Michael Alan Rice (born March 4, 1955) is an American professor of fisheries and aquaculture at the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

and former state representative from

South Kingstown, Rhode Island South Kingstown is a town in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,931 at the 2020 census. South Kingstown is the second largest town in Rhode Island by total geographic area, behind Ne ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, he served in the

Rhode Island House of Representatives The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is ...

, representing the 35th district, encompassing the village of

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

and West Kingston, and parts of the neighborhoods of Tuckertown,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

and Peace Dale. Rice was first elected on November 4, 2008, and served from January 3, 2009, to January 3, 2011.

Education and early career

Rice was born in

San Jose, California San Jose, officially the City of San José ( ; ), is a cultural, commercial, and political center within Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area. With a city population of 997,368 and a metropolitan area population of 1.95 million, it is ...

, to Richard Eugene Rice and Marilyn Joyce (Cardoza) Rice. He is a descendant of 19th-century Azorean settlers in California, thus being of Portuguese descent, and a direct patrilineal descendant of New England colonist

Edmund Rice Edmund is a masculine given name in the English language. The name is derived from the Old English elements ''ēad'', meaning "prosperity" or "riches", and ''mund'', meaning "protector". Persons named Edmund include: People Kings and nobles *Ed ...

. Michael Rice earned the rank of

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over ...

in 1972 in

Garden Grove, California Garden Grove is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 171,949 at the 2020 census. State Route 22, also known as the Garden Grove Freeway, passes through the city in an east–west direction. The west ...

. Rice attended

Servite High School Servite High School is a private, Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized ...

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

before attending the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

, and graduating with a B.S. in biology in 1977. While working in the laboratory of physiologist Grover C. Stephens at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

, he earned both a master's degree in biology in 1981 and a PhD. in

comparative physiology Comparative physiology is a subdiscipline of physiology that studies and exploits the diversity of functional characteristics of various kinds of organisms. It is closely related to evolutionary physiology and environmental physiology. Many ...

in 1987. Rice served in the U.S.

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

from 1981 to 1985 working with the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources. During that time, he worked to improve the sanitary quality of farmed oysters. In 1982, while working with José Maria DeGuzman of Value Trading Company Inc. in

Dagupan Dagupan , officially the City of Dagupan (, , ), is a 2nd class independent component city in the Ilocos Region, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 174,302 people. Located on Lingayen Gulf on the northwest-central ...

, he helped establish the first commercially successful farm for serranid grouper fish in the Philippines.

Academic career

Rice has spent most of his career in

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, first appointed to the faculty of the

(URI) in October 1987. His academic research interests are in the area of

environmental physiology Ecophysiology (from Greek , ''oikos'', "house(hold)"; , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , ''-logia''), environmental physiology or physiological ecology is a biological discipline that studies the response of an organism's physiology to environm ...

and

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

bivalve molluscs Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed by a calcified exoskeleton consis ...

, and he has further research interests in the field of

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), 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 (e.g. Nelu ...

. His major contributions have been the demonstration that bivalve mollusks have the ability to absorb

amino acids Amino acids are organic compounds that contain both amino and carboxylic acid functional groups. Although over 500 amino acids exist in nature, by far the most important are the Proteinogenic amino acid, 22 α-amino acids incorporated into p ...

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 Marine ecosystems are the largest of Earth's aquatic ecosystems and exist in waters that have a high salt content. These systems contrast with freshwater ecosystems, which have a lower salt content. Marine waters cover more than 70% of the sur ...

. Additionally, he has studied the effects of shellfishing on the

population ecology Population ecology is a sub-field of ecology that deals with the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment (biophysical), environment, such as birth rate, birth and death rates, and by immigration an ...

of bivalves. His research has led to refinements to the practice of managing shellfishery resources in coastal waters,

estuaries An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

and

marine protected areas A marine protected area (MPA) is a protected area of the world's seas, oceans, estuary, estuaries or in the US, the Great Lakes. These marine areas can come in many forms ranging from wildlife refuges to research facilities. MPAs restrict human ...

. Rice has made contributions the science of shellfishery management and to the growth of the aquaculture industry in

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, and internationally, including the

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

The Gambia The Gambia, officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. Geographically, The Gambia is the List of African countries by area, smallest country in continental Africa; it is surrounded by Senegal on all sides except for ...

. Working with Enrico Beridze of the Iberian Pontomarine Aquaculture Company, he introduced mussel farming to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

coast of Georgia. He has led a study of invasive Australian crayfish in the

Zambezi River The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

watershed of

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

. Rice has been the recipient of three

Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

awards: Republic of the Philippines 1996–97;

1997; and Republic of the Philippines 2006. 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, and again from 2022 to 2023.

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. He has also served as the President of the University Club of URI from 1995 to 1996. He was elected in 2007 to the board of directors and in 2008 as treasurer of the

Edmund Rice (1638) Edmund Rice (c. 1594 – 3 May 1663), was an early settler to Massachusetts Bay Colony born in Suffolk, England. He lived in Stanstead, Suffolk and Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire before sailing with his family to America. He landed in the Col ...

