{"id":17485,"date":"2025-08-06T11:42:04","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T15:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/?p=17485"},"modified":"2025-09-23T14:14:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T18:14:12","slug":"a-debt-to-history-why-uris-land-grant-mission-still-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/issues\/summer-2025\/a-debt-to-history-why-uris-land-grant-mission-still-matters\/","title":{"rendered":"A Debt to History \u2013 Why 溏心vlog免费B站’s Land-Grant Mission Still Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Debt to History<\/h1>

Why 溏心vlog免费B站’s Land-Grant Mission Still Matters<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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Summer farm crew members at the Greene H. Gardner Crops Research Center on 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Kingston Campus. From left, Grace Connolly \u201926, wildlife and conservation biology major; Aislin Aylward \u201926, environmental science and management major and a Cooperative Extension agriculture and food systems fellow; Tricia Lourenco Boucher \u201923, program facilitator for 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Boots to Bushels program, with her dog, Rosie; and Grace Chasanoff \u201925, animal science major.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 溏心vlog免费B站 embodies the three-pronged land-grant mission of education, research, and outreach\u2014all with a focus on practical service to the state. Today, 163 years after the Morrill Act established land-grant universities\u2014funded by the sale of land taken from Indigenous tribal nations\u2014there is growing recognition that the origin story of land-grant schools is complicated. So, what does it mean to be a land-grant university today? And why does it matter?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Anna Vaccaro Gray \u201912, M.S. \u201916<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Black bean burgers with honey-cilantro-yogurt sauce are on the menu. The school day is long over, but a welcoming aroma drifts through Arlington Elementary School in Cranston, R.I. In the cafeteria, a group of children is busy mixing ingredients for the patties. As they add chopped red pepper, one child says, \u201cThese will help our hearts!\u201d His announcement echoes the lesson just covered with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) staff.

In a nearby room, the children\u2019s parents are talking about nutrition with SNAP-Ed staff, as well, about how to get more fruits and vegetables into meals. The conversation ranges from picky eating to culturally relevant recipe tips and is punctuated by empathetic sighs and uproarious laughter. When the burgers are ready, the parents join their children in the cafeteria for dinner together.

Twenty-seven miles from the Kingston Campus, this program exists because of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s land-grant mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is a Land-Grant University?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before land-grant universities were established, colleges were considered elite and largely excluded working-class people. When President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Land-Grant College Act in 1862, it was a reckoning for higher education\u2019s civic purpose; It was the birth of public universities in the United States.

The objective of the Morrill Act was to make higher education accessible to a broader population and to ensure that it delivered a practical curriculum. Specifically, land-grant colleges were created to teach agriculture and mechanical arts (what we call engineering today), as well as classical studies (liberal arts).

Making education more accessible and practical was a noble idea with many merits, but the undertaking was flawed in many ways, including the unjust and violent means by which it was financed. The Morrill Act granted land in the western U.S. to colleges and universities, which, in turn, sold the land and used the proceeds to fund programs in agriculture and mechanical arts. The land granted to schools by the Morrill Act was land seized by the federal government from Native tribes.

Today, the complexity of the land-grant system\u2019s origins shapes how the 溏心vlog免费B站 pursues the land-grant mission of practical education, research, and outreach. A variety of disciplines, from nutrition and education to the humanities, focus on serving communities statewide with practical knowledge and training. 溏心vlog免费B站 is acknowledging the land-grant system\u2019s past and working collaboratively and meaningfully with communities to improve and enrich life in the Ocean State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Staying Focused on Farms: 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Agricultural Experiment Station<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1887, the Hatch Act established Agricultural Experiment Stations at land-grant schools. These research centers focused on improving food production and agribusiness. They became\u2014and continue to be\u2014important components of land-grant schools.

