When Ian Ross was growing up, he maintained the fish tanks in his home. From that beginning, he developed a interest that became his major and career choice.  “There’s a certain beauty to life when you look at fish through the glass,” he said. “I always loved watching the fish swimming around, and I appreciated feeding them and testing the water to sustain life in the tank.”

During his four years at URI, he made important contributions to several research projects that may benefit the aquaculture and fisheries industries. One was a laboratory study of oyster immunity that explored how probiotics may increase the survival of oyster larvae, and another examined whether two species of snail-like whelks prey upon quahogs in Narragansett Bay.

“Aquaculture blends well with my desire to help the world. It’s the wave of the future for feeding the world,” said Ian. “There is so much less land than ocean, so if we can farm the ocean we can feed a lot more people.”

With graduation behind him, Ian dreams of working at a large aquaculture facility in northern Europe, where the industry is highly advanced, and he eventually hopes to manage his own aquaculture operation. While he works to save money and prepare for that next big step, he is returning to his first love—managing high-end aquariums.

“Europe and aquaculture are still my priority, but this is a good place to get started and get my feet under me while I get ready to take the plunge,” he said.