Association, a

genealogical Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kin ...

and

family history Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...

association that meets annually in

Sudbury, Massachusetts Sudbury is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 18,934. The town, located in Greater Boston's MetroWest region, has a colonial history. History Incorporated in 1639, the boundar ...

. In 2011, Rice was nominated by

Bruce Sundlun Bruce George Sundlun (January 19, 1920 – July 21, 2011) was an American businessman, politician and member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party who served as List of governors of Rhode Island, 71st governor of Rhode Island ...

and appointed by

Lincoln Chafee Lincoln Davenport Chafee ( ; born March 26, 1953) is an American politician. He was mayor of Warwick, Rhode Island, from 1993 to 1999, a United States Senator from 1999 to 2007, and the 74th Governor of Rhode Island from 2011 to 2015. He was a ...

as a

Rhode Island Commodore Rhode Island Commodore is Rhode Island's highest honor and an honorary title bestowed upon individuals by approval of the governor of Rhode Island. It is not a military rank, requires no duties, and carries with it no pay or other compensation. Ho ...

. 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 South Kingstown is a town in, and the county seat of, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 31,931 at the 2020 census. South Kingstown is the second largest town in Rhode Island by total geographic area, behind New ...

from 1992 to 2008. He chaired that commission from 1998 to 2008. 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), to the Legislative Commission to Develop and Coordinate a Collaborative Effort to Formulate a Restoration Plan for the ''North Cape'' Barge Oil Spill (1999), and as Legislative Commissioner proxy delegate to meetings of the

Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission The Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) is a commission of U.S. states formed to coordinate and manage fishery resources—including marine ( saltwater) fish, shellfish, and anadromous fish ( migratory fish that ascended rivers f ...

(1999–2000). 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. In 2008, upon the decision of incumbent Rep.

John Patrick Shanley John Patrick Shanley (born October 13, 1950) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and director. He won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film ''Moonstruck''. His play, '' Doubt: A Parable'', won the 2005 Pulitzer Pri ...

(D-South Kingstown) not to run for a fifth term in the

, 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. 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. Rice was defeated for reelection by Spencer E. Dickinson in the September 14, 2010 Democratic Primary by a margin of 52.8-47.2%. He was targeted for defeat by the Rhode Island Labor Movement after voting against expansion of pension benefits for workers. In 2011, Rice was appointed to the Rhode Island Democratic Party State Committee representing at-large

Rhode Island's 2nd congressional district Rhode Island's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district located in the southern and western part of the U.S. state, U.S State of Rhode Island.The district is currently represented by Democratic Party (United States), Democrat Seth ...

, serving until 2017. 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, and reappointed to two terms by Governor Raimondo ending on 1 April 2024. He has been active with the

American Association of University Professors The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) is an organization of professors and other academics in the United States that was founded in 1915 in New York City and is currently headquartered in Washington, D.C. AAUP membership inc ...

Selected publications

* Rice, M.A., P.D. Rawson, A.D. Salinas and W.R. Rosario. 2016. Identification and salinity tolerance of the western hemisphere mussel '' Mytella charruana'' (

d'Orbigny Alcide Charles Victor Marie Dessalines d'Orbigny (6 September 1802 – 30 June 1857) was a French naturalist who made major contributions in many areas, including zoology (including malacology), palaeontology, geology, archaeology and anthropol ...

, 1842) in the Philippines. Journal of Shellfish Research 35:865-873 * Rice, M.A. 2010. A brief history of the American Fish Culture Company 1877–1997.

Rhode Island History The history of Rhode Island is an overview of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations and the state of Rhode Island from pre-colonial times to the present. Pre-colonization Native Americans occupied most of the area comprising Rho ...

68(1):20-35. * Marroquin-Mora, D.C. and M.A. Rice. 2008. Gonadal cycle of northern quahogs, ''Mercenaria mercenaria'' (Linnaeus, 1758), from fished and non-fished subpopulations in Narragansett Bay. Journal of Shellfish Research 27:643-652. * Pietros, J.M. and M.A. Rice. 2003. The impacts of aquacultured oysters, ''Crassostrea virginica'' (

Gmelin Gmelin may refer to: * Karl Christian Gmelin, Carl Christian Gmelin (1762–1837), German botanist, author of ''Flora Badensis, Alsatica et confinium regionum cis- et transrhenania'' (1806) * Charles Gmelin (1872–1950), British Olympic athlete * ...

, 1791) on water quality and

sedimentation Sedimentation is the deposition of sediments. It takes place when particles in suspension settle out of the fluid in which they are entrained and come to rest against a barrier. This is due to their motion through the fluid in response to th ...

: results of a

mesocosm thumb , Diagram of a small form closed system mesocosm. A mesocosm (''meso-'' or 'medium' and ''-cosm'' 'world') is any outdoor experimental system that examines the natural environment under controlled conditions. In this way mesocosm studi ...

study. Aquaculture 220:407-422. * Rheault, R.B., Jr., and M.A. Rice. 1996. Food-limited growth and condition index in the oyster ''

Crassostrea virginica The eastern oyster (''Crassostrea virginica'')—also called the Atlantic oyster, American oyster, or East Coast oyster—is a species of true oyster native to eastern North and South America. Other names in local or culinary use include the Wel ...