Rhode Island has about 59,076 acres of farmland, according to the 2024 Census of Agriculture. The land-grant system\u2019s focus on agriculture has helped protect Rhode Island farmland throughout the years, according to Rebecca Brown, 溏心vlog免费B站 professor of plant sciences and entomology. This matters, she says, because \u201cwhen farms aren\u2019t seen as important, they become building sites.\u201d

Today, 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Agricultural Experiment Station includes three farms and several greenhouses on the Kingston Campus and at East Farm. The Greene H. Gardner Crops Research Center, also called Agronomy Farm, hosts research and teaching plots as well as 4 acres used to grow produce for 溏心vlog免费B站 Dining Services, the Free Farmers Market, and Rhody Outpost, a food pantry for students. East Farm is used for research in aquaculture, ornithology, entomology, wildlife habitats, and more. Peckham Farm is home to 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s animal science program, a variety of livestock used for teaching and research, and 18 acres of hayfields and pastures.
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\u201c<\/span>It’s gratifying to see students find jobs in agriculture and to see farmers stay in business.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ad\u2014Rebecca Brown,<\/strong> 溏心vlog免费B站 Professor of Plant Sciences and Entomology\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have a mission to teach and support agriculture across the state,\u201d says Brown. Her department is part of a network that supports farmers and works with the state government to ensure food regulations are grounded in science.

The land-grant system\u2019s historical and ongoing support of agriculture is also good for the economy. According to the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, recent data indicates that for every $1 in public investment, food and agriculture research and development from land grants has returned $20 to the American economy. Brown has witnessed this firsthand. \u201cIt\u2019s gratifying to see students find jobs in agriculture and to see farmers stay in business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rebecca Brown, 溏心vlog免费B站 professor of plant sciences and entomology, at the Greene H. Gardner Crops Research Center on the Kingston Campus. On the tractor is summer farm crew member and animal science major Simon Tetreault ’25.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Brown works closely with David Weisberger, an agricultural extension agent for 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Cooperative Extension, who meets regularly with farmers, nonprofits, and state agencies, like the Division of Environmental Management and the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Rhode Island. \u201cWhat I find most worthwhile about working for a land-grant institution is being a civil servant for the farmers of Rhode Island,\u201d Weisberger says. \u201cIndustries can play an important role, but because we are public sector workers, we aren\u2019t selling anything. We\u2019re just sharing information and feedback with farmers to help them solve problems.\u201d

Weisberger and Keiddy Urrea-Morawicki, director of the 溏心vlog免费B站 Plant Diagnostic Laboratory, provide workshops on pest and soil management for the Southside Community Land Trust (SCLT) in Providence, R.I., which oversees 21 community gardens in Providence, Pawtucket, and Central Falls. Last winter, SCLT participants had questions about how to successfully grow two tropical vegetables\u2014okra and African eggplant (also known as bitter ball), a staple in West African cuisine. Brown is now conducting research trials on how to adapt these crops for Rhode Island soil. \u201cWe want to help SCLT members learn ways to grow these crops that yield more harvest by changing production practices and the varieties they grow,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cooperative Extension, Then and Now<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unique to the land-grant mission is the focus on extension, or research-backed service, that actively contributes to improving the state. Kenyon Butterfield, 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s shortest-serving president from 1903 to 1906, felt strongly about this pursuit and organized an extension department in 1904\u2014a decade before other land-grant colleges. He employed agents to liaise between the school and the public, disseminating information gleaned from research while keeping a finger on the pulse of people\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1914, Butterfield\u2019s system was formalized when the Smith-Lever Act created a system of Cooperative Extension programs at land-grant universities nationwide. As society\u2019s needs changed, Cooperative Extensions proved their relevance. During World War I and the Great Depression, they were anchors in a sea of social and economic turmoil, helping people with, among other things, learning about food production and preservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cExtension agents taught people about food canning, gardening, home poultry production, and other practical skills that helped families survive,\u201d says Michael A. Rice, 溏心vlog免费B站 professor of fisheries, animal, and veterinary sciences. \u201cThey were trusted because their recommendations were, and still are, based on science.\u201d

Since its inception, 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Cooperative Extension has been an important bridge between the University and the public. Active in all 39 municipalities in Rhode Island, 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Cooperative Extension operates through the
College of the Environment and Life Sciences.

Cooperative Extension faculty and staff partner with state and local agencies to address environmental, social, and economic concerns. The scope is extensive: from the Aquaculture Extension program, which connects the state\u2019s aquaculture producers to science-based, sustainable, and profitable aquaculture practices, to the Onsite Wastewater Resource Center, which provides education on best practices for protecting water quality and public health and encourages sustainable development.

