Knauss Fellows for 2003

Two University of Maryland graduate students, both in the Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Science (MEES) program, are recipients of Knauss Marine Policy Fellowships for 2003. The fellowship program, begun in 1979 and coordinated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Sea Grant Office, provides graduate students across the country with an opportunity to spend a year working with policy and science experts in Washington, D.C.

Named after former NOAA administrator John A. Knauss, the Sea Grant fellowship program was established in 1979 to match highly qualified graduate students with hosts in the legislative and executive branches of the government or with associations and institutions located in or near Washington, D.C.

Olaf Jensen's fellowship places him in the biogeography program led by Dr. Mark Monaco in NOAA's National Ocean Service. His work there is focusing on biogeographic assessment, including habitat mapping and multi-species modeling, of the National Marine Sanctuaries. Jensen received his B.A. in biology and society at Cornell University in 1998, then worked as a naturalist and educator for the King County parks system in Seattle, Washington. He began a M.S. degree program in the MEES program in 2000 with support from the Maryland Sea Grant Research Fellowship program. His thesis research, conducted at the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory and supervised by Dr. Thomas Miller, focused on understanding the distribution patterns and spatial ecology of the blue crab in Chesapeake Bay. Jensen is currently writing his thesis and plans to graduate in the spring.

Taconya Piper is spending her fellowship year with NOAA's National Ocean Service, in the Office of Ocean Exploration. She is organizing, coordinating and providing special support to expeditions led by the office. She is also focusing on the development of education and outreach programs that will promote ocean exploration and stewardship to the public. Her work this year with education and outreach fulfills a personal goal to implement programs that will expose inner city youths to the many opportunities for careers in ocean and environmental science. Piper earned a B.S. in environmental science from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in 1999. In 2000, she enrolled in the MEES program under the direction of Dr. Roman Jesien, where she investigated the reproductive potential of American shad in the Delaware and Hudson rivers.

While in the MEES program she was also a research fishery biologist in the Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) through NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service, an EPA Graduate Research Fellow, and a summer intern with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. She will receive her M.S. degree in May 2003.

Knauss Fellowships run from February 1 to January 31 and pay a stipend of $32,000, plus $6000 for health insurance, moving, and travel. They are awarded with the help of Sea Grant programs across the nation. For more information, visit both the fellowship web site at Maryland, www.mdsg.umd.edu/Policy/knauss.html, and at the National Sea Grant office, www.nsgo.seagrant.org/ Knauss.html. The deadline for fellowships is in early April; those interested in applying for 2005 should contact Susan Leet at the Maryland Sea Grant office two to three months prior to the application deadline at 5824 University Reasearch Court, Suite 1350, University of Maryland, College Park, 20740, phone 301.403.4220, fax 301.403.4255, e-mail leet@mdsg.umd.edu.

This page was last modified May 27, 2003

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