[12] Once she returned to Rhode Island, she worked with Scott Nixon on a large scale assessment of the productivity of a New England salt marsh in a paper which combined measured data and modeled impacts of changes in temperature and sewage additions.
[13] Following this work, Oviatt began a series of research projects within Narragansett Bay including investigations into sediment loading[14] and historical fish and shellfish information.
[21] Oviatt also played a critical role in establishing the Marine Ecosystem Research Lab (MERL) at the University of Rhode Island in 1976 with Scott Nixon and Michael Pilson.
[26] More recently, Oviatt has used historical data to project what may happen to biological communities under future climate scenarios[27][28] and how hurricanes alter the flux of nutrients into a region and thereby cause increased amounts of the seaweed Sargassum in the Virgin Islands.
Ketchum Award from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and was recognized for:[30] ... her excellence in coastal marine ecology, especially her work on Narragansett Bay as a model system for the study of human impacts on temperate estuaries.