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Oceanography | Vol. 37, No. 1
48
HOW CALIFORNIA SEAGRANT’S STATE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM FUELS
CAREERS IN COASTAL CONSERVATION
AND MANAGEMENT
By Shauna Oh, Delanie Medina, and Clare Leschin-Hoar
SPECIAL ISSUE ON SEAGRANT:
SCIENCE SERVING AMERICA’S COASTLINES AND PEOPLE
CREATING A SCIENCE
PIPELINE
With each headline-grabbing, record-
breaking storm or once-in-a-lifetime
weather event, the challenges facing
America’s coastal regions become clearer.
Stronger, more frequent storms, record
drought conditions, changing migration
patterns in sh stocks, and rising sea lev-
els are just some of the very real chal-
lenges coastal communities face today.
ese now-frequent events reinforce
the importance of establishing a steady
stream of competent, experienced, and
thoughtful scientists and policymakers
who will employ science-based informa-
tion to address the challenges of changing
conditions and lead California to eec-
tive and inclusive policies and toward a
more engaged and informed citizenry.
Many California agencies are involved
in the management and planning of
coastal resources, work that requires a
large number of well-trained, environ-
mentally literate, and politically astute
individuals to manage future ocean and
coastal problems. Currently, only a few
statewide educational programs provide
technically trained graduate students with
practical experience in marine resource
management. e California Sea Grant
State Fellowship Program, established in
1987, recognized the need for educating
the next generation of marine and coastal
policymakers early on.
is program provides a unique
educational and professional oppor-
tunity for graduate students inter-
ested in California’s coastal and marine
resources and in the policy decisions
aecting those resources. Modeled
aer the highly successful national
John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow-
ship Program (https://seagrant.noaa.gov/
knauss- fellowship- program/), the State
Fellowship Program is designed to provide
recent graduates with opportunities to
acquire hands-on experience in the plan-
ning and implementation of coastal and
marine resource policies and programs in
the state of California. It matches highly
motivated, outstanding graduate students
(near completion of degree or recently
completed) with hosts in municipal,
state, or federal agencies and in science
and conservation organizations within
California. Since the program’s inception,
over 300 fellows have been successfully
placed in more than 40 host organizations
(see Figures 1 and 2 and Boxes 1 and 2
for examples).
FELLOWSHIP RECRUITMENT
AND PLACEMENT PROCESS
California SeaGrant’s Science Integration
Team works collaboratively with the
Communications Team to broadly adver-
tise the State Fellowship Program by uti-
lizing the program’s web pages, social
media, and an email database containing
over 5,000 contacts, including scientists,
students, agency sta, news media, leg-
islators, industry representatives, marine
science libraries, conservation, nonprot
organizations, and others. Fellowship
applications are reviewed in a two-stage
process consisting of a review of written
applications and a subsequent interview.
During both review stages, all applica-
tions are evaluated for eligibility, diver-
sity, appropriateness of experience, com-
munications skills, academic background,
community and extracurricular activities,
interest in the fellowship, and for personal
ABSTRACT. California SeaGrant’s State Fellowship Program, modeled aer NOAA
Sea Grant’s highly successful John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship Program,
provides hands-on experience in the planning, implementation, and management
of marine, coastal, and/or watershed resource policies and programs in the state of
California. e program matches graduate students who have recently completed their
degrees with hosts in municipal, state, and federal agencies and in research and con-
servation organizations in California for a 12-month paid fellowship. Over 300 fellows
have been matched with over 40 unique hosts since its launch in 1987. Many alumni are
now employed in key positions in government at the state and federal level, with 80% of
participants in a given year going on to jobs in policy and/or resource management
aer completing their fellowships. is article provides a brief history of the program
and testimonials from past fellows and hosts, and explores the program’s important role
in providing agencies with well-trained, environmentally literate sta who can support
the needs of coastal communities and ecosystems for the climate challenges ahead.
