December 7th, 2015 by iisg_superadmin
In late November, the 2016 Knauss Fellowship finalists from around the Sea Grant network met in Washington D.C. for a week to sort out where each will be working in the coming year. Over the week, the finalists interview for positions and try to match their skills and interests with agencies and legislators who are also looking for just the right person.
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 for a one year paid fellowship. This year, IISG had two finalists attending placement week.
Lauren Fields, who recently finished her PhD at the University of Illinois, will be a foreign affairs fellow with NOAA Fisheries Office of International Affairs and Seafood Inspection. This position reflects her long dedication to fish biology in the Antarctic waters. She has a particular interest in the Antarctic toothfish.
A Purdue University graduate, Sarah Stein will also be involved with NOAA fisheries work. For the year of 2016, she will hold the titles of executive secretariat and fisheries science coordinator in the Fisheries Office of Science and Technology. Sarah also has a rich history studying fisheries, but with a local focus. Her PhD dissertation study was centered on fish recruitment in southern Lake Michigan river mouth habitats.
If you are interested in applying to be a Knauss fellow, the deadline for 2017 positions is February 12. Visit our
Fellowship page for more information on this and other fellowship opportunities.
September 24th, 2015 by iisg_superadmin
I am working as a fellow in Congressman Alan Lowenthal’s (D-Calif. 47th District) office. When someone asks what a typical day looks like on Capitol Hill, it’s really difficult to answer.
Every day is unique, and there are often surprises. When Congress is in session, the best-laid plans can be upended by the President deciding to drop in on Capitol Hill to meet with members, or a carefully orchestrated vote running off the tracks.
I manage the activities of the Safe Climate Caucus, a group of more than 47 members who have made a point of talking about climate change in Congress. I write speeches, op-eds, memos, and keep the members’ staffers up-to-date on the latest news and research around climate change.
I staff Rep. Lowenthal on some of his work on the House Committee on Natural Resources issues. I brief him on the topic of upcoming hearings, write talking points and questions, and develop amendments for markup. I attend a lot of briefings to hear what Executive agencies are working on and how other offices are thinking about natural resource issues.
Other Congressional staffer activities I’m involved in are drafting legislation, writing letters to send to administration officials, circulating Dear Colleagues, organizing briefings, and meeting with constituents. I also have to find time to research legislation and prepare vote recommendations.
One question I often get is: “Do you have time off when Congress is not in session?”
The answer is “no.”
Recess, as it is called, is the time when things go at a normal pace and I can actually get research and writing done.
Congressman Lowenthal’s district includes the beautiful city of Long Beach and the picturesque Santa Catalina Island. I had the opportunity to visit in August and met so many wonderful people. NOAA, USC-Sea Grant, and the Aquarium of the Pacific hosted us on a boat tour of the harbor, where we discussed the impacts of sea level rise on the district.
I visited Catalina Island and learned about water infrastructure, the drought, and conservation efforts on the island. We gathered a group of people together to talk about how local researchers, government agencies, and businesses are working to understand the impacts of climate change and how to adapt. I also headed north for a few days to visit the Channel Islands Marine Sanctuary and discuss oil spills and whale-ship collisions in the Santa Barbara channel.
I am loving my year in Congressman Lowenthal’s office and hope to continue to work on Capitol Hill when my fellowship ends.
August 10th, 2015 by iisg_superadmin
Alyssa Hausman, a master’s student in environmental science at Indiana University, shares her experiences as a Knauss Fellow at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
I have had great experiences working with the Knauss fellows in the past, so when I started graduate school in 2012, I knew that this fellowship was an opportunity that I couldn’t afford to not pursue.
After an extensive application process, I found out last June that I was a finalist for the 2015 fellowship class as an executive fellow. As one of 40 executive fellows, I had a wide-range of offices and positions that I could potentially be placed in. Executive fellows placements span a range of departments: Commerce, Interior, Navy, Energy, and independent agencies such as the EPA and National Science Foundation.
After a daunting placement week, complete with 15 back-to-back interviews, I was placed with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — an agency dedicated to conserving fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats. My fellowship with the Service’s Division of Congressional and Legislative Affairs provides me the opportunity to engage the legislative branch on important wildlife issues, and even work alongside Knauss fellows in the legislative branch. My work so far has focused on the Endangered Species Act, coastal resources, and wildlife, and sport fish restoration.
