Three University of Maryland graduate students - one in the Conservation Biology program and two in the Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Science (MEES) Program - and one student from Georgetown University Law School are recipients of four Knauss Marine Policy Fellowships for 2004. The fellowship program, begun in 1979 and coordinated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Sea Grant Office, provides graduate students across the country with an opportunity to spend a year working with policy and science experts in Washington, D.C.

Named after former NOAA administrator John A. Knauss, the Sea Grant fellowship program was established in 1979 to match highly qualified graduate students with hosts in the legislative branch and executive branches of government or with associations and institutions located in or near Washington, D.C.

Jen Bachus will work with both the Marine Mammal Division and the Endangered Species Division within NOAA's Fisheries Office of Protected Resources. Her focus will include analysis of "Take Reduction Plans" for reducing by-catch in fisheries and for development of recovery plans for several species of cetaceans. Bachus received a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in Spanish from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2000. She worked at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography in Savannah, Georgia, prior to entering graduate school at the University of Maryland in College Park. Her graduate research focused on marine protected area (MPA) social science; she analyzed efforts to include stakeholder input into MPA planning. Bachus received her M.S. in Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology in August of 2003.

Naomi Lundberg will be located in the NOAA Office of External Affairs for the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), under the supervision of Regina Jackson. Functions of the Office of External Affairs include gathering and preparing information for Congress, networking with constituents and OAR laboratories, and developing partnerships with other NOAA offices. Lundberg received a B.S. in Biology from Florida International University in Miami in 1999. Following graduation, she served as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer, working with the Marine Studies Program for the Coral Shores High School in the Upper Florida Keys, and then spent one semester at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Israel, studying water management and protection of the Coral Reefs of the Gulf of Aqaba. Lundberg will graduate with a J.D. from Georgetown University's Law School in May of 2005, with a specialty in Natural Resource Management.

Eric Nagel will work within the House of Representatives Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee under the supervision of John Rayfield. His work will focus on legislation addressing the problem of invasive species introduction via ballast water as well as other marine and Coast Guard-related issues. Nagel received his B.S. degree in Biology with a minor in Marine Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1999. Following graduation, he joined the Peace Corps and worked as an agricultural extension agent to subsistence-level farmers in western Kenya for two years. He is currently completing his M.S. degree in Environmental Science at Horn Point Laboratory and is advised by Dr. Jeff Cornwell. Eric's thesis research has examined rates, magnitudes and controls of nitrogen fixation in Florida Bay and how this nutrient source compares with external loading. He anticipates graduating in December 2004.

Knauss Fellowships run from February 1 to January 31 and pay a stipend of $32,000 plus $6000 for health insurance, moving and travel. They are awarded through Sea Grant programs across the nation. In Maryland, the application deadline for the 2005 Knauss Fellowship program is April 6th, 2004. For more information, visit both the fellowship web site at Maryland, www.mdsg.umd.edu/Policy/knauss.html, and at the National Sea Grant office, www.nsgo.seagrant.org/Knauss.html. Those interested in applying for the fellowship should contact Susan Leet at the Maryland Sea Grant office for guidance as early as possible. She may be reached at Maryland Sea Grant, 5824 University Reasearch Court, Suite 1350, phone 301.403.4220, ext.13, e-mail leet@mdsg.umd.edu.

This page was last modified July 07, 2006

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