Knauss Blog
Showcasing Academic Excellence for Coastal Management
Sea Grant supports coastal marine and Great Lakes communities through research, extension and education.


Reelin’ in the Years
In my Knauss fellowship so far, one of the most meaningful pieces of advice I’ve heard is to “think of your career as a journey, not a destination.” As the fall begins and my fellowship rounds the corner into the back nine, so to speak, I’ve shifted the way I think about my career journey. I’ve been in my feelings a lot lately about what my next steps will be after January, a familiar feeling for Knauss fellows, as we browse USAjobs.gov and subscribe to job digests from various job boards, patiently waiting for the precise second that our direct hiring authority privilege kicks in. In this time, I’ve been refining the language I use to describe myself and my accomplishments. I’m reflecting on the past and the stories beneath the single-line additions to my résumé meant to represent my capability. For instance, my master’s degree is one entry on my résumé, but how do I share what sparked my desire to pursue environmental policy as a career path?


NOAA Careers: Transition Manager
What do Knauss Fellows actually do? Well, it depends!
You may know NOAA for its science, but there are teams of people that help get the science in motion and to the communities that need it most.
2023 Knauss Fellow Briana Yancy works as a Transition Manager at NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Lab this year. Check out her experience!


Capacity Building in the Caribbean: Resilience Against Ocean Acidification
As the Capacity Building and Stakeholder Engagement Fellow in the NOAA Ocean Acidification Office, the overarching goal of my position is to help the program support our community members to effectively reach their goals. Part of my portfolio this year is capacity-building for ocean acidification research and monitoring in the Caribbean region.


Cross-Country Fish Passage
When people talk about the Knauss Fellowship they always mention how Fellows have the opportunity to go to places they never imagined. But as a marine ecologist, I didn’t expect my destinations to include Utah, Missouri, and Indiana. These were just some of my stops on a cross-country road trip from the West to East Coast, visiting project sites and meeting with partners.


Introducing the Ocean Decade Game!
Have you heard of the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development? Wondering what that means and how you can get involved? Take some time to learn about it now through the Ocean Decade Game!


Overcoming Imposter Syndrome at Sea
When you’re a birder at sea, there’s a host of charismatic, winged dinosaurs you expect to spot as you navigate away from the coast and into the open ocean. On departure from port, you listen for whistling pigeon guillemots and keep an eye out for rhinoceros auklets disguised as blurry blobs bobbing in the waves. A black-footed albatross soaring overhead is a good indicator that you’ve left the coast behind. Far into the Pacific Ocean, northern fulmars appear as regularly as robins and jays back on land.