Throughout the course of the fellowship, I have been able to visit various Service assets, including Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge and the National Wildlife Repository. I recently spent a month in the Service’s regional office outside of Denver, Colo., which included a short trip to view conservation efforts in the Dakotas. These opportunities have taught me so much about the Service’s efforts on important issues that I do not work on directly, such as invasive species control, wildlife trafficking, and habitat conversion.
The National Wildlife Repository is responsible for receiving wildlife items that have been forfeited or abandoned to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Now that I am half-way through my fellowship year and the next cohort of fellows has been selected, it is time for me to consider my next steps seriously. I have greatly enjoyed my time so far working with the Service and hope that I will have the opportunity to continue working with the agency, whether it be within the agency or outside as a partner.
Regardless of where I end up in February, I am looking forward to being a part of the Knauss alumni network and maintaining the personal and professional relationships that I’ve developed with my peers in the fellowship.
January 15th, 2015 by iisg_superadmin
As the 2014 Knauss season wraps up, IISG-sponsored graduate student Katherine Touzinsky wrote in to update us on her work at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers since we last heard from her in August.
The last time I wrote for the IISG blog, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for how far the Knauss Fellowship had taken me—both figuratively through professional and personal development and literally by zig-zagging across the country. Since then, the travel and learning has not slowed down. I have eaten lunch on a dredging rig in the Gulf of Mexico, visited a research laboratory in Athens, Greece, attended a conference on deltas and climate change in the Netherlands, and explored the Everglades learning about the impending consequences of invasive species and climate change.
The fellowship is now coming to a close, and the tides are changing at work. The open-ended learning ended a few months ago when I committed the majority of my time to a new and exciting project with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Ever since the devastation of 2011, when over 14 weather and climate-related events—Hurricane Sandy being the most noteworthy—resulted in an unprecedented loss of lives and property, many federal agencies have begun their own investigation of climate change and disaster preparedness under the broad headline of “resilience.”
Resilience is an ambiguous word that can mean different things depending on the case and application, but most definitions include four key aspects: prepare, resist, recover, and adapt. Because the Corps is in charge of the nation’s water resources infrastructure, there is a huge need to investigate these concepts and research the best way to apply resilience to Corps policy and practice. I have been offered the opportunity to assist with much of this initial research. While it is intimidating to face such a huge issue and figure out how to recommend solutions for such a huge and venerable organization like the Corps, I wake up every day excited to learn more.
This coming February, we are working on a joint U.S. Army Corps and NOAA workshop to quantify resilience in Mobile Bay, AL. I will help test the method by working with community experts from the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium and the local port authorities to be vetted later this spring by the National Academy of Sciences Transportation Research Board.
Despite all of this excitement, I know that my Master’s thesis is still waiting for me. Luckily, I have been given the opportunity to continue working in Washington D.C. at the Corps headquarter office and will work part-time on my thesis. I’m brainstorming possible locations to work on the thesis—it would be great to say that I wrote a chapter or two in the Library of Congress!
The Knauss Fellowship has been an unbelievable opportunity that continues to unfold!
January 8th, 2015 by iisg_superadmin
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.
December 12th, 2014 by iisg_superadmin
The two IISG-sponsored Knauss Fellows selected for 2015 recently returned from D.C., where they met with other fellows, interviewed with government agencies and offices, and learned where they spend the next year working on water resource and environmental issues. Rachel Gentile, who is completing a PhD in Biological Sciences at Notre Dame, shares her experiences.
My placement is in the office of Rep. Alan Lowenthal (CA-47). I will be assisting with his marine policy portfolio and will also be directing the House Safe Climate Caucus. This means I will be managing the activities of the caucus and assisting with floor speeches, op-eds, and short videos to promote climate change awareness in the House of Representatives. I applied to the Knauss Sea Grant Fellowship because I wanted to assist with discussions concerning marine and climate issues on Capitol Hill, so this placement in Rep. Lowenthal’s office is a dream come true!
Placement week was a whirlwind of excitement for me. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the other finalists, Knauss alumni, and the legislative hosts. I also learned a lot about the legislative process and my future role as a Knauss Fellow.
