Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowships

Program Overview

The program is named in honor of one of Sea Grant's founders, former NOAA Administrator, John A. Knauss. The fellowship program resides in the National Sea Grant College Program office of the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration (NOAA). Local Sea Grant offices located in the coastal and Great Lake states help to administer the program. Here in Maryland, the Knauss Fellowship program is housed at the Maryland Sea Grant College Program located in College Park. During the last several years, the National Sea Grant Office has placed over 40 finalists each year in offices in the legislative or executive branches of government. Since 1982, Maryland Sea Grant has placed over 40 students in Knauss Fellowships. Students have held positions in a number of different places including Congress, EPA, NASA, NOAA, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. During the application process, students state their preference, if they have one, as to whether they wish to work in the legislative or executive branch of government.

Every year the national network of local Sea Grant programs sends about 80 applications on to the National Sea Grant Program for final review. Each Sea Grant College Program may forward a maximum of 6 applications to the National Sea Grant Office. From those applications no fewer than 30 applicants are selected, of which either 9 or 10 are assigned to the Congress and the remaining to the executive branch. Typically, legislative positions can be as staff either to a Congressional member or to a Committee. Fellows are placed both in the Senate and the House. For the executive branch there are many opportunities for positions within different agencies. In NOAA, Fellows may find "hosts" (where a Fellow is placed for the year) in such offices as the National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Ocean Service, or the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research. Other opportunities are available in such places as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of the Interior, and the Oceanographer of the Navy.

General Program Information

For more information about the fellowship year visit the NOAA web site at

http://www.seagrant.noaa.gov/knauss/index.html

where you will find information on program rules, housing, former and current students, and much, much more. There is also a description of application requirements and information on how to strengthen your application.

Read both the NOAA Knauss Fellowship and the Maryland Sea Grant web sites carefully for a comprehensive understanding of the fellowship and the application selection process.

The Knauss Fellowship program is funded as a grant from the National Sea Grant College Program, NOAA. The funding announcement and full description of the program can be found at www.grants.gov for Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-OAR-SG-2014-2003518.

Interested students are strongly encouraged to discuss the fellowship with the Maryland Sea Grant office. Please contact:

Michael Allen, Research and Education Coordinator
Maryland Sea Grant College
4321 Hartwick Road, Suite 300
College Park, Maryland 20740
phone: (301) 405-7500
email: mallen@mdsg.umd.edu