Dana Mugisa

State Science Policy Fellowship

Fellowship Institution:

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

Start Year

2026

Dana Mugisa earned her PhD in biological and agricultural engineering, with a minor in genetic engineering and society, from North Carolina State University. Her research examined how water stress and agricultural water management affect crop productivity, nutrient uptake, and downstream water quality. Mugisa is particularly interested in bridging scientific research and environmental decision-making to support climate resilience and environmental sustainability.

As a Maryland Sea Grant State Science Policy Fellow, she looks forward to expanding her expertise by working at the intersection of science, sustainability, and policy. Outside of work, Mugisa enjoys the beach, photography, cooking, and spending quality time with family and friends.

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

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.

View Project

The Blue Crab: Callinectes Sapidus

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