I wish I were a marine scientist so I could apply for this fellowship on Cape Cod.
Fellows use reserves as living laboratories to address National Estuarine Research Reserve System’s (NERRS) natural and social science priority issues based on the reserves’ local coastal management needs.
https://www.nerrs.noaa.gov/Fellowship.aspx
• Fellows receive a stipend of $20,000 per year.
• Funds are available on a competitive basis.
• Fellowships may be funded for up to three years.
• The application deadline is November 1st each year.
• Fellows have the opportunity to network with and learn from local and visiting investigators.
The National Estuarine Research Reserve System’s (NERRS) Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) Program was established in 1997 to support graduate students interested in coastal and estuarine sciences.
Fellows conduct their master’s and doctoral research in the 27 National Estuarine Research Reserves located in 23 states and Puerto Rico …
The National Estuarine Research Reserves are partnerships between NOAA and the coastal states…
The Graduate Research Fellowship Program’s Focus Areas are:
• Nutrient dynamics and/or effects of non-point source pollution and eutrophication;
• Habitat conservation and restoration;
• Biodiversity and/or effects of invasive species;
• Mechanisms of sustaining estuarine ecosystems;
• Economic, sociological, and anthropological research applicable to estuarine ecosystem management.
Fellows are selected based on the quality of the proposed research, the applicability of the topic to the Reserve system’s scientific focus areas, the resource management goals of the proposed reserve(s), and the student’s academic record (based on applicant’s transcripts and two letters of reference). Fellows can receive up grants for up to three years of research.
The New England site for the project is the Waquoit Bay Research Reserve, on is on the south shore of Cape Cod Massachusetts, between Falmouth and Mashpee.
The Reserve’s more than 2,700 acres encompass open waters, salt and fresh marshes, barrier beaches, sand dunes, rivers, mixed pine and oak forests, and sandplain grasslands. The Reserve includes 1,286 acres of upland, and about 1,359 acres of estuarine waters, freshwater ponds, tributary streams, vernal pools and substantial groundwater resources. Freshwater in tributary streams, ponds and vernal pools supports unique vegetation and animal communities including amphibians and anadromous fish. Waquoit Bay, approximately 825 acres, is the dominant water feature of the Reserve and once supported one of the most diverse estuarine fish communities in the state . The Bay is still important to commercial and recreational shellfish and finfish fisheries.
The Waquoit Bay Research Reserve facilitates research on coastal ecosystems and the impacts of human activites on them. The Reserve fulfills this role by providing a dedicated, stable natural ecosystem representative of the biogeographic region as a platform for scientific investigation.
Research Priority Areas:
Water quality / eutrophication / watershed land-use
Climate change / sea level rise / shoreline change
Assessment of ecosystem response to natural variability and human impactsCurrent research projects.