Alyson Lowell, a PhD candidate in Stony Brook University’s School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS), has been awarded a New York Sea Grant (NYSG) John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship (Knauss Fellowship).
Lowell is studying how seagrasses and calcifiers respond to stressors like coastal acidification, warming sea surface temperatures and emerging diseases. She is a Knauss legislative fellow working in the office of U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and aspires to join a community of scientists who are at the nexus of science and policy.
“I plan to apply freely shared knowledge to accelerate our understanding of ecosystem resiliency in the face of environmental variability,” said Lowell.
Her research has allowed her to document how environmental variability has affected coastal ecosystems and local stakeholders both domestically and abroad. In her work with the non-profit organization Remote Ecologist, she has guided local stakeholders to restore degraded coastal reefs in the Caribbean islands of Colombia. Closer to home, in New York’s Shinnecock Bay, she documented how coastal acidification is affecting nearshore communities with the hope of using this information to support commercial fishermen.
This year, for the first time in program history, all eligible Sea Grant programs are represented by the diverse group of early-career professionals who are working for the next year alongside federal agencies or legislative offices in Washington, D.C., applying their skills and experience in coastal science, law, and policy to address key issues in marine and Great Lakes sustainable use and conservation.
Lowell joins four others from New York, including Kahad Adamu (University at Buffalo), Beryl Kahn (City University of New York), Patricia McKee (Pace University) and Dawn Parry (Cornell University). This marks NYSG’s 46th class of the Knauss Fellowship, with a total of 88 fellows joining the new cohort.
“We are beyond excited for the adventure these five dynamic, passionate, and visionary new Knauss Fellows are embarking on, on behalf of the Nation’s coastal communities, economies, and environments. They are sure to make a transformational impact,” said NYSG Director Becky Shuford.
Over the past 45 years, the Knauss Fellowship has supported more than 1,660 students who have significantly contributed to environmental policy and management and built lasting careers.
For more, read the complete NYSG press release.
New York Sea Grant
New York Sea Grant, a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Sea Grant College Program. Through NYSG’s efforts, the combined talents of university scientists and extension specialists help develop and transfer science-based information to many coastal user groups — businesses and industries, federal, state and local government decision-makers and agency managers, educators, the media and the interested public. NYSG historically leverages on average a three to six-fold return on each invested federal dollar, annually.
Add comment