New York Sea Grant (NYSG) is part of the National Sea Grant network that constitutes NOAA’s National Sea Grant College Program. It is a cooperative program between the State University of New York (SUNY) and Cornell University, with administrative offices at Stony Brook University and Cornell University, and extension offices throughout the state. 

New York Sea Grant has supported hundreds of graduate and undergrad students. After completing their degrees, these students go on to such careers as researchers, senior scientists, resource managers, directors at research facilities and engineering firms, coastal engineers, environmental planners, meteorologists, international environmental consultants, and oceanographers, many in leadership roles.

Below is information on a variety of fellowships regularly available (usually annually) through Sea Grant.

Any current opportunities for these and other fellowships can be found, when available, via NYSG's submission portal, www.nyseagrant.org/proposals.


John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship

Since 1979, the National Sea Grant College Program has administered one of the nation’s most prestigious marine policy fellowship programs. The Knauss fellowship provides a unique educational and professional experience to graduate students who have an interest in ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources and policy decisions affecting those resources.

The program matches fellows with “hosts” in the legislative and executive branches of government for a one-year paid immersive policy experience in the Washington, D.C. area.

More at: seagrant.noaa.gov/knauss-fellowship-program



NMFS-Sea Grant Joint Fellowships

Since 1999, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and the National Sea Grant College Program (Sea Grant) have partnered on the NMFS-Sea Grant Joint Fellowship program to support Ph.D.-level students.

This fellowship is a focused workforce development program to train highly qualified individuals in Population Ecosystem Dynamics and Marine Resource Economics. The fellowship can provide support for up to three years for graduate students working towards a Ph.D. in quantitative programs including ecology, ecosystem ecology, population dynamics, or related fields of study such as wildlife biology, fishery biology, marine biology, quantitative ecology, applied mathematics, applied statistics, simulation modeling, marine resource economics, natural resource economics, or environmental economics.

More at: seagrant.noaa.gov/nmfs-sg-fellowship


NYSG Scholars Fellowships

For over 40 years, NYSG has promoted graduate student education, training, and research in fields related to coastal resources, aligned with NYSG-funded, faculty-led research projects through its Sea Grant Scholars Fellowship Program. 

These Sea Grant Scholars are fully involved as investigators in NYSG-funded (through either the Biennial Research Call or the LIS Research Call), faculty-led research projects. The project faculty lead serves as the student’s advisor and mentor and the student fully participates in the research as they pursue their degree. They are often in the field or the lab as the eyes, ears, and hands of New York Sea Grant research, allowing them to complete their master’s or doctoral degrees. After degree completion, many Sea Grant Scholars go on to be post-docs or professors at prestigious universities or find impactful and fulfilling careers in government and industry. The careers of these fellows represent a lasting legacy of the impact of NYSG research and student support.


Sea Grant Community Engaged Internship (CEI)

Since the Summer of 2021, this fellowship has provided training and mentorship in marine and coastal professions to undergraduate students from underrepresented and indigenous communities. Interns receive an on-the-ground learning experience that includes professional development and completion of a project that extends the knowledge of community stakeholders to address a coastal, marine, or Great Lakes issue of environmental, economic, and/or social importance. NYSG has supported CEI fellows who were students at Syracuse University (2021), Binghamton University, Stony Brook University (2022), Adelphi University, SUNY Geneseo, and SUNY Oswego (2023). For summer 2024 we are hoping to be able to support 7 CEI Fellows.  

More at www.nyseagrant.org/ceifellowship. 


New York Coastal Resilience Law and Policy Fellowship

Since 2020, NYSG has offered the New York Coastal Resilience Law and Policy Program Summer Fellowship which provides one student from each partner institution — City University of New York School of Law; Cornell Law School; Pace University School of Law; and, University at Buffalo School of Law — with an opportunity to collaborate with New York Sea to provide law students with real-world policy experience, while providing coastal communities with information and products to enhance their resilience including (but not limited to) preparing toolkits and guides to translate legal knowledge; building community capacity to participate in decision-making; researching legal regimes and administrative practices related to coastal resilience planning and preparedness, and offshore renewable energy. 

More at www.nyseagrant.org/lawfellowships. 


Employment and Student Opportunities List

This list sends out Great Lakes, marine, and coastal-related employment, and student opportunities. Announcements include such opportunities as fellowship announcements, graduate student and post-doc opportunities, internships, faculty positions, and positions at agencies, NGOs, industry, and academic institutions. Announcements are sent weekly. To be added to the list, fill out the request form: bit.ly/nysgoppselist.