At the beginning of the week, we attended a series of lectures facilitated by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and the Library of Congress. We learned how politics, policy, and procedure come together inside the walls of congress to pass—and fail—bills. We were introduced to CRS subject librarians and research specialists in marine, climate, and energy policy who will be incredibly helpful to us as we research these issues and write memos, talking points, floor speeches, and legislation.
Most of the week was spent in interviews with the host offices. I interviewed in 17 different offices over three days. I loved hearing about the work each office was doing. Many hosts talked about fisheries, marine national monuments, climate change adaptation, water and drought issues, and ocean acidification. There are many marine policy issues currently being addressed in congress, and as a Knauss Fellow, I will assist my host office with them.
December 11th, 2014 by iisg_superadmin
The two IISG-sponsored Knauss Fellows selected for 2015 recently returned from D.C., where they met with other fellows, interviewed with government agencies and offices, and learned where they will spend the next year working on water resource and environmental issues. Alyssa Hausman, a Master’s student at Indiana University, shares her experiences.
Placement week was one of the most unique and exciting experiences that I have gone through, but I am so glad that I will never have to do it again. My week consisted of 15 interviews for 16 positions and concluded with my placement for the next year. In the process, I managed to meet 51 fantastic and brilliant people that I will get to share this next year and fellowship experience with. I also learned more about the various executive offices involved in marine policy than I thought possible in such a short time.
I was placed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Division of Congressional and Legislative Affairs. This coming year, I will serve as a liaison with the offices of congressional members and committees. Though the portfolio of issues I will be working on will not be determined until I start this position, the current fellow is assigned to issues regarding endangered species, coastal and marine resources, and fisheries. This position will expand my knowledge of natural resource management and the legislative process.
I have had the opportunity to work with Knauss fellows in the past and admired their commitment to the stewardship of marine environments and the opportunities that the fellowship provided them. This past summer, for example, I interned with NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, where I realized just how extensive and strong the Knauss network is. The office has two current fellows and a handful of alumni, all of whom welcomed me into the “mafia” when I received my acceptance in June. Seeing how connected these alumni remain to the program and how supportive they are of incoming fellows makes me excited and proud to be a part of this network. These experiences collaborating with past fellows are what drove me to the Knauss fellowship, and I am honored that I will be joining their ranks in February.
In two short weeks, I will be graduating from Indiana University’s School of Public of Environmental Affairs with dual Master’s degrees in environmental science and public affairs. I am very much looking forward to beginning my fellowship and my post-graduate career—after a much needed month off, of course.
August 4th, 2014 by iisg_superadmin
It’s been a few months since IISG-sponsored graduate students Sara Paver and Katherine Touzinsky began their Knauss fellowships. We were curious to hear about their experiences so far and thought you might be too. We heard from Sara a few weeks ago. This week we check-in with Katherine, an alum of Purdue University who is spending the year with the US Army Corps of Engineers.
“This year has been overwhelming, in a good way. I never thought I would find myself working for the US Army Corps of Engineers. That being said, I also can’t imagine a better fit for my Knauss Fellowship. I went to Purdue University as a fellow in the Ecological Sciences and Engineering (ESE) interdisciplinary program because, as an ecologist, I thought it would be valuable to gain insight into the way engineers and other scientists think. In addition to the courses and thesis work I completed in the Forestry Department at Purdue, the supplementary education I received through ESE was eye opening and fascinating. I loved the practice of big-picture thinking, and this year with the Corps has solidified that love. It has prompted intellectual growth and self-realization. I’m moving on from studying human-ecological invasive species interaction to thinking about nationwide systems like marine transportation, flood risk management, and how to prepare for an uncertain future.
Living in Washington, D.C. has been an amazing experience in itself. Not only is my job exciting, but I moved out to D.C. with 50 other Knauss fellows—a built-in network of brilliant and ambitious people who have a true passion for the environment and for communicating science to those outside of academia. It has been so exciting and valuable to get to know the other fellows because I know they are people who will stay in my network the rest of my life. When else do you get to move to a new city with 50 new friends to explore it with?
