Department of Marine Affairs
University of Rhode Island
Ph.D. Program


        Since 1969 the Department of Marine Affairs has offered masters level degree programs (M.A. and M.M.A.) and has attracted students from all over the United States and some 40 countries. As of September, 1998 the Department of Marine Affairs also has offered a program of study leading to the award of a Ph.D. degree. As is the case with the masters level graduate programs, the focus of the Ph.D. program is on coastal/ocean management, policy, and law and will concentrate on the following areas, which are not mutually exclusive:

        The Department of Marine Affairs is an interdisciplinary department, with a faculty educated in the fields of geography, political science, law, anthropology, environmental planning, and oceanography. It further draws upon the expertise of associated departments and programs such as the Departments of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics, Natural Resource Sciences, Political Science, Fisheries, Aquaculture, and Veterinary Science and Community Planning as well as the Graduate School of Oceanography.

        The Ph.D. program in Marine Affairs is designed to serve the needs of individuals who will be working in government, research institutes, consulting, and academia.

The University of Rhode Island

        The University of Rhode Island has a wide breadth of graduate marine programs, making available a wide variety of courses in different disciplines which could become part of a student's program of study. This is a substantial source of strength for students in Marine Affairs and provides for a number of unique educational opportunities.

Ph.D. Program Requirements

1. Students must complete the following required courses or their equivalents (18 credits):


2. Students will complete a minimum of an additional 24 credits of course work. Courses will be selected by the student with the approval of the student's Ph.D. committee from among relevant 500 and 600 level courses.

3. Students will have to demonstrate proficiency in research tools such as computer science, foreign language(s), or in statistics as appropriate for the proposed course of study and dissertation. The required capabilities will be determined by the Ph.D. committee.

4. Upon completion of course work students will have to pass written comprehensive and oral examinations in major and minor fields of marine affairs.

5. Each student is to write and successfully defend a dissertation of high quality, representing original and meaningful research which makes a contribution to the literature in the field of marine affairs. Successful defense of the dissertation will result in the award of up to 24 credits.

Requirements for Admission to the Ph.D. Program

Applicants for the Ph.D. program are expected to have in hand a masters degree. Students applying to the Ph.D. program will be evaluated using the following considerations:

Marine Affairs Faculty

Richard Burroughs, Professor, Marine Affairs, Ph.D., Oceanography, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
Research Areas: Marine environmental policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation.

Tracey Morin Dalton, Assistant Professor, Marine Affairs, Ph.D., Department Environmental, Coastal, and Ocean Sciences, University of Massachusetts (Boston)
Research Areas: Designation and management of marine protected areas, economic impacts of marine and coastal policies, public participation in resource management, human dimensions of marine and coastal resource management.

Timothy Hennessey, Professor, Political Science and Marine Affairs, Ph.D., Political Science, University of North Carolina
Research Areas: The role of science in marine policy, adaptive management of estuarine ecosystems, fishery management policy, program evaluation of natural resource and coastal management systems.

Lawrence Juda, Professor, Marine Affairs, Ph.D., Political Science/International Relations, Columbia University
Research Areas: International and national ocean law, policy, and institutions; ocean use governance and management; U.S. ocean policy and organization; international fishery law and management.

Seth Macinko, Assistant Professor, Marine Affairs, Ph.D., Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California (Berkeley)
Research Areas: Fisheries management, property rights, culture and resources, fishing communities.

Bruce Marti, Professor, Marine Affairs, Ph.D., Geography, University of Florida
Research Areas: Economic geography, transportation geography, maritime transport and port planning and development.

Dennis Nixon, Professor, Marine Affairs, J.D., University of Cincinnati Law School
Research Areas: Admiralty law, with particular reference to research and fishing vessels, fisheries law and management, coastal zone law, marine pollution law, marine insurance.

Richard Pollnac, Professor of Anthropology and Marine Affairs, Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Missouri
Research Areas: Human adaptation to the marine environment.

Robert Thompson, Associate Professor of Marine Affairs, J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California (Berkeley); Ph.D., Planning, University of California (Berkeley)
Research Areas: Planning and natural systems, environmental impact assessment, coastal planning, natural hazards, property law, GIS, computer models, and visual simulation in planning, global climate change and coastal communities .



Financial support

         Several assistantships are available for support of Ph.D. candidates during the anticipated two year period while students are completing course work. Note that the department begins reviewing applications for the PhD program and associated requests for financial assistance on February 1 of each year.

Questions may be addressed to:
Prof. Seth Macinko,
macinko@uri.edu

Department of Marine Affairs
Washburn Hall
University of Rhode Island
Kingston, RI 02881

Phone: (401)874-2596
Fax: (401)874-2156