Melanie Jackson

Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship

Fellowship Institution:

NOAA Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs

Start Year:

2019

Melanie Jackson is serving as an executive fellow in NOAA's Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs. She will be the official liaison between NOAA and Congress and will be responsible for communicating the Administration's views to Congress.

Jackson received her undergraduate degree in marine science and biology from the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science in 2012. Following graduation, she served a term in AmeriCorps as the watershed ambassador for the Hackensack River, New Jersey. In 2013, Jackson left her home state of New Jersey for the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, Maryland. There she studies algae blooms and nitrogen pollution for her master's degree. Jackson is currently completing her doctorate, specializing in oyster restoration and aquaculture and how oysters remove nitrogen pollution. When she's not in the field or lab, you can find her hiking or singing science parody songs for UMCES' Integration & Application Network.

Program Announcements

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News and Blogs

September 1, 2026

Science Illustration and Its Role in Science Communication

August 17, 2026

The Chesapeake Bay Legacy Act’s Impacts on Aquaculture and Commercial Fisheries

August 17, 2026

Baltimore City Teens Dive into Aquaculture, Science, and Sustainable Food Systems

Video Gallery

Sea Grant Film Explores a Diminishing Smithville

Smithville is a community on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, on the edge of the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. A century ago, Smithville had more than 100 residents. Today, it has four, in two homes: an elderly couple, and one elderly woman and her son, who cares for her.

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

Geochronology Study of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Deposition and Ecosystem Response in the Chesapeake & Maryland Coastal Bays

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are environmentally persistent contaminants linked to adverse health outcomes in humans and wildlife. In Maryland's Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Bays, PFAS accumulation in sediments and biota, as well as their ecological impacts, remain poorly understood. This project will reconstruct multidecadal PFAS deposition histories using sediment cores, apply microbial community profiling to assess benthic ecosystem responses, and translate findings into practical guidance for aquaculture and environmental management.

View Project

The Blue Crab: Callinectes Sapidus

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