General blog

Navigating the depths of marine policy: My Knauss Fellowship experience
by Emily YoungAs a deep-sea ecologist, my research life revolved around the intricate details of tiny worms dwelling in the darkest corners of the ocean. My grad school years were spent immersed in research, teaching, and science communication, but one ...

How the Knauss Fellowship has shaped my view of science
by Sarah Tucker It's 11 am on a sunny, but chilly, June morning off the coast of Nome, Alaska. Hundreds of small pieces of broken and melting sea ice are sprinkled across the dark gray waves as far as the ...

Lahaina Strong: The strength of community through Community Resilience Hubs
by Cuong Tran On August 8, 2023, the worst imaginable happened. Deadly wildfires fueled by hurricane-force winds engulfed historic Lahaina and Kula on the island of Maui. Thousands of people displaced, hundreds of homes and businesses destroyed, and many lives ...

A Knauss Fellow’s perspective of the 45th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting
by Gina Selig As a Knauss Fellow at the National Science Foundation, I served as a U.S. Delegate to the 45th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) as part of the United States Delegation. The meeting, organized by the Ministry for ...

A journey from Brazil to DC, via Hawaiʻi: My experience as a Knauss Fellow
by Mariana Rocha de SouzaFor me, growing up in a small town in Brazil, the idea of working for the U.S. federal government in DC seemed far-fetched. But as the first person in my family to learn multiple languages, apply ...

Bohemian Behemoths: Kinks in the Animal Kingdom
by Paolo Marra-Biggs (He/Him)The ocean is a wondrous place, where body forms are not as confined as they are on land. The ocean’s dense medium creates a relative weightlessness and gives animals the freedom in a three-dimensional space to evolve ...

“Can I Get a Straw?”
by Frankki Ramirez Like most other broke college kids, I work a part time job in between my studies. I have been working as a server for a little over a year and typically interact with visitors from out-of-state throughout ...

Finding inspiration in the desert: Personal reflections from COP
by Mariana Rocha de Souza Sharm El Sheikh, in Egypt, the host city for COP27 sits on the edge of the Sinai Peninsula, surrounded by amazing coral reefs and red mountains. In the shadows of these mountains, the United Nations ...

Resilience reports are for the birds: How the seabirds of Lalo are inspiring holistic decision-making
by Kilo Kaʻawa-Gonzales It was almost prehistoric. The whirling sky around me was full of feathers and wings as we plowed through breaking waves on an old metal landing craft that was likened, on more than one occasion, to the ...

Redefining “success”: The importance of socio-cultural indicators in marine management
by Anita TsangPicture this: You are snorkeling in a nearshore coral reef five years after it was declared a marine management area (MMA). The water is crystal clear, the corals are vibrant and healthy, and there are huge, diverse schools ...