a proponent

THE BIG QUESTION FOR OMAND IS: CAN WE DESIGN A BIOMATERIAL PURPOSE-BUILT FOR OCEAN DEGRADATION AND MAKE IT AVAILABLE FOR ANYONE USING MARINE TOOLS?

MINION floats, glass tubes containing sensors to measure the flow of carbon throughout the ocean’s water columns.

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“It is not enough to just introduce the PHB material like pellets into the market and expect manufacturers to pick it up. We need to have physical examples of these end products.”

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT Omand admits one of the greatest challenges in doing this work is not the designing of ocean instruments, but entering the world of entrepreneurs who use terms like “market fit” and “minimal viable product.” As part of the NSF Convergence Accelerator, Omand and her colleagues must engage with potential end-product users, identify their needs and how PHB-based plastics can make their businesses more profitable. “Our homework was to work with coaches who helped us interview people in different sectors, creating full perspectives on what their pain points are and how products we make could be useful,” says Omand. “We aren’t necessarily meant to publish a paper at the end of it but find sustainable market potential. The experience helped us recognize the first ideas that we needed to pivot away from. “I never imagined that I would end up learning about the mechanics of starting a business, but without the coaching, I don’t think we would have been able to get through it as academics are extremely busy.” DRIFTING FUTURE The $4.9 million grant funding the work of Omand and her colleagues through Nereid Biomaterials is scheduled to end in August 2024. The URI oceanographer is hopeful that some of their end products transition into commercially viable instruments for industries such as commercial fishing, but the ideas and research they’ve compiled is more than enough to pursue other funding avenues when the grant concludes. What’s more, Omand says she is proud of the interns who have worked alongside the Nereid Biomaterials team and gone on to work in positions related to biodegradable plastics, particularly at Mango Materials. The more companies creating marine research and other ocean-related equipment out of biodegradable plastics, the better, she says. “More than anything I would love to actually have viable gear for fishing and ecosystem restoration. I will still be making low-cost, expendable ocean instrumentation, but it is so important for me to know that it’s ocean degradable.”

“More than anything I would love to actually have viable gear for fishing and ecosystem restoration. I will still be making low-cost, expendable ocean instrumentation, but it is so important for me to know that it’s ocean degradable.” - Melissa Omand

of developing low-cost ocean instruments that can be deployed without harm to marine environments and then never seen again, which saves on fuel and other costs that research cruises expend to retrieve expensive, highly complex instruments. Her MINION floats, glass tubes containing sensors to measure To ensure that an instrument made of PHB would break down in any marine environment, the group then brought on Anne Meyer.

the flow of carbon throughout the ocean’s water columns, offer a perfect example. Omand likens her position to that of a chief technology officer, deploying 3D printed test instruments such as eel trap doors. She also has PHB-made products in the shape of discs and “dog bones” placed in bottles at locations throughout Narragansett Bay, as well as in the Olympic National Marine Sanctuary in Washington State and in shallow and deep waters off Santa Barbara, CA. “The dog bones are long and skinny so we can observe what happens to their physical properties once they degrade,” she says. “Many of the standards for biodegradable plastics are determined by measuring powders or films, but most ocean debris is made from rigid, physical objects that break down into smaller particles at different rates.

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BEAT THE MUSIC (THERAPY) written by SHAUN KIRBY ‘07 of

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For the past 20 years, Nicole O’Malley has traveled across Rhode Island to provide a unique yet important service: using music to treat patients with physical and cognitive challenges. The work is part of her effort to apply her clinical experiences to new research collaborations with peers in disciplines such as psychology and physical therapy. “I have been in this position for five minutes, but my lab will be the first in the region that focuses on the neurobiological impact of music,” says O’Malley, recently promoted to assistant professor at the University of Rhode Island (URI), and currently conducting research with fellow faculty member Christine Clarkin, URI assistant professor of physical therapy. “Because we’ve been clinicians for so long, we want to know the impact of our studies and how they can be disseminated to communities at large.” When people run, they often listen to music to keep their movement in time with the beat. Or they go to a concert and connect with a stranger over a favorite band’s new song. In these situations, the brain releases neurotransmitters and adapts its neural networking system to improve cognitive, communicative, and sensorimotor capabilities, while strengthening social and emotional responses to the surrounding world. O’Malley has treated nearly every clinical condition possible, from elderly patients looking to regain motor skills after a stroke to children suffering from mental health issues after the death of a parent.

“MY LAB WILL BE THE FIRST IN THE REGION THAT FOCUSES ON THE NEUROBIOLOGICAL IMPACT OF MUSIC.”

