Five state fellows begin 2017 positions

We have five new Alaska Sea Grant State Fellows—Genevieve Johnson, Chelsea Clawson, Danielle Meeker, Kim Ovitz, and Sara Cleaver. All have completed or will soon earn master’s degrees. Johnson and Clawson are graduate students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences. Meeker is from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Ovitz from the University of Maine, and Cleaver from Duke University.

The fellowship program, now in its third year, offers graduate students early career opportunities in marine and coastal policy. The program matches fellows with hosts in state or federal agencies in Alaska for a 12-month paid fellowship. Alaska Sea Grant shares costs with agency hosts.

Genevieve Johnson is at the NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center in Juneau, working on arctic ecosystem monitoring and a salmon genetics project. The US Geological Survey in Anchorage selected Chelsea Clawson to address hazard mitigation with an emphasis on coastal flood mapping.

Danielle Meeker is working at the Office of the Lieutenant Governor in Juneau, on climate change and fisheries. Sara Cleaver is a fishery analyst for the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in Anchorage. The National Marine Fisheries Service Alaska Regional Office in Anchorage recruited Ovitz to assess management needs for Cook Inlet beluga whales.

“I’m really looking forward to this opportunity! This will be my first time in Alaska and working on marine mammal/protected resources conservation. I’m really honored to have been selected as a Sea Grant fellow,” said Ovitz.

2016 fellows: Jane Sullivan, who worked for NOAA Sustainable Fisheries in Juneau, was recently hired as a biometrician at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Jen Marsh spent a year working for NOAA Fisheries Habitat Conservation, and Sara Apsens was with the National Park Service.