The University of Rhode Island announced on April 6 that Madison Geraci, a Ph.D. student in evolution and marine biology, has received a student award from the Nature Conservancy to support her research on salt marsh health across Rhode Island.
Salt marshes are important for protecting coastlines and providing habitat, but they face increasing threats from sea level rise and environmental pressures. Geraci’s research focuses on foraminifera—microscopic single-celled organisms found in marsh sediments—that can serve as early indicators of ecosystem stress.
“They’re like a canary in the coal mine,” Geraci said. “They’re really sensitive to salinity, sea level rise, coastal acidification, and pollution, and they can tell us a lot about marshes’ overall health.” She explained that while traditional monitoring often centers on vegetation, microbial communities such as foraminifera may reveal ecological stress earlier.
The Nature Conservancy funding will allow Geraci’s team to expand their use of genetic sequencing techniques to identify microbial communities within sediment samples. “Sequencing can be expensive, so the award allows us to do this work on a broader scale,” she said. Using metabarcoding—a DNA sequencing method—they extract samples from restored and non-restored marshes statewide to assess diversity among these microorganisms.
Geraci’s work is part of larger restoration projects that add thin layers of sediment to raise marsh elevation against rising seas. By comparing restored sites with those not yet treated, her team aims to understand how these interventions affect overall ecosystem health. “We go out into these either restored or non-restored marshes locally to assess what their overall ecosystem health is, inform people where the marsh is going, or how the restoration is affecting the marsh,” she said.
Collaborators include Kenneth Raposa at the Narragansett Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and Decatur Foster at the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The project seeks to develop faster tools for agencies like the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management by pairing microbial analysis with other monitoring methods.
Geraci also highlighted meaningful interactions with local residents who have witnessed changes in salt marsh conditions over time: “One of the best parts of my research is interacting with the people and learning how they connect with the marsh throughout their life.”
She concluded by emphasizing both scientific goals and community importance: “We’re hoping to detect signals of stress in a marsh before larger changes… become visible,” Geraci said. “This work helps us guide decisions to keep Rhode Island’s marshes healthy.”
