Finding the Bigger Picture: A student’s reflections on the 2026 EPSCoR Summit

By: MC Cicenia

June 18, 2026

I attended the 2026 EPSCoR Annual Summit in New Orleans this past May with fellow SIMCoast team members Vinka Oyanedel-Craver (Co-PI at University of Rhode Island, Inter-Theme Co-lead) and Anabela Maia (Co-PI at Rhode Island College, Research Theme 3 Co-lead). At the time, I was wrapping up the first year of my PhD at the University of Rhode Island. My SIMCoast research project is focused on quantifying microplastics in water and sediment within the Narragansett Bay estuary. Although I understand my work and how it contributes to SIMCoast’s Research Theme 1 efforts, I didn’t fully understand the broader work happening across SIMCoast. Until I boarded my connecting flight to New Orleans, I had never met face-to-face with anyone outside my immediate research circle. The EPSCoR Summit gave me the opportunity to connect with researchers and collaborators across SIMCoast and gain a broader perspective on the project.

Me with my poster that I presented in the Early Career Researchers poster session.

Even though I had never met most of the people associated with Rhode Island EPSCoR, I was welcomed with warmth, care, and support. More than twenty Rhode Island team members attended the summit, including just five undergraduate and graduate students. Despite this, I never felt lost at a conference of more than 750 people. The RI EPSCoR team went out of their way to organize outings in New Orleans, check in between networking events, and attend presentations to support team members sharing their work. Through these experiences, I learned about the diverse work being conducted across RI EPSCoR andSIMCoast– from data modeling and field research to community and tribal engagement. I have now built connections that I hope will continue to shape not only my research, but also my personal and professional growth.

The RI EPSCoR team enjoying dinner at Mulate’s in New Orleans on the first night of the summit.

I also consider myself lucky to have been met with such supportive researchers from other states. What made this summit especially meaningful was its emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration. When I first decided that I wanted to pursue science, back when I was in middle school, I had decided then and there that the driver for my work would always be to benefit people through collaboration with community members. In the whirlwind of starting a PhD, I found myself forgetting that the true purpose of science is to improve the quality of life of those around me. In engaging with the interdisciplinary topics of this summit, for example in seeing SIMCoast’s Vinka Oyanedel-Craver give a presentation that highlighted how SIMCoast research priorities are informed by community feedback. Her presentation reminded me why I chose this path to begin with and reinforced the importance of connecting scientific research with the needs of the communities it serves. 

SIMCoaster Vinka Oyanedel-Craver presenting her flash talk in the “Designing Community Engagement” community session.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn and grow through workshops, seminars, discussions, and informal gatherings throughout the summit, and I am beyond grateful to have been (and to continue to be) surrounded by such a supportive team and community of researchers.