Three Californians Win Knauss Fellowships - 2004
March 16, 2004
Contact: Christina S. Johnson, csjohnson@ucsd.edu, 858-822-5334
Three Californians Win Knauss Fellowships
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)
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.
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 Julie Kellner, University of California at Santa Barbara.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.
NOAA's California Sea Grant is a statewide, multi-university program of marine research, extension services, and education activities. It is the largest of the nation's 30 Sea Grant programs and is headquartered at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. The National Sea Grant College Program is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce.
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