Carrie McDougall, 2003 Knauss Fellow
Her Time in Washington, DC
One Career in Marine Education Launched by Knauss Fellowship
Carrie McDougall's experiences in 2003 show just how fast, and how far, a Knauss Fellowship can take a young career in marine policy. Last year as a Knauss Fellow, a year out of graduate school, McDougall left a job in education in Santa Barbara, Calif., to work in the inner sanctum of the nation's premier marine policy agency, the Office of the Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere.
Knauss Fellows spend their fellowship year in Washington, D.C. but this doesn't mean there is no time for educational field trips to the tropics. The 2003 class of Knauss Fellows visited Puerto Rico to learn about the challenges of managing marine resources in a U.S. territory such as Puerto Rico. Below are some snapshots from their sun-drenched marine adventure. [All photos by Nikola Garber, NOAA]
In this photo the 2003 class of Knauss Fellows are guided through the tropical mangrove keys in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico by University of Puerto Rico graduate students.
For those of you who don't know, the Office of the Undersecretary is the personal office of Vice Admiral (Ret.) Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., Undersecretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
NOAA runs the National Weather Service, the National Hurricane Center, NOAA Fisheries, the National Ocean Service, and is the parent organization to the nation's 30 Sea Grant programs, among other things. It is, in other words, a huge organization, claiming more than 60 percent of the Department of Commerce's annual budget.
As a fellow in NOAA's command center, McDougall spent much of the first six months of her fellowship writing speeches for Vice Adm. Lautenbacher. She wrote, for example, his keynote speech for the Oceanology conference in New Orleans, "talking points" for various NOAA Town Hall Meetings, and his speech at the annual meeting of the board of governors of the Consortium for Oceanographic Research and Education. Her job, she explained, was to deliver a message that would help an audience understand and interact with NOAA more effectively. To do this meant researching topics extensively, recognizing potential "hot topics" and then tailoring material for each specific audience.
Knauss Fellows listen to a Puerto Rico wildlife biologist explain how her agency does topographic mapping of local marine ecosystems. Carrie McDougall is in shorts standing.
A major part of the process was about acquiring a genuine feel for NOAA's priorities and for the scope and implications of the agency's policies. All this required understanding the political implications of marine science issues, and it meant seeing marine policy as one piece of a much larger national agenda. This broader focus was a major source of excitement for McDougall.
"My fellowship was not about becoming a specialist," said McDougall, who earned a doctorate degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 2002. Her thesis looked at bioluminescence in dinoflagellates. "It was about becoming a generalist and seeing NOAA in broad brush strokes. That is a departure for a Ph.D. Some people might not be interested in the logistics of marine policy. But for me it was fascinating from a sociological perspective. I learned a lot about government and how it works."
In shorts, hats and sunglasses, 2003 Knauss Fellows head to the outer mangrove key of Jobos Bay, Puerto Rico.
Before you get the idea that her work was always scintillating, about cultivating ideas and engaging in stimulating dialogs, think again. Sometimes her responsibilities were tedious, administrative chores, nothing that directly tapped her expertise as a Ph.D. in marine biology.
One such responsibility was “staffing” the vice admiral's speaking engagements. "Whoever was his primary speech writer, 'staffed' his event," she explained. “Staffing means, going to the event and attending to all the small details you don't want forgotten. You get his water and attend to all the little things that need to flow smoothly. He is there to give his speech. You don't want him to forget his bag."
Besides researching, writing and practicing speeches with the vice admiral, McDougall spent many hours familiarizing herself with NOAA, learning what it does, how it is assembled, its various goals and how it interacts with other federal agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Science Foundation. In this effort, she was staff support to NOAA representatives on the National Invasive Species Council and the National Science Foundation's Disease Informatics Senior Coordinating Committee, as a way to further participate, network and learn.
The work was very interesting, she said. "I got to see how different agencies interact together to work toward a single goal."
Half way through the fellowship, McDougall transferred duties within the Office of the Undersecretary, becoming one of two "decision coordinators" for NOAA's senior management team.
2003 Knauss Fellows Rachel Adams (front) and Carrie McDougall (behind her in the gray T-shirt) hike through Puerto Rico's Yunque National Rainforest.
The position was a tutorial in administration and management, she said. "I briefed and recommended actions to the chief of staff of the Undersecretary on management processes and programs so that he could make policy decisions.” If an analogy helps, her position was a lot like being an executive secretary to NOAA's board of directors.
Although she found her tenure at the Undersecretary's Office incredibly valuable, McDougall decided she wanted to return to education, which was her original passion. Prior to accepting her Knauss award, McDougall coordinated an education program at the University of California, Santa Barbara's Marine Science Institute.
"I think the things NOAA does are really important in the world today," she said. "I learned a lot as a high-level support staff. But, as far as a long-term position, I wanted to be in education."
"Education gets back to the reason I chose a Knauss Fellowship,” she said. “I still feel education is at the heart of success for everything NOAA does. NOAA will never be able to fully achieve its mission if it doesn't have an informed, environmentally literate public."
Her supervisor granted her request to work on an educational project, and as a result she was able to spend the last three months of her fellowship at NOAA’s Office of Education and Sustainable Development, an office created by Vice Adm. Lautenbacher as part of his vision to create an integrated education program within NOAA.
McDougall, 32, has since parlayed her fellowship into a full-time permanent position. March 8, 2004 was her first day as a Program and Policy Analyst at NOAA's Office of Education and Sustainable Development. "This is the kind of job everybody should look for," she said. "What we do is meaningful, and the people are wonderful."
2003 Knauss Fellows at Puerto Rico's Yunque National Rainforest.
"I attribute the position to my Knauss Fellowship 100 percent," she said. "I attribute all future jobs and the re-direction of my career to the Knauss Fellowship. It was the pivotal point."
Among her many duties at her new job, she is working hard to find ways to increase "the general public's scientific ability to understand environmental issues." Statistics show that comparatively fewer students are choosing earth and ocean science as a career path. "We are looking at finding the best ways to increase the number of people in NOAA-related sciences," she said.
For those in academia considering applying for a Knauss Fellowship, she offered this advice: "If you are thinking about it, do it. It will help you identify the things you like to do day-to-day. That is highly valuable."
"For me, conducting basic research in a lab didn't satisfy the need I have to work on pressing societal issues," she said. "The work I was able to do as a Knauss Fellow allowed me to address some of these issues. I feel I really made a difference."
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