Sea Grant Seeks Graduate Students for 2027 Marine Policy Fellowship Program in D.C.

New York Sea Grant (NYSG) is looking for graduate students to apply for Sea Grant's John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship (Knauss Fellowship), a nationwide program that provides year-long unique opportunities to work in Washington, D.C., executive (federal agency) and legislative (U.S. House of Representatives and Senate) offices, where they contribute to real-world marine policy work.

Students interested in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources are encouraged to apply via NYSG by June 3 for 2027 fellowships, where they will bring science, innovation and fresh perspectives to decision-making and leave with practical skills and a national professional network.

Alongside her doctoral research and graduate coursework at SBU, incoming Knauss Fellow Kate Blackwell has gained experience in marine and coastal practices through internships on Atlantic sturgeon movements, deep-sea coral microbiomes and marine mammal behavior. Blackwell is pictured here exploring the shoreline of Tromsø, Norway, just after arriving to begin her Fulbright Fellowship. Credit: Kate Blackwell

Around the time of the 2027 fellowship's deadline, Kate Blackwell, a PhD candidate in Stony Brook University's Department of Ecology and Evolution, will begin her 2026 Knauss Fellowship in a legislative office (to be determined in mid-May). Blackwell, and two others from New York - Anna Mehlhorn (Cornell University) and Brianna Lounsbury (SUNY ESF) - join 45 other finalists from across the nation in D.C. for 2026's 47th class of the Knauss Fellowship.

Being selected for this fellowship aligns with Blackwell's long-term goal to build a career "at the interface of marine science and policy" at an agency like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or the Environmental Protection Agency, where she can use her research to help further policy focused on practicable conservation and sustainable community use. She has a particular interest in "learning how agencies balance scientific recommendations with economic, diplomatic, and community considerations."

With an extensive background studying broader marine research already on her CV, the Fulbright scholar sees the Knauss Fellowship as an opportunity to explore how science communication works at the federal level.

"I'm excited by the opportunity to delve more deeply into how scientific findings are evaluated, communicated and ultimately integrated into federal decision-making," said Blackwell. "Because my background has focused on Antarctic and broader marine ecosystem research, I'm especially eager to see how issues such as ecosystem monitoring, conservation planning and resource management are handled within federal agencies."

SBU's Alyson Lowell (left), a 2025 Knauss Fellow, and her mentor Matthew Robinson pose in front of grizzly bears at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Credit: Alyson Lowell

Late this past January, Alyson Lowell, a PhD candidate studying seagrasses and associated organisms at Stony Brook's School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences, completed her 2025 Knauss Fellowship in the Office of Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK).

"As a fellow, I learned the intricacies of federal policy - from drafting bill text to negotiating bipartisan legislation," said Lowell. "Most importantly, I learned the power of committed advocacy from the dedication of the Alaskan constituency. I most valued learning how to integrate needs across multiple user groups to support federal oceans and fishery policy initiatives, while simultaneously balancing real world constraints."

At Stony Brook, Lowell studies how seagrasses and calcifiers respond to stressors like coastal acidification, warming sea surface temperatures and emerging diseases. She seeks to develop and support holistic restoration programs targeted at enhancing sustainability and conservation of coastal regions.

Her research has allowed her to document how environmental variability has affected coastal ecosystems and local stakeholders both domestically and abroad. In her work with the non-profit organization Remote Ecologist, she has guided local stakeholders to restore degraded coastal reefs in the Caribbean islands of Colombia. Closer to home, in New York's Shinnecock Bay, she documented how coastal acidification is affecting nearshore communities with the hope of using this information to support commercial fishermen.

Lowell added that she aspires to join a community of scientists who are at the nexus of science and policy.

"I plan to apply freely shared knowledge to accelerate our understanding of ecosystem resiliency in the face of environmental variability."

For more on NYSG's Knauss fellows, read NYSG's 2025 fellows story and 2026 fellows announcement.

New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant, with offices at Stony Brook University, is a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, and is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Sea Grant College Program.

- Sumayyah Uddin, NYSG