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Knauss Fellowship Blog

Where in the World is Bianca Prohaska? Life as an International Activities Fellow
Where in the World is Bianca Prohaska? Life as an International Activities Fellow

Where in the World is Bianca Prohaska? Life as an...

Where in the World is Bianca Prohaska? Life as an International Activities Fellow

My Fellowship Position

Where in the World is Bianca Prohaska? Life as an International Activities Fellow

By Bianca Prohaska. Going into my fellowship position, I knew I would travel a lot, lead our collaborations with India, and  provide support for our work with China. What I didn’t realize is how quickly I would get to start my work and get traveling! Read about my experiences in India, Ireland, Hawai'i, France, Malaysia, and...
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Waves and Sea Ice and Hurricanes, OH MY!
Waves and Sea Ice and Hurricanes, OH MY!

Waves and Sea Ice and Hurricanes, OH MY!

Waves and Sea Ice and Hurricanes, OH MY!

My Fellowship Position

Waves and Sea Ice and Hurricanes, OH MY!

By: Alison Agather. In 1912, over 1,500 people lost their lives when the RMS Titanic collided with an iceberg and sank. But what does the Titanic have to do with my fellowship role in the National Weather Service’s Ocean Prediction Center?
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Thinking Fast and Slow: Keeping pace with international fisheries policy
Thinking Fast and Slow: Keeping pace with international fisheries policy

Thinking Fast and Slow: Keeping pace with international...

Thinking Fast and Slow: Keeping pace with international fisheries policy

My Fellowship Position

Thinking Fast and Slow: Keeping pace with international fisheries policy

By Madi Harris Speed-walking down 5th Avenue in my suit while fighting early Manhattan summer humidity was not the morning I had planned for myself. Expecting the early Amtrak train from D.C. to New York to be on schedule may have been my own naivety, but I now found myself tempting a late arrival for my very first meeting at the United Nations...
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Belonging: a look into my year in the Knauss fellowship as a first generation immigrant
Belonging: a look into my year in the Knauss fellowship as a first generation immigrant

Belonging: a look into my year in the Knauss fellowship as a...

Belonging: a look into my year in the Knauss fellowship as a first generation immigrant

My Fellowship Position

Belonging: a look into my year in the Knauss fellowship as a first generation immigrant

By Lisa Kim I never expected my Knauss Fellowship to land me in South Korea. Yet, there I was, full of anxious excitement on a bumpy car ride in the narrow streets of the country I was born in. I looked in the rear view mirror to make sure my hair was neat and my button down shirt was straight. I got out of the car, and saw an old woman, tears in...
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Using Dungeons and Dragons to Navigate the Knauss Fellowship
Using Dungeons and Dragons to Navigate the Knauss Fellowship

Using Dungeons and Dragons to Navigate the Knauss Fellowship

Using Dungeons and Dragons to Navigate the Knauss Fellowship

Tips and Advice

Using Dungeons and Dragons to Navigate the Knauss Fellowship

My position as the Knauss Policy Fellow working on the GEO Blue Planet Initiative has required organization, flexibility, creativity, teamwork, and comfort with (lots) of learning on the job. The thing above all that has helped me to navigate these challenges is my role as a Dungeon Master (abbreviated as DM) in Dungeons and Dragons. I thought it...
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Learning to Swim with the Big
Learning to Swim with the Big

Learning to Swim with the Big "Fish" (Marine Mammals)

Learning to Swim with the Big "Fish" (Marine Mammals)

My Fellowship Position

Learning to Swim with the Big "Fish" (Marine Mammals)

By Roxanne J Carini
In graduate school, I would quip that I studied everything about the ocean, except what lived there! So, imagine my surprise when I wound up at the Marine Mammal Commission for my year-long Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship.  Falling in love with the world of marine mammals didn’t take long! But, not for the...
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From Math to Mapping: Characterizing the U.S. Caribbean
From Math to Mapping: Characterizing the U.S. Caribbean

From Math to Mapping: Characterizing the U.S. Caribbean

From Math to Mapping: Characterizing the U.S. Caribbean

My Fellowship Position

From Math to Mapping: Characterizing the U.S. Caribbean

By Katharine Egan A few weeks ago, I was sitting in the wet lab on the NOAA Ship Nancy Foster watching a video feed from the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that I helped to deploy. The pilot guided the ROV into shallower waters, and I was quick to identify the corals as these depths. I thought about what I was doing this time last year: sitting...
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Conservation Success: How Regulations, Policy and Habitat Restoration benefit Wildlife and People.
Conservation Success: How Regulations, Policy and Habitat Restoration benefit Wildlife and People.

