Academic career
Rice has spent most of his career in academia,first appointed to the faculty of the University of Rhode Island (URI) in October 1987. [13] His academic research interests are in the area of environmental physiology and ecology of bivalve molluscs, [14] and he has further research interests in the field of aquaculture. [15] His major contributions have been the demonstration that bivalve mollusks have the ability to absorb amino acids directly from seawater as a nutrition source,and that bivalves serve an important role in mediating the cycling of nitrogen and other nutrients within marine ecosystems. Additionally,he has studied the effects of shellfishing on the population ecology of bivalves. His research has led to refinements to the practice of managing shellfishery resources in coastal waters,estuaries and marine protected areas. [16]
Rice has made contributions the science of shellfishery management and to the growth of the aquaculture industry in Rhode Island, [17] and internationally, [18] including the Philippines, [19] [20] Tanzania, [21] Georgia,Indonesia [22] and The Gambia. [23] [24] Working with Enrico Beridze of the Iberian Pontomarine Aquaculture Company,he introduced mussel farming to the Black Sea coast of Georgia. [25] He has led a study of invasive Australian crayfish in the Zambezi River watershed of Zambia. [26] Rice has been the recipient of three Fulbright Scholarship awards:Republic of the Philippines 1996–97; [27] Indonesia 1997;and Republic of the Philippines 2006. [7]
At the University of Rhode Island he served as Chairman of the Department of Fisheries,Animal and Veterinary Science from 2000 to 2004,and Chairman/President of the URI Faculty Senate from 2005 to 2007, [2] [28] and again from 2022 to 2023. [29] [30]
Civic involvement and politics
Rice has served from 1999 to 2000 as the president of the Tavern Hall Club,a not-for-profit organization in Kingston,RI dedicated to the preservation of the historic (1738) Elisha Reynolds House as a community meeting place and social center. [2] [31] He has also served as the President of the University Club of URI from 1995 to 1996. [32] He was elected in 2007 to the board of directors and in 2008 as treasurer of the Edmund Rice (1638) Association,a genealogical and family history association that meets annually in Sudbury,Massachusetts. [33] In 2011,Rice was nominated by Bruce Sundlun and appointed by Lincoln Chafee as a Rhode Island Commodore. [2]
Prior to election to the Rhode Island House of Representatives in 2008,Rice served as an appointed member of a number of governmental commissions,including the Conservation Commission of South Kingstown from 1992 to 2008. [34] He chaired that commission from 1998 to 2008. [2] Also prior to election,he was appointed by the Speaker of the RI House of Representatives,to the Legislative Commission on Aquaculture Development (1995–1998), [35] to the Legislative Commission to Develop and Coordinate a Collaborative Effort to Formulate a Restoration Plan for the North Cape Barge Oil Spill (1999), [36] and as Legislative Commissioner proxy delegate to meetings of the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (1999–2000). [37] Rice took an active advocacy role in developing recreational marine fishing licenses to gather fishery harvest data and to fund enhanced fishery management efforts within Rhode Island state waters. [38]
In 2008,upon the decision of incumbent Rep. John Patrick Shanley (D-South Kingstown) not to run for a fifth term in the Rhode Island House of Representatives,Rice ran and was challenged by Republican James K. Haldeman for the open seat. In the election held on November 4,2008,Rice defeated Haldeman by 57.5% to 42.5%,carrying each of the district's five precincts. [39]
During the 2009 legislative session,Rice served on the House Committee on Separation of Powers and Government Oversight. In the 2010 session,he served on the Committee on Environment and Natural Resources,and the House committees on Separation of Powers,Government Oversight,and Constituent Services,as well as the Special House Commission to Study the Structure and Workings of the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. [6] [40] [41]
Rice was defeated for reelection by Spencer E. Dickinson in the September 14,2010 Democratic Primary by a margin of 52.8-47.2%. [42] [43] He was targeted for defeat by the Rhode Island Labor Movement after voting against expansion of pension benefits for workers. [44]
In 2011,Rice was appointed to the Rhode Island Democratic Party State Committee representing at-large Rhode Island's 2nd congressional district,serving until 2017. [45] In 2013 he was appointed by Governor Chafee and received confirmation by the Rhode Island Senate to serve a two and a half-year partial term on the Rhode Island Marine Fisheries Council, [46] and reappointed to two terms by Governor Raimondo ending on 1 April 2024. [47] [48] He has been active with the American Association of University Professors. [49]
Aquaculture, also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants. Aquaculture involves cultivating freshwater, brackish water, and saltwater populations under controlled or semi-natural conditions and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish. Aquaculture is also a practice used for restoring and rehabilitating marine and freshwater ecosystems. Mariculture, commonly known as marine farming, is aquaculture in seawater habitats and lagoons, as opposed to freshwater aquaculture. Pisciculture is a type of aquaculture that consists of fish farming to obtain fish products as food.
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