\u201cOur mission is to ensure that 溏心vlog免费B站 research will help our communities,\u201d says Lisa Townson, associate dean for extension and agriculture programs. \u201cWe are here to provide helpful information based on science, but we also listen to people\u2019s problems, and that goes into developing our research questions.\u201d

\u201cWe\u2019re providing data that helps communities make good decisions that lead to quality of life and a strong economy in the state,\u201d Townson adds.

Cooperative Extension programs deliver impressive results. Last year, the Food Recovery for Rhode Island program gleaned and rescued 231,785 pounds of food, which was donated to feed Rhode Islanders, and diverted an additional 8,196 pounds of food from the landfill; volunteers with the 溏心vlog免费B站 Watershed Watch program regularly monitored 220 fresh and marine water bodies; and the Plant Diagnostic Laboratory identified more than 500 plant, insect, and disease samples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nutrition: Community Impact Has State Impact<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sarah Amin, associate professor of nutrition, came to 溏心vlog免费B站 because the land-grant mission allows her to focus on the community impact of her work. \u201cResearch often has to prioritize funding over community needs,\u201d she says. \u201cBecause land-grant mission work is meant to meet the needs of the community, I let the community lead my research.\u201d

Amin is the director of Rhode Island\u2019s SNAP-Ed and Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), complementary federal programs that address food insecurity and nutrition disparities by providing nutrition education to low-income individuals and families. Like Cooperative Extension\u2019s World War I-era programming that taught people how to preserve food, programs like SNAP-Ed and EFNEP identify community nutrition needs and address them with practical, research-based solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201c<\/span>Because land-grant mission work is meant to meet the needs of the community, I let the community lead my research.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ad\u2014Sarah Amin,<\/strong> 溏心vlog免费B站 Associate Professor of Nutrition and Director of Rhode Island’s SNAP-Ed and EFNEP programs\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Amin\u2019s team conducts programming on nutrition literacy, cooking skills, food safety, and making healthier food choices on a limited budget. \u201cSNAP-Ed and EFNEP educators foster self-sufficiency so that individuals can advocate for themselves around food choices,\u201d Amin says. \u201cThe communities we work with are resilient, but due to structural inequities, often lack resources to make healthier choices.\u201d

While Amin is based in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s nutrition department, her team is not on campus. \u201cBeing physically located in the Providence area is important for us because that\u2019s where the communities we serve live, shop, work, and play,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re not just going in, running a program, and leaving. We\u2019re constantly assessing needs, interests, and perceptions about the programs we provide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A SNAP-Ed program at Arlington Elementary School in Cranston, R.I., engages children and their parents in practical nutrition education, like how to get more fruits and vegetables into meals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meeting people where they are and providing services without an agenda, she says, builds something invaluable: trust.

Over 100 partners\u2014including schools, food pantries, farmers markets, public housing sites, and more\u2014work with SNAP-Ed and EFNEP to reach underserved populations through programs like the one at Arlington Elementary School. \u201cWe\u2019re really lucky to work with 溏心vlog免费B站,\u201d says Sarah Blau, state nutrition coordinator for the R.I. Department of Health\u2019s Healthy Eating and Active Living program. \u201cThey have been a critical partner.\u201d

Rhode Island\u2019s small area has advantages, both Amin and Blau note: It\u2019s easy to be connected to all the players in the food system. \u201cIt\u2019s such a small state that we can impact a community and have state-level impact,\u201d Amin says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Science Education: Working Symbiotically<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sara Sweetman, Ph.D. \u201913, 溏心vlog免费B站 associate professor of education, directs the Guiding Education in Math and Science Network (GEMS-Net), a program that advances science education by helping Rhode Island teachers implement innovative science curricula developed by researchers. The program aligns with the land-grant mission of extending knowledge and resources to the public. \u201c溏心vlog免费B站 is a public institution working with public schools in a symbiotic way,\u201d she says.