- NICOLE O’MALLEY

is also director of URI’s music therapy program. “What is the emotional impact? Will you learn to walk again if you’re depressed?” Recognized as a clinical profession since the 1950s when World War I and II veterans needed innovative treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), music therapy has evolved to incorporate culturally responsive practices based on patient choice. “Music feeds us,” she says. “Just listening to a song we like turns our reward circuits on, circuits that help with a lot of other skills.” O’Malley’s work helps to not only treat individuals clinically, but also build community. “I don’t just slap on a song and say, ‘you’re cured!’” she says. “Driven by music preference and neuroscience, we work in a variety of settings, including aging. I had a client from Cambodia with whom we were working on strategies for emotional coping. She preferred Khmer music for relaxation, which is not music our ears are accustomed to in Western cultures. “Khmer was the style of music we needed to reach her goals.”

Music, she says, is innate.

“When you’re relearning how to walk at 50, 60, 70 years old, all of a sudden you have to reacquire skills that don’t come second nature anymore,” says O’Malley, who

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effectively support patients through combined physical and music-based treatment, as well as assess student attitudes and readiness to conduct interdisciplinary work. “Our collaboration organically focused on problems we saw while in our clinical roles,” O’Malley explains. “Supporting our students’ need to learn interdisciplinary skills required for successful professional careers in our respective disciplines requires experience during their clinical rotations at URI and the hands-on experiential time to learn collaborative communication.” Clarkin adds, “By training our students early on, we embed the expectation that solutions come more readily when we work together as a team. Once they see the impact that their teamwork has on positive client/patient outcomes, they are more open to continue to practice and adopt this mindset.” O’Malley says she is buoyed by the ‘a-ha’ moments her students share, and knows their contributions are crucial to improving evidence-based practices for music therapists in the future. “There was one moment while observing the inter professional collaboration last semester when my music therapy students jumped into helping a patient,” she says. “The physical therapy students were like, ‘wait, look what is happening!’ They fed off each other.” Although finding ways to bring her research to already existing programs across campus is the ultimate goal for O’Malley’s newly established lab, she says she misses the rewarding experience of treating patients across the state with the neurobiological benefits of music therapy directly.

clinic today, too hard, she would say, ‘You’re fired, Ms. Nicole, you’re fired,’ says O’Malley. “She struggled with certain tasks, but when I changed from speaking to singing my instruction, things would just click. “This work is intense and there are cases that stick with me, but when I’m doing something like songwriting with a patient and seeing the connection to their mental and emotional health, those moments fill me up.”

NICOLE O’MALLEY

Assistant Professor Music

“Music feeds us, just listening to a song we like turns our reward circuits on, circuits that help with a lot of other skills.”

Developing a strong base of practitioners in Rhode Island remains in the nascent stages, starting with legislation adopted in 2014 by Gov. Gina Raimondo, recognizing music therapists as official health professionals through the Rhode Island Department of Health. O’Malley led the state’s task force for writing that legislation. Now, O’Malley is working on publishing her first manuscript about assessing the impact of

collaboration among physical and music therapy students through the URI Physical Therapy Department’s Parkinson’s Exercise Program (PEG) with Assistant Professor Clarkin. Led by physical therapy doctoral students, PEG is a community-based exercise program for Rhode Island residents diagnosed with the neurodegenerative disorder.

- Nicole O’Malley

The research examines how these collaborations

“When I pushed my first client, who is still with our

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Our bodies are covered in bacteria. However, only some of these bacteria cause disease and The University of Rhode Island’s (URI) Kathryn Ramsey is interested in understanding what makes these particular cells work the way they do. By investigating differences among ribosomes, we may be opening the door to drugs that target specific pathogenic bacteria or even specific classes of ribosomes in a particular pathogen. As an assistant professor of cell and molecular biology, Ramsey studies why pathogenic bacteria cause disease. To do so, she’s looking at the ribosome, the part of the cell that makes proteins. Bacteria are complex. To cause disease, bacteria need to have the genes that make them pathogenic and need to turn those genes on and off at the right time. “They have to respond to the environment around them,” Ramsey says. “That means that these tiny, tiny cells have to know what’s happening on the outside and be able to adjust their lifestyle accordingly.” One of the ways cells can adapt is the first step of gene expression–the process of turning DNA into RNA. However, what interests Ramsey is the second step, where RNA gets turned into protein. All cells feature a multitude of “machines” that make proteins, called the ribosome. Despite its singular name, ribosomes can look and behave differently. Made up of three types of RNA and about 50 proteins, ribosomes have a multitude of ways they can be different, or heterogeneous. “We know they can be different, and we know some things about how they can become different, but we don’t know what that means for how a ribosome makes proteins,” Ramsey says. “That’s a big question that has really been difficult to answer.” WHY PATHOGENIC BACTERIA CAUSE DISEASE written by ALLISON FARRELLY ’16

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KATHRYN RAMSEY

Assistant Professor Cell and Molecular Biology

“The way this connects to disease is that we know that at least one of these ribosomal proteins is important for making virulence proteins, and is important for survival in a host.” - Kathryn Ramsey

To understand how ribosomes could influence bacteria to cause disease, Ramsey and her lab are looking at how the ribosomal protein bS21 influences heterogeneity and gene expression. They’re currently studying an organism that causes tularemia, a disease that is rare in humans but can cause a flu-like illness and can be lethal if not detected and treated. Ramsey works with a strain of this organism, Francisella tularensis , that was developed as a vaccine and is attenuated so it can only infect animals, not humans. She likes this organism because it only has one way for ribosomes to be heterogeneous—it has three different versions of a single ribosomal protein, bS21.

