VCU Rice Rivers Center

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Dr. Matthew Balazik pulls in a gill net on the James River near Osbourne Landing. All photos by Scott Elmquist

Matt Balazik, Ph.D., the focus of Style Weekly's Sunday with Style

Sept. 23, 2024

Even with decades of research, Atlantic sturgeon remain a puzzle despite having roamed local waters for thousands of years.

Sara Bouchard

Sara Bouchard named FLUXNET artist-in-residence

Aug. 23, 2024

The one-year residency is at the carbon flux tower at VCU Rice Rivers Center.

A group of faculty and students from the Center on Health Disparities come together at Rice Rivers Center

Rice Rivers Center hosts VCU Center on Health Disparities retreat

Aug. 23, 2024

Faculty and students from Monroe Park and Health Campuses discuss intersection between human and environmental health.

Illustration of two prothonotary warblers in a tree, with two people in a canoe in the foreground.

A bird call for wetland health

Aug. 21, 2024

Humans need marshes. The prothonotary warbler can help us save them.

A VCU researcher led a team exploring restoring sturgeon to rivers in the United Kingdom. (Zoological Society of America)

VCU Rice Rivers Center sturgeon specialist takes his expertise from the James River to the U.K.

Aug. 19, 2024

Matt Balazik led a research team assessing two rivers that offer hope for reintroducing the historic and endangered ‘royal fish.’

todd janeski dumping oysters in the river

VOSRP's Janeski selected to MAFMC advisory board

Aug. 9, 2024

His three-year term began July 1, 2024.

Photo of Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling Program staff

The Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling Program completes their 2023/2024 season

Aug. 5, 2024

Thousands of shell with spat "planted" in the Piankatank River.

Student Tamara Eddy learned canoe skills on the third day of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Footprints on the James class this summer. Sitting in the front of a canoe, Eddy ran one of her first white water rapids at Powhite Ledges. It can be seen upstream from the Powhite Parkway. The image was taken with a GoPro mounted on the bow of the boat. (Photo: James Vonesh)

Footprints on the James continues to make a deep impression on VCU students

July 10, 2024

With the river as a classroom, the monthlong experiential learning program marks a decade of combining undergraduate research, teamwork – and plenty of paddling.

Students and faculty gather in front of the Rice Rivers Center Education Building

Summer@Rice Scholars Program underway

June 25, 2024

The scholarship program allows students to continue their research in-between traditional semesters.

Juniper Peterson checks one of dozens of birdhouses along the James River where he is tracking how much time prothonotary warblers spend sitting on their eggs. (Allen Jones, Enterprise Marketing and Communications)

Drawn to a nest of secrets, student researcher explores a small songbird’s breeding habits amid a changing climate

April 15, 2024

VCU environmental studies major Juniper Peterson makes a mark in avian ecology lab, where the peace of nature meets the puzzle of data analysis.