March 2024 | Oceanography 49
characteristics such as initiative, adapt-
ability, and analytical skills. State fellow
alumni, with their unique perspectives
and relevant experience, are also recruited
to provide feedback during the process.
Fellowship assignments for each
incoming class are based on interviews
and ranking of preferences by both
the selected nalists and participating
hosts at a mandatory matching work-
shop held either virtually or in person
in Sacramento. Placement of a fellow in
each prospective host oce is not guar-
anteed, and no applicant or nalist is
guaranteed a fellowship.
ATTRACTING ENGAGED HOSTS
e State Fellowship Program is open
for support by municipal, state, and fed-
eral agencies as well as nongovernmen-
tal organizations in California with man-
dates in coastal or marine research, policy,
or management. Hosts provide an educa-
tional opportunity to fellows who will, in
turn, provide substantial professional con-
tributions to the oce. Hosts are expected
to supervise, mentor, and provide oppor-
tunities for fellows to be involved in sub-
stantive issues that support fellows’ pro-
fessional and educational goals. e
fellows are expected to engage with the
host oce full time, remotely and/or on
site, and with other sta and/or leader-
ship as appropriate. Hosts and fellows
are responsible for agreeing on remote/
virtual, on-site, and hybrid arrangements.
FIGURE 1. Growth of the California SeaGrant Fellows over 16 years.
BOX 1. FORTY-TWO DISTINCT HOSTS THAT HAVE PARTICIPATED
IN THE STATE FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
» Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture
» California Department of Fish and Wildlife
» Pacific Fisheries Legislative Task Force
» San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission
» California Ocean Resources Management Program
» State Water Resources Control Board
» NOAA Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
» Delta Stewardship Council
» Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildlife
» State Coastal Conservancy
» California State Lands Commission
» NOAA Fisheries
» California Coastal Commission
» NOAA Sentinel Site
» California Regional Water Quality Control Board
» NOAA NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center
» Senate Committee on Agriculture and Water Resources
» Oce of Lt. Governor Newsom
» NOAA Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
» Southern California Coastal Water Research Project
» Subcommittee on River Protection and Restoration
» Fish and Game Commission
» California Research Bureau
» Port of San Diego
» California Natural Resources Agency
» San Francisco Estuary Partnership
» California Environmental Protection Agency
» State Controller’s Oce
» NOAA Marine Protected Areas Center
» California SeaGrant
» Naval Acquisition Intern Program
» Monterey Bay Aquarium
» California Ocean Protection Council
» NOAA Oce of Aquaculture
» California Ocean Science Trust
» NOAA Oce of Coastal Management
» NOAA Coastal Services Center
» California Department of Transportation
» California Department of Parks and Recreations
» California Energy Commission
» NOAA Marine Protected Areas
» NOAA Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve
FIGURE 2. Where do state fellows land?
Number of State Fellows
Number of Hosts Oces
30
20
10
0
NUMBER OF CALIFORNIA SEA GRANT STATE FELLOWS
2008
2016
2012
2020
2010
2018
2014
2022
2009
2017
2013
2021
2011
2019
2015
2023
Oceanography | Vol. 37, No. 1
50
Host applications are screened for
quality of the fellowship opportunity,
level of educational benet for the fellow,
and the host oce’s previous experience
working with interns, fellows, or other
mentoring/educational programs.
FUNDING, ENGAGEMENT,
AND PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
State fellows receive nancial support
of a monthly stipend and health insur-
ance for the 12-month fellowship assign-
ment. Both California SeaGrant (CASG)
and the respective host agency contribute
to this monthly award based on a coop-
erative interagency agreement. Hosts
are expected to cover 75% of the cost of
the rst fellowship award per year and
100% of additional fellowship awards.
Additional funds are provided to cover
travel for any Sea Grant-coordinated
state fellow meetings and other fellow-
ship related travel or professional devel-
opment activities. is travel expands
on the fellows’ professional development
and skill building within the host agen-
cies and allows them to connect with
their cohort statewide and nationally.
