History of the RI Beach Surveys

Remarkably, two groups have conducted beach surveys in Rhode Island since the 1960s!  Data presented on this website is the combined work of countless students, staff and faculty.  Above is an aerial image of Matunuck in South Kingstown in 1962 from the RI DEM -- about when surveys began.  Below you can see changes by 2025; note the Ocean Mist on the far right. 

Seven of the survey sites presented here were initiated by Dr. Robert McMaster in the URI Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO), and he supervised the program for many years.  Click here to learn more aout the GSO Beach Survey and see the list of student assistants.  Briefly, since about 2000, the GSO surveys were conducted under the supervision of  Dr. John King, and after 2020, the program has be overseen by Dr. J.P. Walsh in partnership with the COAST Lab.  

The Cha-EZ and South Kingstown survey sites were initiated by Dr. Jon Boothroyd (URI Department of Geosciences), and have been more recently supported by Mike Bradley with the URI Environmental Data Center and Dr. Bryan Oakley from Eastern Connecticut State University.