Three Californians Win Knauss Fellowships - 2004
CALIFORNIA SEA GRANT COLLEGE PROGRAM
University of California
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0232
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 16, 2004
Contact: Christina Johnson, 858-822-5334, csjohnson@ucsd.edu
[Note to reporters/editors: Photos of fellows are available on the web for public downloading. See end of release for details and hi-resolution links.]
Three Californians Win Knauss Fellowships
Two California graduate students and a recent California graduate have won prestigious Knauss fellowships in marine policy. All three are women; all three are now working in Washington, D.C. at various offices within NOAA.
This year's winners are Shannon Dionne of the Monterey Institute of International Studies; Julie Kellner from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and Kristan Blackhart of the University of California at Santa Cruz. The National Sea Grant College Program awarded a total of 33 fellowships nationwide for 2004, including the three to California.
Vice
Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, head of NOAA, stands with 2004 Knauss fellows
Shannon Dionne (left) of the Monterey Institute of International Studies; Kristan
Blackhart (middle) of the University of California at Santa Cruz, and Julie
Kellner (right) from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
(Photo Credits: NOAA's National Sea Grant College Program)
Under the Knauss program, each fellow receives a one-year stipend to work with "hosts" in executive and legislative offices involved in marine, coastal and Great Lakes science and policy. The program was established in 1979 and named in honor of one of Sea Grant's founders, former NOAA Administrator, John A. Knauss.
Shannon Dionne with Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, head of NOAA
Photo Credit: NOAA's National Sea Grant College Program
Dionne, a former hydrologist with the US Geological Survey who earned her master's in international environmental policy in December, was placed in the NOAA Office of International Affairs. Her first project as a Knauss fellow was to help organize the "White Water to Blue Water Conference," which was held in March in Miami. One of the goals of the conference is to educate tourism and marine transportation industries on practices that will support ongoing and future efforts to improve watershed and coastal management in the Caribbean.
Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, head of NOAA, with Julie Kellner, University of California at Santa Barbara.
Photo Credit: NOAA's National Sea Grant college Program
Kellner, a doctoral candidate at UC Santa Barbara, is spending the year at the NOAA Biogeography Program. Biogeography is the study of the geographic distribution of organisms. The NOAA Biogeography Program is geared toward helping agencies map and monitor marine species and their habitats. In line with this, Kellner is now assisting with a project to characterize the distribution of invertebrates, fishes and key habitats around the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. The project will help the National Marine Sanctuaries Program evaluate six different proposals on how, or whether, the sanctuary should be expanded.
Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, head of NOAA, with Kristen Blackhart, University of California at Santa Cruz.
Photo Credit: NOAA's National Sea Grant College Program
Blackhart, a master's student at UC Santa Cruz who studied settlement in juvenile rockfish, is at the NOAA Fisheries Office of Science and Technology. She is currently co-editing what will be the sixth edition of "Our Living Oceans," a status report on America's living marine resources.
"The fellowship is an opportunity to get things done at the ground level," Blackhart said. "I feel I'm really able to make a difference."
"It gives you a view that you would not get if you just started a regular job," Dionne said.
Knauss fellowships are an ideal vehicle for students interested in broadening their expertise in marine science or in tailoring an interest in policy to marine and coastal policy-making. This year's crop of California fellows have the added excitement of working in the nation's capital during an election year. All have commented on the remarkable networking opportunities and countless receptions so far.
California Sea Grant is a statewide, multi-university program of marine research, extension services, and education activities administered by the University of California. It is the largest of 30 Sea Grant programs sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce.
# # #PHOTO INFORMATION:
A group photo of the California Knauss fellows can be downloaded at: http://www.nsgo.seagrant.org/Knauss/2004/2004VADM_Pictures/pages/DSC_6734a_jpg.htm.
Cut-line: Vice Admiral Conrad C. Lautenbacher, head of NOAA, stands with 2004 Knauss fellows Shannon Dionne (left) of the Monterey Institute of International Studies; Kristan Blackhart (middle) of the University of California at Santa Cruz, and Julie Kellner (right) from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
A photo of Shannon Dionne can be downloaded at http://www.nsgo.seagrant.org/Knauss/2004/2004VADM_Pictures/pages/DSC_6658_JPG.htm.
A photo of Kristan Blackhart at http://www.nsgo.seagrant.org/Knauss/2004/2004VADM_Pictures/pages/DSC_6708_JPG.htm.
A photo of Julie Kellner at http://www.nsgo.seagrant.org/Knauss/2004/2004VADM_Pictures/pages/DSC_6712_JPG.htm.
Photo Credits: NOAA's National Sea Grant College Program
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