Many of the state fellows attend, present,
speak, and network at a variety of meet-
ings, trainings, and conferences through-
out their fellowship experience.
CASG has developed programming
and content to facilitate the state fel-
lows growing together as a cohort, begin-
ning with an orientation at the outset of
the fellowship year. roughout the State
Fellowship Program, CASG oers all fel-
lows monthly check-ins along with pro-
fessional development training. One
common training is a meeting facilitation
course provided by NOAA’s Oce for
Coastal Management. Each year, our pro-
gram strives to respond to areas requested
by a particular cohort for growth and
learning. is has ranged from a science
communication course to a regular topical
webinar series to diversity, equity, inclu-
sion, and environmental justice training.
As fellows begin to wrap up their fellow-
ships, CASG helps host career panels that
invite state fellow alumni to share their
experiences in the private, public, non-
prot, and academic sectors. e panels
typically include early career, mid-level,
and seasoned professionals in order to
provide a range of perspectives and expe-
riences. Additionally, each fellowship
year nishes with the fellows providing
presentations to their cohort about their
unique fellowship experiences and shar-
ing about projects, mentorship, training,
and networking opportunities.
Over the course of the 12-month fel-
lowship, there are opportunities for
the state fellows to collaborate with the
California SeaGrant Extension Program.
During spring, fellows interact with
extension specialists and hear about var-
ious extension project opportunities that
align with their fellowship assignments
or with their professional and career
interests. ese optional interactions are
designed to provide additional oppor-
tunities for fellows to explore topics of
interest, expand their networks, and
increase the diversity of opportunities for
engagement. Fellows choose a project of
interest and coordinate with the relevant
extension specialist(s) and their hosts to
determine their level of availability for a
particular extension project, contribut-
ing no more than two months spread out
over the year.
Several other Sea Grant programs in
the network have adopted marine pol-
icy fellowships of their own, inspired or
modeled aer the California Sea Grant
State Fellowship Program (Box 3). For
BOX 2. SPOTLIGHT ON CALIFORNIA SEAGRANT
STATE FELLOWS
Valerie Termini, California SeaGrant State Fellow Class 2007
As far back as she can remember, Valerie Termini knew she
wanted a future in ocean conservation, but figuring out how
to navigate a career caring for the oceans without becoming
a scientist herself felt somewhat murky. Leaning towards pol-
icy instead, Termini soon found her groove, thanks in part to a
year-long California SeaGrant State Fellowship.
Nearly two decades later, she now holds the title of Chief
Deputy Director of California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife and oversees a sta of
over 3,400 employees managing California’s diverse fish, wildlife, and plant resources
and habitats. She is just one among hundreds of aspiring researchers and future policy-
makers who benefited from a year in the program and then joined a wide network of past
fellows working in marine-related organizations from coast to coast.
“That’s one of the secret powers of this program,” says Termini. “We now have
California SeaGrant State fellows throughout the halls of power that influence good pol-
icy making everywhere.”
Lily Tsukayama, California SeaGrant State Fellow Class 2017
Lily Tsukayama first imagined herself in a state-level career
after completing her master’s degree at the Bren School of
Environmental Science and Management at the University of
California, Santa Barbara. Instead, she found herself working
at the Port of San Diego in 2017, the agency’s first year as host
to a fellow. There she served as a project manager on a pilot
program with the San Diego Ocean Planning Partnership—a
collaboration between the Port and the State Lands Commission.
“I had never envisioned myself working for an agency like the Port before, but we do a
lot of work with the community here and a lot of public outreach and engagement,” she
says. “The people at the agency saw potential in me that I didn’t realize myself. And when
I think back on what’s important to me, working at a local agency really has aligned with
what I’m interested in doing. I’ve felt so fortunate to be placed where I am.”
March 2024 | Oceanography 51
upcoming cohorts, CASG is planning to
collaborate with the SeaGrant Fellowship
Coordinators Network to leverage other
Sea Grant programs as a resource for
training, development, collaboration,
and networking among state policy fel-
lows across the region.
