Knauss legislative fellowships in Congress help build careers — and they're fun and educational. See our video and fact sheet for details.
Current Post Graduate Fellows
State Science Policy Fellowship
Fellowship at:
Maryland Environmental ServiceCool Facts:
Khurshid Jahan is a Visiting Researcher with ICCCAD, currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Geosciences at the University of Rhode Island, USA. She holds an MSc in Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Recently she was awarded by the Rhode Island Society of Environmental Professionals to support her research on stormwater management. In addition, URI awarded her this year’s John J. Fisher Memorial Award for excellence as a teaching assistant in geology. Previously in 2010, she was awarded a South Asian Water Alliance fellowship from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology that included participation in a training program in Sri Lanka. And she received a fellowship from the Action Research for Community Adaptation in Bangladesh program. Khurshid was based at ICCCAD, conducting research into climate change, urbanization, water quality and water drainage problem from urban runoff. Her current research expands on this and explores relations between climate change, urbanization, environmental impact, and water quality degradation.
Fellowship at:
Maryland Department of the EnvironmentCool Facts:
Rachel Lamb earned her PhD in Geographical Sciences at the University of Maryland College Park in Spring 2021. Her research centers on the applications of NASA Carbon Monitoring System forest carbon science to advance strategic climate mitigation planning with co-benefits for biodiversity and human livelihoods. Since 2020, she has lead the Campus Forest Carbon project, helping the University of Maryland better incorporate forest carbon science into their Climate Action Plan and Greenhouse Gas Inventory.Maryland Law and Policy Fellowship
Fellowship at:
Agriculture Law Education Initiative and Maryland Sea Grant CollegeCool Facts:
Elissa Torres-Soto is a recent Environmental and Energy Law LL.M. graduate from Georgetown University Law Center. With the supervision of Nicole Cook from the Agriculture Law Education Initiative (ALEI), she is currently working on a legal journal article about the standing requirements to present a protest to a new commercial shellfish aquaculture lease in the State of Maryland. She is also working on a fact sheet about how to transfer a commercial shellfish aquaculture lease in Maryland. Another of Elissa’s projects includes developing a guide for navigating the state and federal permitting processes for nature-based projects on the Chesapeake Bay Critical Area.Program Announcements
News and Blogs
Featured Fellow
Shivish Bhandari is a graduate student in the Bioenvironmental Science Ph.D. program at Morgan State University studying environment-genome interaction in Eastern oysters. Outside of his studies, Shivish enjoys traveling, bird watching, and photography.
Featured Research Project
Interstate Blue Crab Transportation and the Risk of Iintroducing Novel Viruses into the Chesapeake Bay Crab Fishery
Callinectes sapidus supports the most valuable commercial fishery in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Nationally, the average total dockside value of blue crab fisheries in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Texas approaches $200 million. Interstate live blue crab transport has increased due to seasonal cycles of crab landings in the Chesapeake regions and changes in allocation of immigration permits for guest workers.