Conservation Success: How Regulations, Policy and Habitat...

Conservation Success: How Regulations, Policy and Habitat Restoration benefit Wildlife and People.

My Fellowship Position

Conservation Success: How Regulations, Policy and Habitat Restoration benefit Wildlife and People.

By: Alicia Wilson While spending my first field season of graduate school on the coastal barrier islands of Georgia, I thought I was lucky to witness a record number of loggerhead sea turtle nests for the state. Three years later, as I watch from my fellowship in D.C., I am even more amazed. Loggerhead sea turtle ladies are kicking butt in...
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Spreading the Wing: Congressional Outreach for Monarch Butterfly
Spreading the Wing: Congressional Outreach for Monarch Butterfly

Spreading the Wing: Congressional Outreach for Monarch...

Spreading the Wing: Congressional Outreach for Monarch Butterfly

My Fellowship Position

Spreading the Wing: Congressional Outreach for Monarch Butterfly

By Liz Berg As a Congressional and Legislative Affairs Fellow with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), I act as a liaison between the FWS and Congress. One of the issue areas I work on is the conservation of pollinators, including the monarch butterfly. I have responded to inquiries from staff who work for Senators, House...
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From “No” to “Ph.D”: a journey from “imposter” to scientist
From “No” to “Ph.D”: a journey from “imposter” to scientist

From “No” to “Ph.D”: a journey from “imposter” to scientist

From “No” to “Ph.D”: a journey from “imposter” to scientist

Communication

From “No” to “Ph.D”: a journey from “imposter” to scientist

By Zac Cannizzo “Not for you. You just don’t have the mind for science.” The words of my 8th grade science teacher when I asked to be placed in Biology for my freshman year. It hurt. I always liked science, and I loved biology. Some of my earliest memories are watching Jack Hanna’s Animal Adventures. From a young age, I...
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Look for the Helpers: Conservation-Focused Research amidst Environmental Crises
Look for the Helpers: Conservation-Focused Research amidst Environmental Crises

Look for the Helpers: Conservation-Focused Research amidst...

Look for the Helpers: Conservation-Focused Research amidst Environmental Crises

My Fellowship Position

Look for the Helpers: Conservation-Focused Research amidst Environmental Crises

By: Andie Chan. I pressed my SCUBA mask to my face as I back rolled off a small catamaran into the warm tropical waters of the Florida Keys. It was my first time SCUBA diving for my Ph.D. research, and I was eager to prove myself. I was starting a project on increasing our understanding of the reproduction and population sizes of pillar corals...
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Switching Up Your Communication Style
Switching Up Your Communication Style

Switching Up Your Communication Style

Switching Up Your Communication Style

Tips and Advice

Switching Up Your Communication Style

In the academic world, communication comes in the form of peer-reviewed papers, theses or dissertations, seminar talks, conference talks, and posters. All long format and so deep into the science that you’re no longer certain what language they’re speaking. So, what do you do when you’ve been trained in those styles of...
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Transitioning from Academia to Federal Government as a Sea Grant Fellow
Transitioning from Academia to Federal Government as a Sea Grant Fellow

Transitioning from Academia to Federal Government as a Sea...

Transitioning from Academia to Federal Government as a Sea Grant Fellow

Academia to Government

Transitioning from Academia to Federal Government as a Sea Grant Fellow

I hit Submit. I felt anxious. I felt nervous. But, I also felt excited. I had just taken a leap from my comfort zone to a world of unknown. Four months later, I found myself in tears as I read “Good News! You have been selected as a Finalist for a 2019 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship.” I was going to transition from academia to...
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Sun, Sand and Science: My Path to NOAA
Sun, Sand and Science: My Path to NOAA

Sun, Sand and Science: My Path to NOAA

Sun, Sand and Science: My Path to NOAA

Policy

Sun, Sand and Science: My Path to NOAA

Growing up as an army kid, home was just wherever the military decided to stick my family, never a place I lived. But, as I was walking home from my third day as a Hollings Scholar at NOAA’s Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center (PIFSC) in Pearl Harbor, HI, it hit me that this strange new place actually “felt” like home, it was...
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From the dock to the bridge: a shift in perspective on maritime navigation
From the dock to the bridge: a shift in perspective on maritime navigation

From the dock to the bridge: a shift in perspective on...