A COMMITMENT TO
DIVERSITY, EQUITY,
INCLUSION, AND
ACCESSIBILITY
CASG is committed to increasing the
diversity of the SeaGrant workforce. We
prioritize diversifying the applicant pool
for the State Fellowship Program to bet-
ter reect the population of California—
which will help diversify the host agen-
cies as well. To get there, CASG has
taken steps to understand the barriers
and create pipelines of access for gradu-
ate students to feel equipped and quali-
ed to apply for the fellowship program.
Targeted approaches will be reinforced or
tested to advance our program’s commit-
ment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and
accessibility (DEIA).
Each applicant is asked how they heard
about the fellowship opportunity. is
information is used to validate the out-
reach methods that best translate to more
applicants from universities, academic
elds, and communities that previously
have not applied to the State Fellowship
Program. Each year we nd new exam-
ples, key nodes, and the best ways to
improve our marketing and outreach
methods in an iterative process. One
successful practice has been to identify
from which eligible graduate programs in
California there have been no applicants
and to identify sta at those institutions
who could share the opportunity with
their students. With nearly 120 universi-
ties and colleges in California that oer
graduate degrees, this strategy has led to
easily trackable results.
To further highlight this focus on
DEIA, materials within the Request for
Application have been updated to explic-
itly ask applicants to comment on their
own experiences with diversity. e
personal statement prompt includes:
“One to two paragraphs of the statement
should illustrate (1) the applicant’s expe-
rience collaborating or engaging with
people from diverse, including under-
served, cultural, ethnic, and socioeco-
nomic, backgrounds, and (2) how the
applicant would incorporate principles of
diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and/
or accessibility into their fellowship.”
is explicit inclusion has empowered
and encouraged applicants to be more
thoughtful about addressing diversity,
equity, inclusion, and environmental jus-
tice issues as they progress through the
application review and matching process.
rough engagement with other fel-
lowship programs and the University
BOX 3. OTHER STATE POLICY FELLOWSHIP
PROGRAMS IN THE SEAGRANT NETWORK
» Alaska SeaGrant State Fellowship Program
» Washington SeaGrant Keystone Fellowship Program
» Oregon SeaGrant Natural Resource Policy Fellowship Program
» Hawaii SeaGrant Grau Coastal and Marine Resource
Management Fellowship Program
» Florida SeaGrant Graduate Student Coastal and Ocean
Fellowship Competition Program
» Virginia SeaGrant Graduate Fellowship Program
» Maryland SeaGrant State Science Policy Fellowships
» Delaware SeaGrant Coastal Policy Fellowship
BOX 4. BENEFITS TO HOSTS:
QUOTES FROM HOST SURVEYS
“[ The State Fellowship Program] adds so much value to our workplace. We
always learn as much from them as we teach them and it’s great to have an
annual infusion of enthusiasm and creativity.”
“As we enter into our tenth year of being a SeaGrant Host, I can look back
over the decade with this program and know, with certainly, two import-
ant things: 1) we got a LOT done with the help of our fellows over time in
terms of very substantive and meaningful marine conservation policy, man-
agement, and science; and 2) we are very proud to have played a role in
the development of skills and experience that has helped each of the fel-
lows move on to meaningful careers. Many of them are still with us, or at
other NOAA oces.”
“As a former fellow and now fellow mentor, I’ve gained so much value from
this fellowship (employment, coastal management training, professional
development, and growth) and am quite encouraged to continue to partici-
pate from the host agency side to “give back” to the program.”
“The program provides an opportunity to access highly qualified, recent
graduates with strong skills and interest in coastal management. We have
used the program as a recruitment tool and have been able to retain many
fellows on sta…it is a great way for people to learn more about agency
work and how to apply their academic knowledge, prior experience in gov-
ernment context.”