In the past six months, I have spent a total of 11 weeks on the road—touring parts of our nation’s largest engineering projects that the public never sees, working on introducing new technologies to district projects, helping to facilitate workshops and conferences with environmentalists, regulatory personnel, and project directors from around the world, and learning about the staggering amount of resources and manpower involved in managing our waterway systems.
I am currently writing this post in a coffee shop outside of Portland, Oregon (yes, the coffee is great). I spent the past two days touring both the Bonneville Dam and The Dalles on the Columbia River with five engineers from the Engineering Research and Development Center. We worked with the dam operators on addressing some research and development (R&D) solutions to issues they have at their project sites—from fish ladders, to corrosion, to wear and tear from boats and barges coming in and out of the navigation locks. R&D can address all of these problems, and big-picture thinking while planning R&D projects is the key to a sustainable future. The Portland District projects were breathtaking—two of the largest power generating dams in the country.
August and September will bring trips to district projects in California and Hawaii and conferences in the Netherlands and Greece. I’m looking forward to what the next six months will bring. I truly can’t imagine a more exciting year.”
**Photo: Katherine standing near The Dalles navigation lock with Oregon’s Mt. Hood in the background.
July 24th, 2014 by iisg_superadmin
It’s been a few months since IISG-sponsored graduate students Sara Paver and Katherine Touzinsky began their Knauss fellowships. We were curious to hear about their experiences so far and thought you might be too. First up is Sara, an alum of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who is spending the year at the National Science Foundation Division of Ocean Sciences.
“I have officially reached the halfway point in my fellowship. I am having a wonderful experience, and the time has passed unbelievably quickly. I would consider the best aspects of being a Knauss Fellow to be (in no particular order) the abundance and breadth of opportunities—no two fellowship experiences are the same, and there is quite a bit of flexibility to tailor your experiences to your interests—and the awesome people you have the opportunity to interact with along the way. I really enjoy working with my colleagues at the National Science Foundation (NSF) and spending time with the other fellows.
My fellowship placement is in the Division of Ocean Sciences, where I have been working to facilitate the review of grant proposals submitted to the Coastal Science, Engineering, and Education for Sustainability (Coastal SEES) program and the Biological Oceanography core program. I submitted a few grants to NSF as a graduate student, and it has been very illuminating to see the grant review process from the other side. I especially enjoy meeting and interacting with the scientists who serve on panels.
My position at NSF has also enabled me to improve my science communication skills. I revised the 2014 Coastal SEES award abstracts to make them accessible to a non-specialist audience. I have also been writing NSF Highlights to describe the broader impacts of research accomplishments funded by the NSF Biological Oceanography program.
Outside of my work at NSF, I have been using my non-stipend fellowship funds to travel. I recently returned from Waterville Valley, NH, where I attended my first Gordon Research Conference. The theme of the conference was “Ocean Global Change Biology: Interactive Effects of Multiple Global Change Variables.” In May, I had the opportunity to travel to the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in East Boothbay, ME to participate in an Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry scoping workshop focused on improving predictive biogeochemical models through single cell-based analyses of marine plankton. These experiences provided me with opportunities to network with researchers—including scientists whose work I cited in my dissertation and had specifically hoped to meet—as well as the chance to watch collaborations form and new research areas emerge.
The Knauss Fellowship has also provided me with unique extra-curricular experiences. For example, I recently viewed Saturn through a telescope at the Naval Observatory during a special tour for Knauss Fellows set up by Justine Kimball, the fellow currently serving as policy liaison to the Oceanographer of the Navy. Earlier in the year, I went bowling with my NSF colleagues at the Truman Bowling Alley in the basement of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which is near the White House. I also went on a road trip with some of the other Knauss Fellows, including IISG fellow Katherine Touzinsky, to Horn Point Laboratory on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where we completed an Integration and ApplicationNetwork (IAN) science communication course.
I am excited to see what is in store for me in the next six months and would encourage anyone interested in the intersection of science and policy to seriously consider applying to be a Knauss Fellow.”
Be sure to check back here next week to hear how things are going for Katherine Touzinsky.
**Photo A: Sara (left) and three other Knauss Fellows take a break from Capital Hill Ocean Week events to pose for a photo.
Photo B: Sara enjoying her visit to East Boothbay, ME.