From the dock to the bridge: a shift in perspective on maritime navigation

Policy

From the dock to the bridge: a shift in perspective on maritime navigation

For the past five years, my typical field day was spent waist deep in marsh mud wielding the tools I needed for success: sunscreen, bug spray (lots of it), and a GPS.  My work day as an environmental scientist and salt marsh ecologist is a very different world from the one I recently jumped into as a Knauss Fellow in NOAA’s Office of...
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Around the U.S. in Eight Hours
Around the U.S. in Eight Hours

Around the U.S. in Eight Hours

Around the U.S. in Eight Hours

Day in the Life

Around the U.S. in Eight Hours

Annapolis. Honolulu. Oakland. Charleston. Minneapolis. St. Petersburg. Gloucester. My desk is in Silver Spring, but we also work in Saipan, Stennis, and Seattle. Working with NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management means working with regions across the nation’s states and territories and sometimes changing my surroundings, virtually, every...
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A Lasting Humatak Watershed Adventure
A Lasting Humatak Watershed Adventure

A Lasting Humatak Watershed Adventure

A Lasting Humatak Watershed Adventure

Outreach

A Lasting Humatak Watershed Adventure

“Look! This is where we live?! I can’t believe we’re still on Guam! It’s so beautiful!” That was the genuine reaction of a middle schooler as our bus climbed a hill, revealing to us a breathtaking view of Sella Bay in southern Guam. We were en route to our first stop on the Humatak Watershed Adventure, which I was...
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Never Underestimate the Power of a Free Meal
Never Underestimate the Power of a Free Meal

Never Underestimate the Power of a Free Meal

Never Underestimate the Power of a Free Meal

Tips and Advice

Never Underestimate the Power of a Free Meal

If someone told me a year back that I’d roll out of bed, wear formal clothing I’d never owned previously, and walk into work (with my own desk and everything), I would have laughed my loudest! Prior to 2019 I was the typical graduate student, living the lab life in my jeans and sneakers, and never having heard of the Knauss Fellowship....
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My Knauss Story: A day in the life of a Congressional staffer
My Knauss Story: A day in the life of a Congressional staffer

My Knauss Story: A day in the life of a Congressional...

My Knauss Story: A day in the life of a Congressional staffer

Day in the Life

My Knauss Story: A day in the life of a Congressional staffer

As the air horn blew, I couldn’t help but laugh. Even NBC News caught me laughing. During a committee hearing, Representative Cunningham (D-SC) wanted to illustrate that seismic airgun blasting in the Atlantic ocean would be as loud and disruptive to the endangered North Atlantic right whale as his air horn blast was to the hearing.
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Welcome to the Knauss Fellowship Blog!
Welcome to the Knauss Fellowship Blog!

Welcome to the Knauss Fellowship Blog!

Welcome to the Knauss Fellowship Blog!

Knauss Blog

Welcome to the Knauss Fellowship Blog!

The Sea Grant John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship is a one-year paid immersive policy experience that provides a unique educational and professional experience to graduate students, but what does that mean? Who are Knauss Fellows and what do they do?
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Tuesday, July 23, 2019

From “No” to “Ph.D”: a journey from “imposter” to scientist

From “No” to “Ph.D”: a journey from “imposter” to scientist

By Zac Cannizzo

“Not for you. You just don’t have the mind for science.” The words of my 8th grade science teacher when I asked to be placed in Biology for my freshman year. It hurt. I always liked science, and I loved biology. Some of my earliest memories are watching Jack Hanna’s Animal Adventures. From a young age, I wanted to be a biologist. But, I guess it wasn’t for me. I guess I’m not smart enough. I guess maybe I need to do something else. I just don’t have the mind for science.

Two years. I believed her for two years.

 

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Categories: Knauss Blog, Graduate School, Science, Academia to Government, My Fellowship Position, Communication

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