Fellowship Experiences

Many scientists have predicted that this summer may be the hottest in the past century. Temperature is not the only concern; as the Earth gets hotter, it has caused sea water expansion, sea ice melt, and sea level rise. Under a warmer atmosphere, the intensity and frequency of precipitation has also increased.

You may have heard the word “schmutz” used when cleaning up something unappealing, but you probably haven’t heard the word used to describe an organism. But that is what Lyngbya is: schmutz! This stringy type of cyanobacteria can be toxic and irritating, and it gets everywhere.

Although I started graduate school in August 2022, my unofficial journey to graduate school began about a year before, with an email. At the time, I was working as a wetland research technician at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) in Edgewater, Maryland. I had a year left of my full-time, but temporary, contract.

Phragmites australis is a non-native grass that has become a dominant wetland plant in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay region in just a few decades. It is pervasive in wetlands across the United States. Phragmites is a powerful ecosystem engineer that absorbs contamination and stores carbon, but it is also a major threat to native plants.

I was excited for the new opportunities my State Science Policy Fellowship would bring, but nothing could have prepared me for the email I received from the White House in November.