Biological and Environmental Sciences Colloquium Series

University of Rhode Island

The BES Colloquium Series is the research seminar series for the College of Environmental Sciences at the University of Rhode Island. BES students nominate speakers from across several disciplines including: Cell and Molecular Biology (CMB), Ecology and Ecosystem Science (EES), Environmental and Earth Sciences (EVES), Evolution and Marine Biology (EMB), and Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems (SAFS). Invited speakers spend the day at URI visiting with faculty and graduate students.

Seminars are intended for a general scientific audience but are free and open to all.

Spring 2026 Schedule

Time: 3:00 PM Location: CBLS 010

Click the Speaker’s Name and Talk Title for More Info

Date	Specialization	Speaker	Speaker’s Affiliation	Talk Title	Host
Jan 23	All	BES Grad Reps	URI	Spring 2026 Welcome Event!	N/A
Jan 30	EMB/CMB	Dr. Amanda Alker	URI	A new frontier of genome editing technologies to elucidate marine bacteria-host interactions	N/A
Feb 6	EMB/CMB	Dr. Laura Eme	URI	The origin of complex life	N/A
Feb 13	CMB	Dr. Rachel Spurbeck	Battelle Memorial Institute	Exposure Health: Biosurveillance, Diagnostics and Therapeutics	Maizy Pratt
Feb 20	All	Dr. Leah Heilig	URI	Embodiment and Positionality in Qualitative Work: Navigating Research Identity	Olivia Nieves
Feb 27	TBA	Dr. Madison Armstrong	Northeastern University	Evolutionary Implications of Urbanization on a Coastal Marine Invertebrate	Dalia Bercow
Mar 06	EVES	Dr. Karyn Rogers	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	Constructing life from the ground up	Cybele Collins
Mar 13	EES	Dr. Frank Fish	West Chester University	Marine animals as a source of biological and technological innovation	Ariel Leahy
Mar 20	NA	N/A	N/A	Spring Break
Mar 27	SAFS	Dr. Li Zhang	Amherst College	Defying Slow Death: Unsafe Food, Environmental Governance and Quiet Social Movement in China	Sheriff Aliu
Apr 3	EES	Dr. Tom Bell	WHOI	Disentangling the effects of physical and demographic drivers on the dynamics of coastal foundation species	Maja Nielsen
Apr 10	All	Dr. Dee Silverthorn	UT Austin	The importance of competency-based education	Jamie Puleo
Apr 17	EMB	Dr. Matthew Gray	UMCES Horn Point	TBA	Megan Delatte-Guidry
Apr 24	EES	Dr. Bill DeLuca	National Audubon Society	From Blackpoll Warblers to Waterbirds: A Full Annual Cycle Perspective on the Conservation of Migratory Birds	Rebeca Linhart

Overview

The M.S. and Ph.D. in Biological and Environmental Sciences (BES) are interdisciplinary, interdepartmental graduate degrees with faculty from multiple departments in the College of the Environment and Life Sciences (CELS), including Biological Sciences; Cell and Molecular Biology; Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Science; Geosciences; Natural Resources Science; Nutrition and Food Sciences; and Plant Sciences; as well as faculty from the Graduate School of Oceanography.