Knauss legislative fellowships in Congress help build careers — and they're fun and educational. See our video and fact sheet for details.
Current Graduate Fellows
Competitive Graduate Research Fellowship
Fellowship at:
University of Maryland, College ParkProject Title:
Sperm Quality Characterization of Male Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) in Response to Legacy Urban Contaminants from the Anacostia RiverCool Facts:
Sabine Malik is a Ph.D. student at the University of Maryland, College Park studying the impacts of urban aquatic pollution on the reproductive health of the male mummichog, an estuarine fish species. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, baking, antiquing, and spending time with her cat, Bijou.
Fellowship at:
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceProject Title:
Developing a habitat model for mysids, an important link in Chesapeake Bay food websCool Facts:
Nina Santos is a Ph.D. student at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. For her dissertation, she is focused on small shrimp-like crustaceans called mysids – an understudied yet important part of many estuarine and coastal food webs.Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship
Fellowship at:
NOAA OAR Ocean Acidification Program, NOAA OAR Global Ocean Monitoring and Observing ProgramCool Facts:
Her research experience spans freshwater systems and Arctic science, including work with an Arctic research lab and participation in an Arctic research cruise.
Fellowship at:
NOAA National Centers for Coastal and Ocean ScienceCool Facts:
She recently defended her PhD at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, where her research focused on harmful algal blooms.Maryland Sea Grant Research Fellowship
Fellowship at:
Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceProject Title:
Proof-of-Concept Tools for Local Governments to Address Water Quality Restoration in Shallow, Sub-Estuary Tidal WatersCool Facts:
Julia Smeltzer is a master's student in the Marine Estuarine Environmental Science program at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Her project combines land use and water quality data to recommend restoration strategies that help improve water quality in Calvert County.
Fellowship at:
Morgan State UniversityProject Title:
Baltimore BLUE-CORE - BLUEspace COllaborative REsearch for Urban Coastal Access and Climate Resilience in South BaltimoreCool Facts:
Ebram’s dissertation aims to elevate a conversation around designing with nature to engineer ease, particularly for people living along coastal urban cityscapes. When he has free time he loves to travel to beaches, read about world history, write poetry, and sketch.Program Announcements
News and Blogs
Featured Fellow
Nina Santos
Nina Santos is a Ph.D. student at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. For her dissertation, she is focused on small shrimp-like crustaceans called mysids – an understudied yet important part of many estuarine and coastal food webs.
Featured Research Project
Developing a habitat model for mysids, an important link in Chesapeake Bay food webs
Mysids are important mesozooplankton prey for many species of fish in Chesapeake Bay and are an important link in transferring energy from lower to upper trophic levels. Mysids also serve as biological vectors for benthic-pelagic coupling due to their diel vertical migration and omnivorous prey-switching behavior, which makes mysids important regulators of food web architecture. Despite their central role in coastal food webs, surprisingly little is known about mysid ecology and dynamics in Chesapeake Bay.
