If you are a graduate student interested in combining your education and experience with policy, marine sciences or coastal community resiliency, consider applying for one, or even two, of these fellowships. The opportunities below are open to graduate students enrolled in a master’s or doctorate program. For more information, please visit our Fellowships page or contact Angela Archer at amcbride@purdue.edu or (765)496-3722.
John A. Knauss Fellowship
The Knauss fellowship provides a unique educational experience to students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources. The program matches highly qualified graduate students with “hosts” in the legislative and executive branches of government located in the Washington, D.C. area for a one year paid fellowship.
NOAA Coastal Management Fellowship
The Coastal Management Fellowship was established to provide on-the-job education and training opportunities in coastal resource management and policy for postgraduate students and to provide project assistance to state coastal zone management programs. The program matches postgraduate students with state coastal zone programs to work on projects proposed by the state.
National Marine Fisheries Service Fellowships
These fellowships are aimed at Ph.D. candidates, who are United States citizens, interested in the population dynamics of living marine resources and the development and implementation of quantitative methods for assessing their status. The marine resource economics fellowship concentrates on the conservation and management of marine resources.
As the 2014 Knauss season wraps up, IISG-sponsored graduate student Sara Paver wrote in to update us on her work at National Science Foundation Division of Ocean Sciences since we last heard from her in July.
The last few months have been a whirlwind of activity. In my placement as a Knauss Fellow in the Division of Ocean Sciences at the National Science Foundation, I have continued working with the Coastal Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (Coastal SEES) working group and the Biological Oceanography Program. I am currently leading the efforts of the working group to organize and plan the Coastal SEES Principal Investigators’ Meeting, which will be held January 29-30, 2015. I am looking forward to meeting the 2013 and 2014 Coastal SEES awardees and hearing about the exciting work they are doing to make progress on coastal sustainability issues.
As part of my work with the Biological Oceanography Program, I have been helping manage the review of five grant proposals. I am currently writing analyses that summarize the reviewers’ feedback and explain whether or not the proposal is being recommended for an award.
In addition to the work I’ve been doing at NSF headquarters in Arlington, VA, I have had the opportunity to participate in valuable professional development opportunities. I presented my dissertation research at the International Society for Microbial Ecology meeting in Seoul, South Korea. I also participated in the Explorations in Data Analyses for Metagenomic Advances in Microbial Ecology Workshop at Kellogg Biological Station in Hickory Corners, MI. Ashley Shade, Tracy Teal, and Josh Herr put together an excellent week of learning modules, lectures, and guest speakers. My favorite highlight—out of many—was the question and answer session we had with Jim Tiedje.
Most recently, I traveled to Hawaii to participate in the Ecological Dissertations in the Aquatic Sciences (Eco-DAS) Workshop at the Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet peers who, like me, have recently finished a Ph.D. or will be finishing very soon. As a result of participating in Eco-DAS, I am working on two collaborative manuscripts. It was a great week to get excited about science and collaboration.
The best part of my fellowship has been all of the connections that I have made with people, including my colleagues at NSF, the other fellows, people in the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Office, individuals that I interacted with during Knauss placement weeks and Knauss professional development activities, researchers serving on NSF panels and giving presentations at NSF, and people I interacted with at the workshops and conferences I attended. The opportunity to be a Knauss Fellow has broadened my perspective on many things, including available career paths. I might consider coming back to NSF as a rotating program officer in the future. In the near term, I plan to return to an academic setting in a postdoctoral research position.
Two student applicants sponsored by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant were selected for Knauss fellowships this year, and both have begun their respective positions working on issues related to protecting water resources.
Najwa Obeid and Will Tyburczy both wrote in to update us on the positions they selected and the specific areas where they will be focusing their energies.
“My host office is the Division of Ocean Sciences at NSF,” writes Najwa. “I will be involved in activities under the Science, Engineering and Education for Sustainability (SEES) cross-foundation portfolio, and in particular, the new Coastal SEES program. The goal of Coastal SEES is to support interdisciplinary research on the dynamic interactions between human behavior, physical forces, and ecological processes in the coastal zone. This program will support fundamental research to facilitate the nation’s ability to maintain sustainable coastal systems.
My involvement with Coastal SEES will allow me to broaden my interdisciplinary understanding by participating in the peer review panels and by conducting background research to help the program. I will also gain exposure to policy though my involvement in the National Ocean Policy Ecosystem-based Management interagency taskforce.”
Meanwhile, Will is working in NOAA’s Office of Program Planning and Integration, “which helps to coordinate activities across NOAA to ensure that the organization is using its resources effectively to meet NOAA’s mission and the nation’s needs. Specifically, I work on NOAA’s Regional Collaboration Network. The Network was formed to improve communication, coordination, and collaboration across NOAA’s programmatic line offices (Weather Service, Fisheries, Satellite and Information Service, Ocean Service, and Oceanic and Atmospheric Research). This is critical for issues that transcend traditional line office boundaries, such as providing stewardship for aquatic habitat or integrating NOAA’s emergency and disaster response capabilities. The network also provides a direct conduit between NOAA leadership and NOAA’s regional partners and stakeholders, allowing the administration to respond more rapidly and effectively to local issues and concerns. Recent examples of network activities include helping the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative to provide training on climate adaptation planning to 104 cities, and helping to prioritize and coordinate efforts in Alaska to manage tsunami debris.
Thus far in my fellowship, I have had the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects for PPI and the network. They include presenting NOAA leadership with the ongoing impact of federal sequestration on network activities, preparing proposals to improve the efficiency in oversight for network travel needs, and helping the network to develop documents that effectively convey to headquarters the key priorities, emerging issues, and network activities in each of the network’s eight regions. I am also participating in a NOAA-wide project to optimize the execution of NOAA’s corporate planning. These activities are improving my workplace skills, such as effective writing, project management, and facilitation, as well as helping me to learn about the diverse array of critical services that NOAA provides to communities across the nation.”
Stay tuned for future blog posts to learn more about how these IISG fellows progress in their new positions. To learn more about the fellowship program, visit the National Sea Grant College Program Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship website.
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