Deadlines approach for Sea Grant fellowships

January 23, 2019

Paula Dobbyn
9072749698

Ice bergs in the water in Icy Bay, Southeast Alaska. Photo by Terry Johnson/Alaska Sea Grant.
Ice bergs in the water in Icy Bay, Southeast Alaska. Photo by Terry Johnson/Alaska Sea Grant.


Several fellowship deadlines are coming up for graduate students or recent grads whose focus is marine science or policy.

The John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship is accepting applications until Feb. 22, 2019. Since 1979, the Knauss Fellowship has placed early professionals in executive and legislative government offices in the Washington, D.C., area for a year of work on science-related policies.

Any student, regardless of citizenship, who is enrolled in a graduate program and has an interest in ocean, coastal or Great Lakes resources, and national policy decisions is eligible for consideration. The graduate program must be at an accredited institution of higher education in the United States or its territories.

Knauss fellows in 2018 were placed with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Marine Mammal Commission, Senate and House committees, White House Office of Management and Budget, the Department of State, and many other agencies. A full list of 2018 Knauss fellows and placements is available on the national Sea Grant website. (Note: due to the federal government shutdown, these links are temporarily inactive.)

Alaska Sea Grant is also accepting applications for Alaska Sea Grant State Fellowships. The state fellows program matches recently or nearly finished graduate students with 12-month professional job opportunities in Alaska supporting healthy coastal communities and the marine environment. Agencies that currently have fellows include NOAA Fisheries, the U.S. Geological Survey Office of the Regional Director, Alaska Ocean Observing System, North Pacific Research Board and the NOAA Auke Bay laboratory. The application deadline is Feb. 8, 2019.

“Both the Knauss and the Alaska Sea Grant State Fellowship are great opportunities for exceptional and highly motivated students to gain professional working experience and to make important career contacts in the marine science and policy communities,” said Heather Brandon, Alaska Sea Grant director.

Two National Marine Fisheries Service–Sea Grant joint fellowship opportunities are also now open. Applications for the Population and Ecosystem Dynamics Fellowship and the Marine Resource Economics Fellowship will be accepted until Jan. 30, 2019.

Find information on all the fellowships.

ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Tara Borland, 907-474-7014, tara.borland@alaska.edu