URI builds new library for undersea research

By: Tyler Will

Posted: 11/6/07

11/06/07 -The University of Rhode Island will begin construction on a new library on the Narragansett Bay Campus in the coming weeks. The new Pell Marine Science Library will serve as headquarters to oceanography research projects conducted throughout the world.

A ceremony yesterday on the Narragansett campus commemorated the groundbreaking of the library. Several government officials were present, including R.I. Gov. Donald Carcieri, R.I. Sen. Jack Reed and former R.I. Sen. Claiborne Pell, for whom the library is named. The library will be built on the corner of the campus off of Aquarium Road.

URI President Robert L. Carothers said construction will take about 18 months and will cost $15 million. Voter-approved state bonds will cover $14 million and private donations will cover the remaining costs, according to a press release by the URI Department of Communications.

Carothers called the ceremony a "historic day" and referred to the efforts of numerous people.

"Without extraordinary minds, none of this would be important, none of this would have happened," Carothers said.

Carothers said the building will feature offices, classrooms, an Inter Space Center and a cafeteria. The Inter Space Center will use state-of-the-art technology to communicate between marine operations around the world. A satellite system and an internet server called Internet2 will enable this communication. According to the Internet2 Web site, Internet2 is a network for "institutions of higher learning."

Bob Weygand, the Vice President of Administration and Financing at URI, said this new technology will allow the university to "collaborate in new ways."

Robert Ballard, a professor at URI's graduate school of oceanography, enthusiastically described the library's capabilities.

"We can now have lectures from the bottom of the ocean," Ballard said. The unprecedented connectivity is a result of the technology in the Inter Space Center.

Ballard said that while the library is geared for the graduate school of oceanography, undergraduate students will also benefit from the advanced technology.

"It's a wonderful way of new discoveries," Ballard said.

Ballard said the library will contribute to "deep-water archaeology," and represents educational outreach. He said the library will excite the "next generation of engineers and scientists." Ballard said that he wants to promote oceanography in schools throughout Rhode Island.

"We want the Ocean State to be the Ocean State," Ballard said. "We want the curriculums to be about the ocean."

Ballard is known for his discovery of the Titanic, a ship that sank in the northern Atlantic Ocean in 1912.

David Farmer, the dean of the Graduate School of Oceanography, called the library an "extraordinary effort" and a "gathering place" for faculty, scientists, and students.

Farmer said the library will research climate changes in Antarctica, taking "climatically significant" measurements. Farmer said other research topics include the carbon cycle, earthquakes and hurricanes.

Reed called the library "a center of creativity, innovation, and excellence," and said the library will be internationally renowned.