John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship Winners Announced

Jan. 26, 2007

Contact: Christina S. Johnson, csjohnson@ucsd.edu, 858-822-5334

California Sea Grant is pleased to announce two new Knauss Fellows, who join 42 other Knauss winners from other states for a yearlong mentoring program in federal marine policy in Washington, D.C.

2007 Knauss Fellow Stuart Levenbach. Credit: L. Levenbach

Stuart Levenbach, who recently earned a doctorate from the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology at UC Santa Barbara, has been placed with republican staff on the Senate’s Commerce Committee, which includes Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine and Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska.

“I have always been interested in policy,” Levenbach said. “But I wanted to earn my stripes as a scientist before I ventured into policy. The fellowship allowed me to enter into the world of policy from a science background.”

“I will work on all ocean and climate issues that come before the Commerce Committee,” Levenbach said. “I think there will be a lot of fisheries and aquaculture issues, as well as climate issues.”

Ryan Wulff, a recent master’s graduate from the Marine Biodiversity and Conservation program at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, will be at in the fisheries division of NOAA’s Office of International Affairs.

“The fellowship is a chance to really get hands-on experience at the federal level in marine policy,” Wulff said. “It is a chance to see how decisions are being made, who’s making them and to be a part of it.”

2007 Knauss Fellow Ryan Wulff. Credit: M.Allen

Wulff’s first assignment will be to prepare the U.S. position on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species for the next conference of parties.

The John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship, sponsored by NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program, matches highly qualified graduate students with hosts in legislative or executive branches of federal government in the Washington, D.C., area for a one-year paid fellowship. The program is named after former NOAA administrator John A. Knauss.

To learn more about the experiences of past Knauss Fellows and what they are now doing professionally, visit the California Sea Grant webpage at http://www.csgc.ucsd.edu/.