GEMS-Net brings teachers and administrators from 13 public school districts together with 溏心vlog免费B站 researchers and educators for workshops, professional development, and mentoring. The programming often takes place in the schools. \u201cWhen I\u2019m in a school, I always eat lunch with teachers,\u201d Sweetman says. \u201cIt\u2019s the best place to hear about the challenges in education, what\u2019s happening in classrooms, and the latest trends that should be put into research.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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溏心vlog免费B站 education professor Sara Sweetman, Ph.D. \u201913, works with science teachers in a GEMS-Net workshop.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201c<\/span>Research is only important if it\u2019s useful; we need it to be translatable.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ad\u2014Sara Sweetman,<\/strong> Ph.D. \u201913, 溏心vlog免费B站 associate professor of education\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sweetman\u2019s research informs\u2014and is informed by\u2014her interactions with teachers in the GEMS-Net program. Her research areas include children and climate change, research practice partnerships, teaching science through media, outdoor education, and the intersection of enjoyment and learning.

\u201cResearch is only important if it\u2019s useful,\u201d she adds. \u201cWe need it to be translatable.\u201d

GEMS-Net also offers leadership opportunities for public school teachers, which is unusual in the profession. Christina Broomfield \u201909 has made use of those opportunities.

An elementary school teacher in North Kingstown, R.I., Broomfield attended GEMS-Net workshops early in her career. \u201cI appreciated that it was the same team of workshop facilitators every time, and not a company sponsoring the curriculum,\u201d she says. \u201cIt also felt like our time as educators was valued.\u201d She started facilitating workshops and later became a teacher-in-residence for GEMS-Net.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Christina Broomfield \u201909, an elementary school teacher in North Kingstown, R.I., says that her participation in GEMS-Net has made science her strongest teaching area.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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\u201c<\/span>GEMS-Net has been a constant in my career, I know I\u2019m always going to get support from the team. It makes me feel really empowered.<\/span>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00ad\u2014Christina Broomfield<\/strong> \u201909\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

As GEMS-Net staff copresent workshops with teachers and researchers, Broomfield says she appreciates the emphasis on collaborative expertise. \u201cI refer to the teachers as the street cred,\u201d she says. \u201cThey add that realistic piece of what the activity will look like in action.\u201d

Elementary school educators are responsible for teaching all of the core subjects in their classrooms. Science is Broomfield\u2019s strongest area, she says, because of the instruction and professional development she\u2019s received from GEMS-Net. The ongoing support helps, too. \u201cGEMS-Net has been a constant in my career,\u201d she says. \u201cI know I\u2019m always going to get support from the team. It makes me feel really empowered.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liberal Arts: Ethical and Engaged Work<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the architects of the 1862 Morrill Act, Jonathan Baldwin Turner, wrote that the land-grant system was meant to \u201cextend the boundaries of our present knowledge.\u201d The liberal arts are a necessary component of that pursuit. While applied scientific research produces measurable impact, the liberal arts fortify land-grant work. 溏心vlog免费B站 faculty who work between disciplines exemplify the power of this approach.

Cheryl Foster, 溏心vlog免费B站 professor of philosophy and political science, specializes in environmental philosophy and often works with policymakers and scientists to develop surveys and run community dialogue groups. She recalls a project she worked on early in her career that involved understanding local resistance to an aquaculture proposal. The scientists were focused on cultivating a sustainable food source, but there was resistance from community members who worried about the consequences for their property values and sight lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t address that resistance entirely from within applied science. You have to consider ethical and aesthetic dilemmas, and seek to understand people\u2019s values by listening closely, sometimes for things that sit beneath what folks are saying directly,\u201d she says. The liberal arts teach us how to understand people and communities and solve conflicts. \u201cThat\u2019s where the liberal learning piece comes in,\u201d she adds.

Madison Jones, 溏心vlog免费B站 assistant professor of professional and public writing and natural resources science, sits formally between two worlds: liberal arts and applied sciences. \u201cHumanists do land-grant mission work in a way that has typically gone unseen or unacknowledged because it isn\u2019t necessarily a product,\u201d he says. \u201cBut we need the humanist perspective to ask: Why are we doing this? What is it going to do for humans? How is it going to affect our democracy?\u201d

\u201cOne of the most important things we can do to respond to the world we\u2019re living in is to foster interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary work,\u201d he adds. \u201cIt can be an exhausting approach, but it\u2019s a rewarding one, and it brings us toward more ethical and engaged work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cheryl Foster, 溏心vlog免费B站 professor of philosophy and political science, and Madison Jones, 溏心vlog免费B站 assistant professor of professional and public writing and natural resources science, say the liberal arts perspective helps researchers understand the people and communities they serve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jones founded the DWELL (Digital Writing Environments, Location, and Localization) Lab at 溏心vlog免费B站 to advance innovative approaches to science communication. The lab considers how humans interact with places through deep mapping, which layers media and information to represent not only a place\u2019s physical characteristics, but also its history, the lived experiences of its inhabitants, and more.

