The URI college of the environment and life sciences (CELS) is the home of rhode island's agricultural experiment station (AES) and cooperative extension (extension)

URI's land grant programs address a wide range of national and international issues, with an emphasis on the needs of our state. Our research and extension programs seek to improve rhode islanders' quality of life, their livelihoods, and the health of our natural environment, with special attention to local problems. Agriculture and food systems - increase our ability on local, regional, and global levels to sustainable grow, harvest, market and consume food from both terrestrial and aquatic species. Local to global environmental change - increase our ability to respond and adapt to local, regional, and global environmental changes. Human and environmental health - increase our ability to recognize and manage emergent human and environmental health challenges. Youth, family, and community development - increase our ability to understand, respond, and adapt to social, environmental, and economic challenges facing RI youth, families, and communities. Outcomes/deliverables - hatch (agriculture experiment station) create innovative approaches within the food system for local, national, and global sustainable agriculture, aquaculture, fisheries, and food processing and innovation. Understand how natural products and live microbial supplements can be used to prevent and mitigate disease outbreaks and contribute to healthy internal and external environments. Enhance our understanding and communication of the global benefits and potential impact of genetic approaches to agriculture and aquaculture, including selective reeding informed by genomics, gene editing and other forms of genetic modification. Maximize the capacity of managed environments to provide ecosystem services such as nutrient management, water quality and habitat. Encourage development of interdisciplinary teams of researchers with the capacity to understand the underlying biological and social mechanisms that contribute to human, animal, and plant health threats. Develop innovative strategies to prevent and mitigate the threats posed by new and/or resurgent infectious diseases through the development of new vaccines and probiotics. Harness the power of big data and bioinformatics to implement improved preventative, diagnostic, and therapeutic approaches to human and environmental health challenges. Understand and address the distribution and impacts of human and environmental health challenges across communities, which have implications for social sustainability. Increase our ability to respond and adapt to local, regional, and global environmental changes. Increase our understanding of biodiversity at multiple scales from genomes to ecosystems, and how the evolution and ecology of organisms affects environmental and ecosystem health.