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Fellowship Opportunities

2025 Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship - OPEN

Photo: The 2020 Knauss fellows pose at the end of their Placement Week (Fall 2019).
Photo: The 2020 Knauss fellows pose at the end of their Placement Week (Fall 2019).

WHOI Sea Grant is pleased to invite qualified individuals to submit applications for the Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship.

The fellowship provides a one-year, paid experience for highly-qualified early career professionals to work on issues related to coastal, marine and Great Lakes science and policy in offices within the executive or legislative branch of government in Washington, D.C. The fellowship starts on February 1, 2026 and ends on January 31, 2027.

Graduate students interested in marine science policy should explore the information about the fellowship as soon as possible and talk to their local Sea Grant program (or the National Sea Grant Office). Potential applicants from Massachusetts are encouraged to contact WHOI Sea Grant Director Matt Charette at least one month prior to the application deadline.

The deadline to submit the application to the WHOI Sea Grant office is February 19, 2025, by 5 p.m. Eastern.

To be eligible for the 2026 fellowship (which lasts February 1, 2026 through January 31, 2027):
  • A student must be enrolled towards a degree in a graduate program at any point between the onset of the 2024 Fall Term (quarter, trimester, semester, etc.) and February 15, 2025:
  • The student’s graduate degree program must be through an accredited institution of higher education in the United States or U.S. Territories;
  • Students are eligible regardless of nationality; domestic and international students at accredited U.S. institutions may apply; and
  • Applicants must have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources.

Resources

Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship

See list of WHOI Sea Grant's past fellows

Massachusetts Sea Grant Graduate Research Fellowship - Closed

September 1, 2024 through August 31, 2026

Deadline for application: 4:30 pm Eastern Time, Wednesday, October 4, 2023

WHOI Sea Grant (WHOISG) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sea Grant (MITSG) are pleased to jointly invite qualified individuals to submit applications for the Massachusetts Sea Grant Graduate Research Fellowship.

The purpose of this fellowship is to support exceptional prospective graduate students who are engaged in coastal and marine research that furthers the goals of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Sea Grant and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sea Grant programs. Two (2) two-year Graduate Student Fellowships will be awarded, with a maximum Sea Grant support of $40,000/year for stipend and tuition costs and $2,000/year for professional development, such as conference travel or attendance fees, trainings, and/or workshops, and research and supply costs for a total of $84,000 for each Fellow over the two year period. Fellowships will require a match of $1 of non-federal funds for every $2 of federal Sea Grant funds requested.
To be eligible for the 2024 fellowship, which runs from September 1, 2024 through August 31, 2026:
  • Applicants must currently be enrolled in an undergraduate or joint bachelor’s/master’s program OR are not currently enrolled in any graduate program and plan to attend a graduate program in fall 2024 in Massachusetts.
  • A student must be enrolled in a thesis-granting master's or doctoral graduate program in Massachusetts no later than fall 2024
  • International students who are not U.S. citizens or permanent residents must have received an undergraduate or previous graduate degree from an accredited institution of higher education in the United States or U.S. territories.
  • The research undertaken by the students must address pressing coastal issues in Massachusetts.

Applicants will be notified in early January of fellowship review decisions.

For further information, visit Massachusetts Sea Grant Graduate Research Fellowship.

NOAA Coastal Management Fellowship - OPEN

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The NOAA Office for Coastal Management is recruiting candidates for the 2025 Coastal Management Fellowship Program. This program provides on-the-job education and training opportunities in coastal resource management and policy for postgraduate students, while offering project assistance to state and territory coastal zone management agencies and other key NOAA partners. 

The six fellowship positions, starting in August 2025, are available with the following host organizations:

  • New Hampshire Coastal Program
  • Maine Coastal Program/Maine Department of Marine Resources
  • Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management
  • North Carolina Division of Coastal Management
  • Oregon Coastal Management Program
  • U.S. Virgin Islands Coastal Zone Management Program

Eligibility requirements, descriptions of the projects, and guidance on how to apply can be found on the website: https://coast.noaa.gov/fellowship/process.html

To be eligible for the 2025 Coastal Management Fellowship, applicants must have completed a master’s or other advanced degree at an accredited U.S. university between August 1, 2023, and July 31, 2025. A wide range of degrees are applicable due to the diversity of projects among the host organizations. This two-year fellowship offers a competitive salary, medical benefits, and reimbursement for travel and relocation expenses.

Application packages must be submitted to the Sea Grant office in the state where you earned your degree by Friday, January 24, 2025.

To learn more about the Coastal Management Fellowship and past projects, visit https://coast.noaa.gov/fellowship/coastalmanagement.html.

NMFS-Sea Grant Fellowship in Population and Ecosystem Dynamics and Marine Resource Economics - OPEN

NMFS-SeaGrantFellowship

The NMFS-Sea Grant Joint Fellowship Program provides up to three years of funding for a Ph.D. student working in partnership with a NMFS mentor on project in Population and Ecosystem Dynamics and/or Marine Resource Economics.  The Fellowship is designed to help Sea Grant fulfill its broad educational responsibilities and to strengthen the collaboration between Sea Grant and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). Since 1990, Sea Grant and NMFS have partnered to train students through this joint fellowship program in two specialized areas: population and ecosystem dynamics as well as marine resource economics. Population and ecosystem dynamics involve the study of fish populations and marine ecosystems to better assess fishery stock conditions and dynamics.

 

» NMFS-Sea Grant Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) and more details

 

How to apply

Interested students from Massachusetts are strongly encouraged to reach out to the WHOI Sea Grant program at least one month prior to the state application deadline to receive application support and provide notification of intent to apply.

Deadline

Application packages must be submitted to the Sea Grant office in the state where you received your degree by 5:00 pm local time on January 23, 2025. 

Contact

WHOI Sea Grant Director Matt Charette, mcharette@whoi.edu

Please carefully review all materials provided prior to asking questions. If you still need clarification, do not hesitate to reach out!

Supporting documents

2022 Coastal Management and Digital Coast Fellowships - NOW CLOSED

Woods Hole Sea Grant is soliciting applications for the 2022 Coastal Management and Digital Coast Fellowship Program. This program's mission is to provide on-the-job education and training opportunities in coastal resource management and policy for postgraduate students and to provide project assistance to state coastal zone management agencies and other key NOAA partners.
The twelve fellowship positions start in August 2022 and are available with the California Coastal Commission, California Coastal Conservancy, and the coastal programs in Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, and Oregon, and three hosted by Digital Coast Partners: the Coastal States Organization (in partnership with Association of State Floodplain Managers, the National States Geographic Information Council, and The Nature Conservancy).
Eligibility requirements, descriptions of the projects, and guidance on how to apply can be found at coast.noaa.gov/fellowship and in the resource section below.
For the 2022 fellowship, applicants must be U.S. citizens who will complete a master’s or other advanced degree at an accredited U.S. university between August 1, 2020, and July 31, 2022. A broad range of degrees are applicable to the fellowship because the projects are varied among the host organizations. This two-year opportunity offers a competitive salary, medical benefits, and travel and relocation expense reimbursement.  

Application packages must be submitted to the Sea Grant office in the state where you received your degree by Friday, January 21, 2022.
Please reach out to WHSG Director Matt Charette by the end of the year if you are thinking of applying to this fellowship program.

Resources

2022 Coastal Management and Digital Coast Fellowship