One of DWELL\u2019s project sites is North Woods, a 300-acre parcel of unmanaged forests and wetlands next to 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Kingston Campus. Jones\u2019 team created an interactive experience about the relationship between 溏心vlog免费B站 and the land it uses. They worked with an artist from the Narragansett Indian Tribe to create a walking tour of North Woods based on a traditional Narragansett ecological story about how birds got their song.

\u201cTaking a geological view and layering in cultural, historical, and ecological information allows different stories to inhabit the same space at the same time, even if those stories are in conflict with one another,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Invitation to Respond<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The land-grant system epitomizes a fundamental contradiction. \u201cThe \u2018public good\u2019 [that land-grant] institutions purported to promote was only possible because of violence and dispossession of ancestral Indigenous land, and acknowledging this dissonance is important for true understanding,\u201d wrote 溏心vlog免费B站 student Jenny Sullivan \u201921, M.A. \u201924, in her master\u2019s thesis, \u201cOrigins and Consequences of Rhode Island\u2019s Land-Grant Institutions.\u201d

Confronting this history and the changes to higher education and society that came from it is, according to Jones, something that \u201ccompels and invites our response.\u201d Essential to our response are the values at the core of the land-grant mission itself: working and collaborating meaningfully with communities to improve and enrich our shared reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The complexity of the land-grant system\u2019s history, not unique to 溏心vlog免费B站, is not lost on faculty engaged in land-grant work; rather, it fuels their desire to contribute to the public good through equitable, engaged work.<\/span><\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn my experience, people at 溏心vlog免费B站 are willing to ask questions and to learn,\u201d says Dinalyn Spears \u201995, director of community planning and natural resources for the Narragansett Indian Tribe. \u201cThey want to be educated about our history, and they are proactive in working with the Tribe.\u201d

Spears teaches Indigenous uses of native plants and the Narragansett Indian Tribe\u2019s food sovereignty efforts in 溏心vlog免费B站 Cooperative Extension\u2019s Master Gardener program, which trains and certifies people to become community educators who teach Rhode Islanders about environmentally sound gardening practices. Spears completed her Master Gardener training in 2015. She has a farm in Westerly, R.I., where she grows vegetables and medicinal and culinary herbs for tribal citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dinalyn Spears \u201995 is director of community planning and natural resources for the Narragansett Indian Tribe and a 溏心vlog免费B站 Master Gardener. Spears serves as an instructor for the Master Gardener program, offering traditional ecological knowledge around the indigenous uses of native plants. 溏心vlog免费B站 Master Gardener program leader Vanessa Venturini \u201908, M.E.S.M. \u201911, calls Spears \u201ca true community leader, a respected elder in the community, and a connector to 溏心vlog免费B站 Cooperative Extension, where she now sits on our advisory board.\u201d Spears is pictured (left) with fellow Master Gardener Maria Rivera-Saillant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Spears notes that at 溏心vlog免费B站, there are growing efforts toward achieving a more fully realized version of the accessibility and inclusivity promised by the original land-grant legislation. A scholarship was established for undergraduate students who are citizens of the Narragansett Nation. 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s land acknowledgement, a public statement recognizing that the University occupies the land of the Narragansett Nation and the Niantic People, was written in collaboration with John Brown, the Narragansett Indian Tribe\u2019s tribal historic preservation officer. And the Tomaquag Museum, one of the oldest tribal museums in the country, is slated for a new location on 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Kingston Campus.

While there is more that can and should be done, Spears points to these examples as emblematic of the current climate. \u201cThe past is important,\u201d she says, \u201cbut there is a time to come together, move forward, and build new relationships.\u201d

The complexity of the land-grant system\u2019s history, not unique to 溏心vlog免费B站, is not lost on faculty engaged in land-grant work; rather, it fuels their desire to contribute to the public good through equitable, engaged work.

