URI Doctoral Programs Come Out Ahead in National Rankings The URI Graduate School was honored to be nationally recognized in a recent survey of doctoral programs conducted by the National Research Council (NRC). Two outstanding graduate programs were ranked in the top 10 in the nation and a third was ranked in the top 20 according to the survey. The Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (ENRE) program and the Oceanography program each earned top 10 spots based on their research productivity, demonstrating that they are leaders in the percent of faculty holding grants, the number of publications by faculty member, and the rate of citation for each publication. The Nutrition and Food Science program, ranked in the top 20 by the survey, was recognized as a standout program particularly in the area of student support and outcomes, which reflects time-to-degree, graduation rates, and job placement within academia. The National Research Council, in conjunction with the Council of Graduate Schools, bases their survey rankings on a detailed analysis of more than 5,000 doctoral programs across the country.

Graduate Accolades

Tiffany Smythe, a doctoral student in Marine Affairs has been named URI's first Coastal Institute Graduate Fellow. The fellowship provides Smythe with a $3,000 stipend to use towards her education and research expenses, as well as opportunities to participate in special events sponsored by the Coastal Institute.

Maryjo Brounce, a Ph.D. student at the Graduate School of Oceanography, was a shipboard scientist aboard the Japanese R/V Yokosuka on cruise YK10-12. This was a 14-day cruise that examined the seafloor geology in the Philippine Sea. The R/V Yokosuka is the mothership for the Japanese deep submersible, Shinkai 6500. Brounce had the opportunity to dive in the Shinkai as the scientist observer on dive 6K#1236. They dove to 5500 meters below the sea surface and brought back greater than 200 pounds of rock samples that make up the upper mantle and lower crust in the Earth's interior. Their exposure at the sea floor surface in the Philippine Sea makes the area ideal for scientists to learn about the Earth's interior and plate tectonic processes.

Vijay More, a 4th year graduate student in the College of Pharmacy working with Dr. Angela Slitt, won 2nd prize for a poster presentation at the North East Society of Toxicology (NESOT) Fall 2010 meeting at University of Connecticut. The poster was titled "Differential hepatic and intestinal phase-II biotransformation enzyme/ transporter expression and Bisphenol-A disposition in mouse models of obesity and diabetes" and earned a $500 prize. More was also awarded Graduate Student travel support from Society of Toxicology (SOT), as well as the Colgate-Palmolive Student Award for Research in Alternative Methods at the SOT 50th National Meeting, to be held at Washington DC in March 2011.

Bogdan Prokopovych, a Ph.D. candidate in the College of Business Administration is the recipient of an exceptionally prestigious Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Prokopovych was recognized during a reception on January 8, 2011 at the Allied Social Science Association/American Economic Association annual meetings in Denver.

Matthew J. Quilitzsch (30) and Tara N. Quilitzsch (25) got married on January 9, 2010 at 11:00 am in Rumford, RI at Colonial Baptist Church. Matt and Tara are both students in the Graduate School of Library and Information Services (GSLIS) pursuing an MLIS (Masters of Library and Information Services

Alumni News

Michelle Pelletier, who earned her master's degree in Chemical Engineering last summer, was named 'trendsetter' by Public Works magazine for research on self-healing concrete.

Ivan Mateo (Ph.D. in Environmental Science; graduated 2009) began employment in September 2010 with the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) in Gloucester, MA.

Carrie Byron (Ph.D. in Environmental Science; graduated 2010) is now a post-doctoral fellow with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute. Byron presented her work at the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Annual Science Conference in Nantes, France, Sep 20 - 24, 2010 and at Aquaculture Europe, Porto, Portugal, October 5 - 8, 2010.

Annie Cox (Ph.D. in Oceanography; defended December 2010) started in January 2011 a postdoctoral fellowship with the National Marine Fisheries Service in La Jolla, San Diego.