In 2010, two IISG Knauss fellowship candidates were chosen for positions in the executive branch of the federal government. Michael Allen of the University of Illinois and Priscilla Viana of the University of Illinois Chicago will be going to Washington for a year of hands-on government experience. Mike will be in NOAA’s Oceanic and Atmospheric Research division in the Office of Laboratories and Cooperative Institutes. Priscilla will be working at the National Science Foundation, Division of Ocean Science.

The National Sea Grant College Program Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship, established in 1979, 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 branch of government located in the Washington, D.C. area, for a one year paid fellowship. The program is named in honor of one of Sea Grant’s founders, former NOAA Administrator, John A. Knauss.