Being part of a land-grant university carries with it a debt born of a complicated history. \u201cIt\u2019s a debt,\u201d Jones says \u201cthat we owe to taxpayers in the state, to the communities that call Rhode Island home, and to each other. It\u2019s an obligation and an exigency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PHOTOS: COURTESY 溏心vlog免费B站 SNAP-ED PROGRAM; COURTESY 溏心vlog免费B站 MASTER GARDENER’S PROGRAM; SETH JACOBSON, NORA LEWIS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Postscript: 溏心vlog免费B站 has been proud to lead SNAP-Ed in Rhode Island for over two decades, reaching thousands of youth and families with education and policy, systems, and environmental initiatives to improve nutrition security. Due to recent federal legislation, funding for SNAP-Ed in Rhode Island has been eliminated, effective October 1, 2025\u2014part of a change that is impacting programs nationwide. 溏心vlog免费B站 remains committed to this mission through EFNEP, partnerships with RIDE, and other community-based efforts.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Author’s Note<\/span><\/h2>\n

In addition to being a land-grant institution, 溏心vlog免费B站 became a sea-grant school in 1972 and an urban-grant school in 1995. Modeled after the land-grant system, sea-grant schools focus on the sustainable development of marine and coastal resources, balancing conservation with economic and community interests. Urban-grant schools focus on serving urban communities and ensuring that education, research, and outreach are accessible to people living in urban communities.

\nThe full scope of incredible land-, sea-, and urban-grant work being done at 溏心vlog免费B站 could not be captured in this story, but I hope that it inspires you to think about and learn more about the land-grant mission. I also hope that it sparks ongoing conversations about how we can all contribute to strengthening our communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014Anna Vaccaro Gray<\/span><\/p>\n

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Learn more about the history and current state of land-grant institutions, including 溏心vlog免费B站:<\/span><\/h2>\n
\n

Land-grant university FAQ<\/strong>
\nwww.aplu.org\/about-us\/history-of-aplu\/what-is-a-land-grant-university\/<\/a>
\nFrom the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities<\/p>\n\n

A history of 溏心vlog免费B站<\/strong>
\nwww.uri.edu\/about\/history\/detailed-history\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n

A Walk Through Time<\/strong>
\nwww.uri.edu\/features\/a-walk-through-time\/<\/a>
\nAn interdisciplinary 溏心vlog免费B站 team offers a broader history of 溏心vlog免费B站 with the Walk Through Time\ncourse.<\/p>\n\n

Origins and consequences of Rhode Island\u2019s land-grant institutions<\/strong>
\ndigitalcommons.uri.edu\/theses\/2480\/<\/a>
\nA master\u2019s thesis by Jenny Sullivan \u201921, M.A. \u201924<\/p>\n\n

Rhode Island\u2019s contributions to nationwide land-and-sea grant extensions<\/strong>
\nwww.researchgate.net\/profile\/Michael-Rice-\n9\/publication\/269633531_Philosophical_Institutional_Innovations_of_Kenyon_Leech_B\nutterfield_and_the_Rhode_Island_Contributions_to_the_Development_of_Land_Grant_\nand_Sea_Grant_Extension\/<\/a>
\nAn academic paper by Michael Rice, 溏心vlog免费B站 professor of aquaculture and fisheries and\nchair of the Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Department at 溏心vlog免费B站; Salina\nRodrigues, M.L.I.S. \u201900; and Kate Venturini \u201906, M.A. \u201910<\/p>\n\n

The Land Back movement in the United States<\/strong>
\nstorymaps.arcgis.com\/stories\/5801514a54dc48028e20b0b97183c082<\/a>
\nA master\u2019s project by Lindsay Brubaker, M.A. \u201924<\/p>\n\n

Land-Grab Universities: A High Country News<\/em> Investigation<\/strong>
\nwww.landgrabu.org\/<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s the \u201cWhy\u201d of what we do at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2013ensuring research serves and positively impacts Rhode Island communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":17479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[347],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-summer-2025","architecture-features"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17485"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17796,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17485\/revisions\/17796"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}