“We’re committed to supporting and cultivating the next generation of
ocean leaders, and this fellowship provides a fantastic opportunity to do
so. Our Ocean Policy Program in particular has benefited from having a
SeaGrant Fellow, as we are a very small team and the added capacity is
now crucial for our operations.”
Oceanography | Vol. 37, No. 1
52
of California San Diego and Scripps
Institution of Oceanography’s Diversity
Oce, the instructions and resources for
State Fellowship alumni reviewers have
been improved with guidance on reduc-
ing implicit bias and highlighting the
need to recognize individual circum-
stances. Alumni reviewers are instructed
to recognize that the “distance traveled”
to reach particular achievements will dif-
fer among applicants. Some individuals
will have the economic privilege to vol-
unteer or work for low pay to gain expe-
rience in the environmental eld. Others
will have had to work regular jobs to pay
for school. CASG values the endpoint of
what applicants have achieved along with
the personal leadership skills demon-
strated along their journey to success.
In addition to enhancing our track-
ing of all applicants and fellows by grad-
uate school, degree type, and degree title,
CASG has embarked on tracking the
demographic diversity of applicants to the
State Fellowship Program. Each applicant
has the opportunity to ll out a voluntary
and anonymous questionnaire that col-
lects data on age range, gender identity,
disability, military status, and family edu-
cation history (Figure 3).
As the State Fellowship Program con-
tinues to grow, California Sea Grant
will explore expanding eligibility to
allow applicants from outside the state
of California. Currently, applications
may be submitted by graduate students
close to completing a degree (master’s,
PhD, or JD) in a eld related to conser-
vation, management, protection, stew-
ardship, public policy, or law of marine,
coastal, and/or watershed environments,
or areas that impact those environments,
at a California University. CASG will try
expanding the program to universities
outside of the state of California to diver-
sify our pool of applicants and increase
accessibility for California residents who
attend graduate programs in another
state. Additionally, in 2020, CASG began
collecting demographic data on state fel-
low applicants to improve our under-
standing of who is applying and if we are
reaching graduate students from mar-
ginalized California communities, who
oen have experienced the most environ-
mental and economic burdens in relation
to coastal and ocean policy. As we con-
tinue to collect this information, CASG
will reassess our eorts to ensure we
are creating diverse pathways of access
to our program.
Workforce development is an import-
ant goal of the greater Sea Grant net-
work. e State Fellowship Program
works closely with participating aca-
demic institutions and hosts to contrib-
ute toward a diverse, skilled, and environ-
mentally literate workforce. We are also
working to advance our shared commit-
ment to DEIA by implementing new pro-
cesses and programming for fellowship
outreach, recruitment, placement, and
engagement, including enhanced track-
ing of the demographic diversity of appli-
cants and alumni. In doing so, we hope
to continue providing the training oppor-
tunities and relationships needed to fos-
ter the growth of a thriving California
Sea Grant State Fellowship network and
career paths that support the needs of
California’s diverse populations with
science- informed decision- making and
leadership surrounding the use and con-
servation of California’s coastal and
marine resources.
AUTHORS
Shauna Oh (shaunaoh@ucsd.edu), Delanie Medina,
and Clare Leschin-Hoar, California SeaGrant, Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, University of California
San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
ARTICLE CITATION
Oh, S., D. Medina, and C. Leschin-Hoar. 2024. How
California SeaGrant’s State Fellowship Program fuels
careers in coastal conservation and management.
Oceanography 37(1):48–52, https://doi.org/10.5670/
oceanog.2024.213.
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FIGURE 3. Self-identified race/ethnicity from all 2020–2024 State Fellowship Program applicants.
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
SELF IDENTIFIED RACE/ETHNICITY
Percent of Applicants
African American/
Black
2020* (n = 6)
2021 (n = 74)
2022 (n = 40)
2023 (n = 39)
2024 (n = 37)
* low n
Native Hawaiian/
Pacic Islander
Chicano/
Latino
Asian/
Asian American
White/
Caucasian
American Indian/
Alaska Native
Prefer Not
to Answer