The city of Newport is home to some of the oldest buildings in the country, many of which are threatened by rising sea levels and coastal flooding. Of the approximately 2,500 identified threatened historic structures statewide, almost 40 percent are located in Newport, prompting a need for community-based solutions concerning historic preservation.

Rhode Island Sea Grant extension staff provided expertise and assistance to the Newport Restoration Foundation to organize a four-day conference, Keeping History Above Water. Keeping History Above Water presented one of the first national conversations on the risks posed by sea level rise to historic coastal communities and their built environments. As a result, it has expanded as an annual conference hosted in vulnerable regions across the country to continue the documentation and distribution of best practices, promote dialogue, and engage new audiences. Annapolis, Maryland hosted the second edition of teh conference in 2017, with Palo Alto, California to host the third edition in spring 2018.

A growing global market for clean energy and an abundance of offshore wind off the East Coast has prompted developers to seek permits to capitalize on this budding offshore industry. The state of Rhode Island committed to providing 20 percent of its energy sources from renewable energies seven years ago, which drew interest for the development of offshore wind energy.

Rhode Island Sea Grant assisted the state in providing current scientific syntheses on the ecology, biology, geology, historical, and cultural sites aspects of the state’s offshore waters to develop a comprehensive regulatory/guidance document for siting and developing offshore renewable energy that led to the development of the Block Island Wind Farm. Block Island, which has had a long history of fossil fuel dependence operating on diesel generators for the last 30 years despite increasing power outages and voltage irregularities, is now officially powered entirely from wind energy produced by the five-turbine wind farm three miles from its coast.

Over the last two decades, aquaculture activities in Rhode Island have increased twenty-fold to nearly $6 million with a continually growing interest from prospective growers, who need to know the regulatory and permitting structure that governs the industry. At the request of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Management Council, Rhode Island Sea Grant collaborated with experts at Roger Williams University (RWU) to develop interactive webinars and an online course, building upon an existing 14-week course at RWU, aimed at teaching aspiring shellfish farmers and aquaculture professionals the science, practice, and tools of the trade for shellfish aquaculture. The course, which is recommended as a way to meet state required permit application stipulations, has educated over 300 participants since it was first introduced in 2016, with more than half looking to start a shellfish business. Those seeking a recreational permit through the Coastal Resources Management Council have used the course to fulfill a required educational component of the permitting process.