Rhode Island students win state award for Port of Galilee proposal

The award will be presented on Jan. 12.
The award will be presented on Jan. 12. | shutterstock
Students from the University of Rhode Island have been announced as recipients of a state award for their proposal to protect the Port of Galilee from rising sea levels, which are believed to be caused by climate change.

The proposal, titled “Galilee: A Vision for a Resilient Port,” was selected by the American Planning Association’s Rhode Island chapter as the student category winner.

“The awards committee loved the project,” Horsley Witten Group in Providence Chair and Project Planner Jeff Davis said. “It involved fantastic ideas, meaningful, inclusive collaboration, great visuals and robust data and trend analysis with inventive yet regulatory-compliant solutions. We all hope to see steps taken to implement these ideas both at Galilee and at other areas along the Rhode Island coast.”

The report received contributions from students in landscape architecture, environmental science and management and marine affairs.

It was prepared by a URI professor in the Landscape Architecture Department, William Green; assistant professor of Coastal Planning, Policy and Design, Austin Becker; URI undergraduate Antone Almeida; and URI graduate student Mary-Kate Kane.

The award will be presented at a ceremony taking place at Slater Mill in Pawtucket on Jan. 12.