Don’t miss out on Sea Grant fellowships

Are you a graduate student studying science or marine policy? Are you interested in a unique professional opportunity to apply your academic knowledge in the workplace? Don’t miss out on upcoming fellowships to jump start your career. Deadlines are fast approaching for the Alaska Sea Grant State Fellowship and Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship.

Kimberly Ovitz assists with water quality sampling at the mouth of the Twentymile River for a NOAA Protected Resources Division research project (Examining concentrations of contaminants of emerging concern in Cook Inlet beluga prey items). Photo by Suzanne Steinert.

The state fellowship program matches recently or nearly finished graduate students with 12-month professional job opportunities in Alaska, supporting healthy coastal communities and the marine environment. Positions begin in summer/early fall with state and federal agencies. The application deadline is February 21, 2018.

Among the five current Alaska Sea Grant State Fellows is Kim Ovitz, who works at the National Marine Fisheries Service Alaska Regional Office, Protected Resources Division in Anchorage.

“This fellowship presents an excellent opportunity for me to support marine mammal conservation and recovery initiatives,” said Ovitz. She began her job surveying beluga whales at Twentymile River. “We really had a lot of luck in seeing beluga activity. It’s been really beautiful.” Listen to an interview with Ovitz by Alaska Public Media.

The Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship is open for application until February 23, 2018. The Knauss Fellowship places early professionals in offices within the executive and legislative branches of government in Washington, DC, for a yearlong experience working at the interface of science and policy.

University of Alaska Fairbanks PhD student Maggie Chan, Alaska Sea Grant’s 2018 Knauss Fellow, will begin a staff position February 1 on the congressional Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (Majority), Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.

For more information on the fellowships and how to apply, visit this page.