Faith Polion, of Pawtucket, finds a coat during last year’s coat exchange at the Pawtucket Visitor’s Center.

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

The American affiliate of a global reinsurance company is awarding $630,000 to researchers at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography to finance new studies of hurricane forecasting, risk analysis and the relationship between climate change and hurricanes.

The two-year grant is scheduled to be announced tomorrow morning at the Bay Campus. It is one of the largest corporate research awards ever received by the university. It will finance the work of two oceanographers, Isaac Ginis and Lewis Rothstein, as well as two postdoctoral researchers and others.

The grant comes from WeatherPredict Consulting Inc., an affiliate of RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd., the world’s largest casualty reinsurer.

Ginis and Rothstein have done hurricane modeling in the past that is now used by the National Hurricane Center to better track the course of hurricanes headed toward the United States.

Now they will focus on what happens when hurricanes move from the ocean to land, a phenomenon about which much more needs to be known, according to associate dean Kathryn Moran.

“The whole energy system changes when the storm hits land,” said Moran.

She said the grant is significant because it is a lot of money and it will generate new findings that will be publicly available. Typically grants from private businesses have strict disclosure limitations, Moran said.

“The company is interested in the knowledge, and there are no strings attached,” Moran said.

In a statement, Neill Currie, president and chief executive of RenaissanceResaid he expected the collaboration between URI and WeatherPredict will advance tropical cyclone research significantly.

“Tropical cyclones [hurricanes] are a major threat to coastal communities and ecosystems, and the support of cutting-edge natural perils research is a long-held priority of our organization, integral to our business of insuring the risks of our customers,” Currie said. “Our goal is that, through this grant, researchers will find more ways to reduce uncertainty around storm track and intensity and provide timely, reliable information to populations at risk.”

GSO Dean David Farmer said in a statement he was delighted with the collaboration, “particularly because this company has the foresight to take an unusual corporate step — making the findings of the research available to the larger scientific community.”

The URI Foundation is administering the award. Foundation president Glen R. Kerkian said URI researchers are already renowned for their work in hurricane prediction and he expected the new research would enhance URI’s reputation in the field.

Coat exchanges slated on Nov. 28

Buy Nothing Day Winter Coat Exchange will be held Friday, Nov. 28, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on the State House lawn. Volunteers and winter coats are needed before the event. Coats will be given away at the event and will be distributed to other organizations that will give them away around the state. Rain location is St. Patrick’s School, 244 Smith St., Providence. This year the coat exchange will also take place at Blackstone Valley Visitors Center, 175 Main St., Pawtucket, at the same time. Before the event, coats can be dropped off at the Pawtucket site. For information or to volunteer at these and two additional sites, one in Newport and the other in Wakefield, e-mail Greg Gerritt at gerritt@mindspring.com or call (401) 331-0529 or e-mail Phil Edmonds at Philwhistle@juno.com or call him at (401) 273-4650.

Natural-history lecture Wednesday

The Rhode Island Natural History Survey lecture series continues on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at URI’s Swan Hall, Upper College Road. A lecture titled Ecological Impacts of Wind Energy Development on Birds and Bats will be delivered by Thomas Kunz of the Boston University biology department. Before the talk, there will be a used natural-history book sale at 6:30 p.m.

All lectures are free to the public; no registration is required. For information, visit www.rinhs.org. The series is sponsored by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife and the R.I. Ocean Special Area Management Plan.

Farm Fresh RI markets to open

Farm Fresh RI announced the following farmers’ markets will be open for Thanksgiving shopping. Rhode Island-grown or produced fruits, vegetables, including a variety of winter squash, eggs, cheese, bread, pies, meat and prepared foods will be available.

•Hope High Farmers’ Market, open Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., in front of Hope High School at the corner of Hope and Olney streets, Providence

•Pawtuxet Village Farmers’ Market, open Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon, in the parking lot at Pawtuxet Village, 60 Rhodes Place, Cranston

•Aquidneck Growers’ Holiday Market, open Saturday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., at Newport Vineyards & Winery, 909 East Main Rd., Middletown

•Coastal Growers’ Holiday Market, open Sunday , 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Casey Farm, 2325 Boston Neck Rd., Saunderstown

The wintertime farmers’ market will open Dec. 6 and run through April on Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Hope Artiste Village, 1005 Main St., Pawtucket. Bus line is 99.

Among the offerings from local producers will be holiday wreaths and trees, winter produce, meat, oysters, fresh herbs, Narragansett Creamery cheese, honey, maple syrup, jams, jellies, artisan breads and pastries, gluten-free breads, tortillas, chocolates, fair-trade coffee hot or by the pound and gifts.

For information, visit www.farmfreshri.org.

Deadline for entries is Dec. 5

Publisher Trixie Wadson of Many Birches Press announced that the deadline for entries for Volume V of Balancing the Tides — A Newport Journal is Dec. 5. Submissions of art and literature that explore the effects of wind in meteorological and in psychological terms may be made online at www.balancingthetides.com.

Created in 2006 and devoted to exploring Newport County and its environs through art and literature, the journal is available in retail outlets throughout Southern New England. Volume V will be out in May.

Retired DEM official wins award

Retired Department of Environmental Management pollution prevention coordinator Thomas Armstrong recently received the Beyond the Call of Duty Award from the Childhood Lead Action Project for his work in developing the DEM’s Exterior Lead Paint Removal Certification program. Armstrong retired from the DEM in September after 32 years.

The voluntary self-certification program, initiated in 2005, uses a workbook and checklist, which Armstrong developed. Program participants receive a Certificate of Participation indicating that they are on a list of certified contractors that is posted on the DEM Web site, www.dem.ri.gov. For information about the program, click on “Office of Technical and Customer Assistance” under “Offices and Divisions” on the home page.

Cranston printer earns certification

Barrington Printing, 269 Macklin St., Cranston, has earned the Forest Stewardship Council’s Chain-of-Custody Certification. The FSC is a national nonprofit organization that monitors logging procedures and works to eliminate accompanying practices such as habitat destruction, water pollution, displacement of indigenous people and violence against people and wildlife.

In order to become certified, Barrington Printing was subject to an audit process that included a site visit to the Cranston facility. The certification process verifies that the business ensures that the products it uses originate from well-managed forests. The verification includes tracking the products from the forest through processing, manufacturing, distribution and printing to the end consumer.

Barrington Printing was founded in 1981 by Barry Couto and was located in Barrington for 22 years before moving to Cranston in 2003.

The Environmental Journal is a listing of brief news items about the actions of individuals, organizations and businesses that affect the air we breathe, the water we drink and the landscape that surrounds us. If you have comments or suggestions, please contact environment reporter Peter B. Lord at 277-8036, or by email at plord@projo.com or by writing him, care of the Providence Journal, 75 Fountain St., Providence, R.I. 02902.

plord@projo.com