The 2024 NOAA Sea Grant John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship finalists will complete a fellowship that offers a unique educational and professional experience to graduate students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources.
As recipients of this prestigious fellowship, they will spend a year working in the legislative or executive branches of government in the Washington D.C., area. During a week of interviews this fall, the finalists were matched with the host agencies and legislative offices where they will work during their fellowship year.
Our 2024 finalists are five of 85 finalists from 66 universities. The Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium recommended our finalists for funding after completing a competitive application process at the state program level. Their application packets were then entered into the national-level competition.
Our finalists include:
- Hameed Ajibade, The University of Southern Mississippi. Fellowship placement: NOAA National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service/Center for Satellite Applications and Research (STAR)/Satellite Oceanography and Climatology Division. The Satellite Oceanography and Climatology Division provides the research and development of remote sensing data on the world's oceans, and it calibrates instruments, verifies the data, and creates products to meet the needs of users for satellite data and other information on the oceans.
- Chesna Cox, The University of South Alabama. Fellowship Placement: NOAA Office of Marine and Aviation Operations (OMAO), NOAA Uncrewed Systems Operations Center. OMAO manages and operates NOAA's fleet of 15 research and survey ships and nine specialized environmental data-collecting aircraft.
- Akacia Halliday-Isaac, The University of Mississippi. A legislative branch office (to be announced).
- Elise Keister, The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Placement: NOAA Ocean Acidification Program. The NOAA Ocean Acidification Program coordinates research, monitoring and activities to understand where and how fast the ocean’s chemistry is changing, the impacts these changes have on marine life, people and economies.
- Abiola Obafemi, The University of Southern Mississippi. Placement: Office of NOAA Sea Grant. The Sea Grant network consists of federal-university partnerships between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and 34 university-based programs in every coastal and Great Lakes state, Puerto Rico and Guam.
Read more about the Knauss Class of 2024.
Meet the author
Melissa Schneider
Communications Coordinator
Melissa Schneider coordinates public information, educational media and communication services for Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant. Some of MASGC's communications projects include our website, social... Read more
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