Four graduate students from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa have embarked on a new journey as they transition from studying marine science to applying their expertise in crucial marine policy roles in Washington, D.C. The UH students join 80 others from around the country as 2024 NOAA John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellows.
UH Mānoa students Elizabeth Benyshek, Erik Brush, Ryan Jones and Becca Lensing, and Hawaiʻi Pacific University student Hannah Odahara are representing the UH Sea Grant College Program alongside approximately 80 other fellows from Sea Grant programs across the country.
The Knauss fellowship is a one-year paid opportunity for current and recent graduates from advanced degree programs to be placed in federal government offices and apply their scientific knowledge and experiences to lasting careers in the sciences, policy and public administration.
The 2024 class of fellows features participants from 66 universities, including 12 minority-serving institutions, and will join a network of more than 1,600 individuals who have participated in the program since its inception in 1979.
“Knauss fellows over the years have consistently and thoughtfully applied their unique knowledge and skill sets to developing solutions to issues that affect people across the nation,” said Jonathan Pennock, director of the National Sea Grant College Program. “We look forward to welcoming the incoming class of fellows and have no doubt that they will continue the tradition of serving through science.”
While the five fellows representing Hawaiʻi will gain invaluable knowledge and experience working directly on the nation’s most pressing issues in the legislative and executive branches of government, they will also bring a unique perspective on natural resource management and community engagement to their host offices and other fellows. Their experiences are varied and range from cutting-edge research on coral reefs and bleaching events, engaging policymakers and resource managers, research on loko iʻa that directly impacts how fishpond stewards manage traditional aquaculture systems, studying fish species that are incredibly common yet poorly studied in Hawaiʻi, to the study of plate tectonics and geophysics.
For more information, see Hawaiʻi Sea Grant’s website.
—By Cindy Knapman
