RIMFI People
The RIMFI strongly believes in incorporating students into research endeavors to expose young professionals to careers in fisheries science and management. Through these collaborations with scientists, managers and stakeholders, students are able to contribute to applied research. Many of the projects represent University of Rhode Island graduate students’ doctoral or masters research projects, which provides them the opportunity to see how their research can translate to informative management decisions. The RIMFI also allows undergraduate students the opportunity to be involved in research and learn how marine science projects are conducted through field and laboratory sampling, analyzing data, and presenting components of the research. Below are previous and/or current graduate students supported by RIMFI projects.
Current Students
PhD Candidate in Marine Affairs
Research: Resilience of the Commercial Fishing Industry in the Port of Galilee, RI, to compounding Climatic and Social Pressures
PhD Candidate in Oceanography
Corinne is a current PhD student in Fisheries Oceanography at GSO. Corinne led RIMFI projects Fishery and Biological Characteristics of Jonah crab in Rhode Island Sound and Collecting Fishers’ Knowledge to Inform Jonah Crab Research and Management. She currently serves as a Deputy Chief of the Division of Marine Fisheries at RIDEM.
RIMFI Student Alumni
Natalie Ameral
Natalie received her M.S. in Evolution and Marine Biology at the URI College of the Environment and Life Sciences. Natalie’s research contributed to the RIMFI project Assessing Atlantic Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus) population structure within southern New England. Natalie now works as a research lab manager at Mass General Hospital in the field of genome editing.
Shaina Harkins
Shaina received her M.S. in Biological Oceanography after studying in the Collie lab at the Graduate School of Oceanography. Her work focused on long-term changes in epifaunal and macrofaunal benthic community structure and biomass in relation to temperature change, nutrient input, and the interaction between these two variables in influencing upper Narragansett Bay eutrophication and hypoxia. She currently works for the RIDEM as an Environmental Scientist.
Maggie Heinichen
Maggie received her M.S. in Oceanography from the URI Graduate School of Oceanography. Her research involved predicting impacts on fish populations and trophic interactions from changes in climate in Narragansett Bay using food web models. Maggie currently works for the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.
Annie Innes-Gold
Annie received her M.S. in Ecology and Ecosystem Sciences at the URI College of the Environment and Life Sciences. Annie’s research contributed to the RIMFI project Developing a coupled social-ecological ecosystem model of narragansett bay fisheries using ecopath. Annie coupled a Narragansett Bay food-web model to a recreational fishers’ behavior model, creating a dynamic social-ecological representation of the ecosystem. Upon graduating from URI, Annie will pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Hawaii.
Joe Langan
Joe received his Ph.D. in Oceanography from the URI Graduate School of Oceanography and a M.S. in Statistics. Joe’s dissertation was focused on understanding how climate change impacts winter flounder in Narragansett Bay. Joe is currently a postdoc with the University of Alaska Fairbanks researching climate influences on salmon populations.
Julia Livermore
Julia received her Ph.D. in Marine Affairs from the URI College of the Environment and Life Sciences. Her dissertation was focused on developing fishery-dependent data products to better inform fisheries management and offshore development decision-making. She led the RIMFI projects Fishing Status of Vessels Using the AIS: A Big Data and Machine Learning Approach and Economic Efficiency Assessment of the Rhode Island Fluke and Black Sea Bass Aggregate Management Programs. Julia currently serves as a Deputy Chief of the Division of Marine Fisheries at RIDEM.
Katherine Rodrigue
Katie received her M.S. in Ecology and Ecosystem Sciences at the URI College of the Environment and Life Sciences. Katie’s research was focused primarily on assessing blue crab abundance and spatial distribution in RI. She led the RIMFI project Population Characteristics of the Blue Crab (Callinectes sapidus) in Rhode Island coastal waters. Katie is currently a Principal Biologist for the Division of Marine Fisheries at RIDEM.
Educational RIMFI Highlights
At the 2019 ‘Ecopath 35 years – Making Ecosystem-Based Management Operational’ Conference in Florida, M.S. candidate Annie Innes-Gold one the best poster award for her poster titled “How modified trophic interactions create socio-ecological tradeoffs: a case study of Narragansett Bay fisheries”.
In 2018 at the 42nd Annual Larval Fish Conference in British Columbia, URI undergraduate Alison Frey won the Grace Klein-MacPhee award for her poster on ‘Characterizing the response of the winter-spring ichthyoplankton community to environmental change.’
At URI’s Annual Undergraduate Fellows Poster Symposium, Patrick Wilson won 3rd place for his poster on ‘Understanding toxic Pseudo-nitzschia blooms in Narragansett Bay.’