This opportunity is now closed and it won’t be available in 2021.

What is it?

  • A fellowship established to provide on-the-job education and training opportunities in coastal resource management and policy for postgraduate students.
  • A two-year opportunity that offers a competitive salary, medical benefits, and relocation and travel expense reimbursement.
  • A program that matches postgraduate students with state coastal resource agencies and nonprofit organizations to work on projects proposed by the hosts and selected by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office for Coastal Management.

Who is eligible?

  • Any student completing a master’s or other advanced degree in natural resource management or environmental-related studies from an accredited U.S. university between January 1, 2019, and July 31, 2020. Students must also be U.S. citizens.
  • Students from a broad range of environmental programs are encouraged to apply.
  • Application packages are due to your local Sea Grant by January 17, 2020. Florida applicants must submit all application materials by email to Corina Guevara, Florida Sea Grant student and education coordinator, at corina@ufl.edu.

Where can you get information?

Fellow eligibility and selection

Any U.S. citizen who will complete a master’s or other advanced degree program in natural resource management or environment-related studies at an accredited U.S. university between January 1, 2019, and July 31, 2020, is eligible to apply for the Coastal Management and Digital Coast Fellowships. Students from a broad range of environmental programs are encouraged to apply. Students who are not U.S. citizens or who attend non-U.S. institutions are not eligible. All applications must include the following items:

  1. Resume or curriculum vitae (not to exceed two pages using 12 pt. font).
  2. Statement of the applicant’s goals with emphasis on what the applicant expects from and can contribute to the fellowship experience (500 words or less).
  3. Two letters of recommendation, including one from the applicant’s principal professor. If no principal professor exists, the faculty member who is most familiar with the applicant’s academic work may be substituted.
  4. Unofficial copies of all undergraduate and graduate student transcripts.

How to Apply

Application packages must be submitted to Corina Guevara, Florida Sea Grant student and education coordinator (corina@ufl.edu), by January 17, 2020.

Each Sea Grant program office may select and forward up to three applications to the NOAA Office for Coastal Management for review. Applicants from states not served by a Sea Grant program office should contact the Office’s fellowship coordinator for more information on submitting an application (contact information is below).

Download the application packet information here.

NOTE: Letters of recommendation should be sent directly from the letter writer to Corina Guevara, Florida Sea Grant student and education coordinator (corina@ufl.edu).

Selection of Finalists

From the nominations submitted by Sea Grant directors, 18 finalists will be selected by a selection panel. Final decisions will be made by March 13, 2020, and all applicants will be notified of the decision by the end of the following week.

Placement of Fellows

A workshop to match hosts with fellows will take place in Charleston, South Carolina, April 27 to May 1, 2020. Before the workshop begins, each of the 18 finalists will receive a packet of information detailing the fellowship projects, each of the host organizations, and the background of the area of assignment. No contact between prospective hosts and finalists should be made prior to the placement workshop.

The finalists will be brought to the workshop at the expense of the NOAA Office for Coastal Management for final interviews and placement. Each of the selected host organizations will send the fellow mentor to the placement workshop. The workshop will consist of program orientation, project presentations given by the hosts, finalist presentations, finalist and host interviews, and fellow matching. Of the 18 finalists selected in 2020, six will be placed with a state coastal program and three will be placed with a Digital Coast partner.

Coastal Management Projects

Host Agency: Association of State Floodplain Managers and Coastal States Organization
Location: Madison, Wisconsin
Project Title: Mitigating Multiple Loss Properties: Guidance and Training for Coastal Communities
Project Goal: Work nationally to support coastal communities to tackle one of the greatest challenges to reducing flood damages and costs in a changing climate—repeatedly flooded properties— through research, guidance development, and direct technical assistance.

Host Agency: California State Coastal Conservancy
Location: Oakland, California
Project Title: California State Coastal Conservancy’s Wetland Recovery Project
Project Goal: Help implement, track, and evaluate a visionary regional plan to restore southern California’s wetlands, the Regional Strategy 2018, as well as support a community-based wetland restoration grant program in order to increase coastal wetland resilience that benefits all people in California.

Host Agency: Delaware Coastal Programs
Location: Dover, Delaware
Project Title: A Roadmap to Protection: Understanding the Costs of Adaptation
Project Goal: Develop a decision-tree process for communities, homeowners, business owners, and land stewards to follow on actions they can undertake to mitigate flooding impacts from sea level rise and coastal storms; and provide outreach and education on the process.

Host Agency: Guam Coastal Management Program
Location: Hagatna, Guam
Project Title: Update the Draft Seashore Reserve Plan
Project Goal: Advance a sustainable and vibrant coast through marine planning and effective administration of natural resource-related laws, programs, and policies.

Host Agency: Maryland Chesapeake and Coastal Service
Location: Annapolis, Maryland
Project Title: Resilience and Public Recreational Lands in Maryland: Developing Strategies for On-the-ground Climate Adaptation
Project Goal: Identify and implement new technical guidance and on-the-ground climate adaptation best practices for several Maryland Department of Natural Resources land unit sites in order to assist land managers in ensuring the long-term resilience of our ecosystems, infrastructure, recreational uses, and public access.

Host Agency: National Estuarine Research Reserve Association at Narragansett Bay Research Reserve
Location: Prudence Island, Rhode Island
Project Title: Building Our National Capacity to Protect Coastal Wetland Migration Pathways: Assessing Stakeholder Needs and Creating Transferable Communications Tools
Project Goal: Characterize the needs for coastal wetland migration pathway information, identify preferred tools and communication approaches, and develop best available wetland pathway data and tools.

Host Agency: The Nature Conservancy
Location: Florida Keys, Florida
Project Title: Building Capacity to Use Existing Digital Coast Tools and Resources for Implementing Nature-Based Solutions after a Major Hurricane
Project Goal: Plan and implement nature-based solutions to reduce risk in two regions of the Southeast United States that have been recently impacted by hurricanes: the Florida Panhandle and the Carolinas Coastal Plain.

Host Agency: Texas Coastal Management Program
Location: Austin, Texas
Project Title: Implementation and Improvement of the Texas Coastal Nonpoint Source Pollution Program
Project Goal: Implement water quality management measures along the Texas coast through stakeholder engagement, data analysis and communication, and strategic programmatic review.

Host Agency: US Virgin Islands Coastal Zone Management Program
Location: St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Project Title: Updating the St. Thomas East End Reserves (STEER) Management Plan to Recover and Improve Coastal Resilience in the U.S. Virgin Islands
Project Goal: Produce an updated St. Thomas East End Reserves 5-year Management Plan through a transparent, inclusive, and fully informed process in order to provide managers and partners with a prioritized set of actions that protect the social and ecological communities of St. Thomas.

 

For more information on the 2020 state projects please visit the fellowship website at coast.noaa.gov/fellowship/coastalmanagement.html. For more information on the 2020 Digital Coast projects, please visit the fellowship website at coast.noaa.gov/fellowship/digitalcoast.html. Contact the fellowship coordinator at ocm.fellowships@noaa.gov.