Columbus, Ohio Ohio Sea Grant’s three 2023 Knauss fellowship finalists have completed Placement Week in Washington. D.C., meeting with potential host offices and interviewing for positions of interest. All three fellows will work in executive branch offices.

Kaylyn Flanigan is a PhD student in neural and cognitive sciences at Bowling Green State University, where her research focuses on use of Lake Erie dredged sediment as a soil amendment for agricultural crops, which can have benefits for crop yield, but may also contain contaminants of concern. She was placed in NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research, where she will join the Policy and Congressional Affairs Branch as part of the Policy Team.

Alexandra Neal is a PhD student in biology at Bowling Green State University, where her research focuses on pharmaceutical pollution in aquatic ecosystems and how the world can balance a growing demand for new medications with mitigating and preventing the impacts of these pollutants. She will join the National Sea Grant Office for her fellowship year.

Briana Yancy holds a master’s degree in biology from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Her background includes research at the intersection of conservation and social sciences with a focus on coastal development, as well as time at the U.S. EPA’s Chesapeake Research Consortium and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. She will join the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) as part of their research and development transition support team.
 
The prestigious John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship is a year-long NOAA Sea Grant program that places highly qualified graduate students in host offices in the legislative and executive branches of U.S. government. The three Ohio finalists join a group of 86 graduate students – the largest group in recent years – recommended to the National Sea Grant office from 29 Sea Grant programs across the country.

More information about the Knauss Fellowship Program is available at seagrant.noaa.gov/Knauss-Fellowship-Program. Applications for 2024 fellowships will open soon, with information on the application process available at ohioseagrant.osu.edu/about/jobs/knauss.

The Ohio Sea Grant College Program is part of The Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences and NOAA Sea Grant, a network of 34 Sea Grant programs dedicated to the protection and sustainable use of marine and Great Lakes resources. For more information, visit ohioseagrant.osu.edu.