'' (

, 1791) and the bay scallop ''

Argopecten irradians ''Argopecten irradians'', formerly classified as '' Aequipecten irradians'', common names Atlantic bay scallop, bay scallop, and blue-eyed scallop, is a species of scallop in the family Pectinidae. An edible saltwater clam, it is native to the ...

'' (

Lamarck Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolo ...

1819). Journal of Shellfish Research 15:271-283. * Rice, M.A., R.B. Rheault, Jr., M.S. Perez and V.S. Perez. 1994. Experimental culture and particle filtration by Asian moon scallops, ''

Amusium pleuronectes ''Amusium pleuronectes'' is a species of bivalves belonging to the family Pectinidae. The species is found in Southeastern Asia and Australia. They are edible and sold at wet markets in Malaysia. In Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hon ...

''. Asian Fisheries Science 7:179-185. *Rice, M.A., C. Hickox, and I. Zehra. 1989. Effects of intensive fishing effort on the population structure of quahogs, ''

Mercenaria mercenaria The hard clam (''Mercenaria mercenaria''), also known as the round clam, hard-shell (or hard-shelled) clam, or the quahog, is an edible marine bivalve mollusk that is native to the eastern shores of North America and Central America from Prince ...

'' ( Linn. 1758) in

Narragansett Bay Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. S ...

. Journal of Shellfish Research 8:345-354. * Manahan, D.T., S.H. Wright, G.C. Stephens and M.A. Rice. 1982. Transport of dissolved amino acids by the mussel, ''

Mytilus edulis The blue mussel (''Mytilus edulis''), also known as the common mussel, is a medium-sized edible marine (ocean), marine bivalve mollusc in the family (biology), family Mytilidae, the only extant family in the order (biology), order Mytilida, known ...

'': Demonstration of net uptake from seawater by

HPLC High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), formerly referred to as high-pressure liquid chromatography, is a technique in analytical chemistry used to separate, identify, and quantify specific components in mixtures. The mixtures can origina ...

analysis.

Science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

215:1253-1255. * Rice, M.A. and P.K. Chien. 1979. Uptake, binding and clearance of

divalent In chemistry, the valence (US spelling) or valency (British spelling) of an atom is a measure of its combining capacity with other atoms when it forms chemical compounds or molecules. Valence is generally understood to be the number of chemica ...

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12 element, group 12, zinc and mercury (element), mercury. Like z ...

in ''

Glycera dibranchiata ''Glycera dibranchiata'', also known as one variant of bloodworm, are segmented, red marine worms that grow up to 14-inches in length and have unique copper teeth made up of a mixture of protein, melanin and 10% copper. This copper concentratio ...

'' (Annelida:Polychaeta). Marine Biology 53:33-39.

Selected legislation as enacted

*2009-H5690a. ''An Act Relating to Agriculture and Forestry—Diseases and Parasites.'' This act established the

Asian long-horned beetle The Asian long-horned beetle (''Anoplophora glabripennis''), also known as the starry sky, sky beetle, or ALB, is native to the Korean Peninsula, northern and southern China, and disputably in northern Japan. This species has now been accidentall ...

and

emerald ash borer The emerald ash borer (''Agrilus planipennis''), also known by the abbreviation EAB, is a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to north-eastern Asia that feeds on ash trees, ash species (''Fraxinus'' spp.). Females lay eggs in bark crevices o ...

beetles as nuisances. It also established penalties for unlawful importation and transportation of these invasive beetles and infested logs. *2009-H6226aa ''An Act Relating to Fish and Wildlife -- Recreational Saltwater Fishing License.'' This act created a recreational saltwater fishing license and made it unlawful to fish in the marine waters of the state without first obtaining a license. Funds derived from licenses are for enhancing recreational marine fisheries. The dedicated funds allowed for considerable expansion of the marine fisheries management and public programming by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. *2010-H7007 ''An Act Relating to State Affairs and Government - Historian Laureate of Rhode Island.'' This act would establish the position of historian laureate in Rhode Island. Established RIGL §42-100.1-1 to §42-100.1-7 Historian Laureate of Rhode Island.

Notes

External links

Profile on Our Campaigns University of Rhode Island faculty biographyMichael Rice Papers at the University of Rhode Island Special CollectionsScopusORCID
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rice, Michael A. 1955 births 21st-century American biologists 20th-century American biologists American expatriates in the Philippines American people of Azorean descent Living people Democratic Party members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives Politicians from San Jose, California People from South Kingstown, Rhode Island Politicians from Washington County, Rhode Island Scientists from California Scientists from Rhode Island Servite High School alumni University of California, Irvine alumni University of Rhode Island faculty University of San Francisco alumni American people of Portuguese descent 21st-century members of the Rhode Island General Assembly