Ribosomes typically carry out an essential process called translation, but this particular protein is a bit mysterious: it doesn’t seem to be essential for making proteins. Instead, it might function as a regulatory factor for preferential production of specific proteins. And while many bacteria have one version of bS21, Francisella tularensis cells make three of them. “The way this connects to disease is that we know at least one of these ribosomal proteins is important for making virulence proteins, and is important for survival in a host,” Ramsey says. “This is a simple way for us to start asking the question ‘How do changes in ribosome composition affect translation’.”

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“Every time we answer a question, we end up with a new one, which is exciting.”

- Kathryn Ramsey

Ramsey hopes that understanding why there are three different versions of bS21 in Francisella tularensis will unlock whether it is a regulator in other bacteria as well. Ramsey’s lab is currently funded by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (R35) grant. This is the first R35 grant awarded to URI. Rather than funding a particular project, the $1.9 million, five-year grant funds all of her research that falls within the scope of the funding institute, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). This means that she can pursue the most interesting and impactful areas of research, even if it expands beyond the original plans in the grant. In addition to studying ribosomes in Francisella tularensis , Ramsey also plans to examine bS21 in E. coli as it seems to play an important role in the

bacteria’s ability to live. This unique ribosomal protein, if missing, also makes the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus more resistant to antibiotics, a phenomenon which the URI assistant professor plans to examine further. “In E. coli , maybe it’s controlling a certain gene,” she says. “And in staph, these are antibiotics that disrupt the envelope of the bacteria, so why would changing the ribosomes change the cell envelope? The idea is that changing the ribosome composition might change the factors involved in cell wall synthesis, so it’s a regulator of these outcomes.” The beauty of the NIH grant is that as Ramsey and her lab begin uncovering answers to these questions, they’ll have the funding and freedom to pursue new ones. “Every time we answer a question, we end up with a new one, which is exciting,” she says.

THE BEAUTY OF THE NIH GRANT IS THAT AS RAMSEY AND HER LAB BEGIN UNCOVERING ANSWERS TO THESE QUESTIONS, THEY’LL HAVE THE FUNDING AND FREEDOM TO PURSUE NEW ONES.

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THE IMPACTS OF TECHNOLOGY ON COMMUNICATION written by ALLISON FARRELLY ’16

41. The survey questioned participants about their exposure to messages about LGBTQI+ people in entertainment media and news stories. Then participants were shown two different messages about an LGBTQI+ person, one positive and one negative. The researchers then asked how likely the person was to support a policy recommendation that would positively impact the LGBTQI+ community. The study found that people who were exposed to pro-LGBTQI+ messages on social media were more likely to support pro-LGBTQI+ policy, but that effect was only strong when people were exposed to messages on social media versus a medium like TV. They also found that exposure to negative LGBTQI+ messages didn’t change people’s attitudes about the community. “We found that if we are trying to create a more inclusive society, particularly with heterosexual young adults, there should be more positive messages on social media,” Kothari says. For the past three years, she has been working with U.S. and European researchers to examine

TECHNOLOGY IS RAPIDLY CHANGING THE WORLD WE LIVE IN— ESPECIALLY THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE AND CONNECT. the relationship between willingness to get the COVID-19 vaccine, risk perceptions, and trust in health authorities. The results across multiple countries showed that trust in health authorities was a particularly strong predictor of intent to get vaccinated, emphasizing the need for a clear translation of science.

Technology is rapidly changing the world we live in— especially the way we communicate and connect. Because of her training and research in journalism, University of Rhode Island (URI) journalism Professor Ammina Kothari values the fundamentals of communication. Kothari’s training and experience teaching news reporting and writing is the foundation of her focus on the role journalism plays in helping society capture and understand big picture problems. She examines conflicts, emerging issues, and how stories are being told, influenced, and featured. “I’ve always been interested as a journalist in how stories come about,” she says. “But now as a researcher, I also want to know how things happen. You see the output, but what was the process behind it?”

Media director, studies the influence of technology on communication and journalism. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on topics ranging from gender to social media, to artificial intelligence (AI), and science communication. As technology continues to change our communication landscape—such as through social media—Kothari looks at factors that influence public opinion. One of Kothari’s recent projects looks at the representation of the LGBTQI+ community in the media. Particularly, she examines how heterosexual young adult attitudes and behaviors toward LGBTQI+ people and policies are influenced. In collaboration with URI’s Assistant Professor Joon Kim and colleagues from the Rochester Institute of Technology, Kothari conducted an online survey of 623 heterosexual-identifying people, ages 18 to

Kothari, the Harrington School of Communication and

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