Fellowships

The GRP provides fellowships to support the development of future generations of scientists, engineers, and health professionals prepared to work at the intersections of offshore energy system safety, human health and well-being, and environmental resources. We currently run two fellowship programs directly—the Early-Career Research Fellowships and Science Policy Fellowships—and provide support to one other National Academies fellowship program: the Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship.

In 2017, we supported 21 new fellows across the three programs with awards totaling $1,243,000.

2017 Early-Career Research Fellows

The Early-Career Research Fellowship program supports emerging scientific leaders as they take risks on research ideas not yet tested, pursue unique collaborations, and build a network of colleagues who share their interest in improving offshore energy system safety and the well-being of coastal communities and ecosystems.

In 2017, 10 individuals received awards totaling $760,000 as our third class of Early-Career Research Fellows:

Christoph Aeppli

Ph.D., Environmental Chemistry (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology)

Senior Research Chemist

Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, Maine

Laura Bakkensen

Ph.D., Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (Yale University)

Assistant Professor

University of Arizona, Tucson

Paul Harnik

Ph.D., Evolutionary Biology (University of Chicago)

Assistant Professor

Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

YeongAe Heo

Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering (University of California, Davis)

Assistant Professor

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio

Michael Martinez-Colon

Ph.D., Oceanography (University of South Florida)

Assistant Professor

Florida A&M University, Tallahassee

Ali Mostafavi

Ph.D., Civil Engineering (Purdue University)

Assistant Professor

Texas A&M University, College Station

David Murphy

Ph.D., Civil and Environmental Engineering (Georgia Institute of Technology)

Assistant Professor

University of South Florida, Tampa

Ashley Ross

Ph.D., Political Science (Texas A&M University)

Assistant Professor

Texas A&M University, Galveston

Wanyun Shao

Ph.D., Geography (Louisiana State University)

Assistant Professor

Auburn University, Montgomery, Alabama

J. Cameron Thrash

Ph.D., Microbiology (University of California, Berkeley)

Assistant Professor

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge

2017 Science Policy Fellows

The Science Policy Fellowship program helps scientists hone their skills by putting them to practice for the benefit of Gulf Coast communities and ecosystems. Fellows gain first-hand experience at the interface of science and policy as they spend 1 year on the staff of federal, state, local, or nongovernmental environmental, natural resource, oil and gas, and public health agencies in the Gulf of Mexico region.

In 2017, nine individuals received awards totaling $465,000 as our third class of Science Policy Fellows:

Brittany Bernik

Ph.D., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (Tulane University)

Host Office: Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Tourist Opportunities, and Revived Economies of the Gulf Coast States (RESTORE) Council, New Orleans, Louisiana

Brittany Blomberg

Ph.D., Coastal and Marine System Science (Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi)

Host Office: Texas General Land Office, Austin

Stephen Durham

Ph.D., Paleontology (Cornell University)

Host Office: Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Tallahassee

Janessy Frometa

M.S., Marine Biology (College of Charleston)

Host Office: NOAA RESTORE Act Science Program, Stennis, Mississippi

Krista Jankowski

Ph.D. candidate, Earth and Environmental Sciences (Tulane University)

Host Office: Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, Baton Rouge

Meredith Jennings

Ph.D., Marine and Atmospheric Chemistry (University of Miami)

Host Office: Harris County Public Health, Houston, Texas

Philip Lee

Ph.D. candidate, Biological Sciences (University of Alabama)

Host Office: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Gulf of Mexico Program, Gulfport, Mississippi

Laura Mansfield

M.A., Law and Diplomacy (Tufts University)

Host Office: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Gulf of Mexico Office, New Orleans, Louisiana

David Reeves

Ph.D. candidate, Oceanography and Coastal Science (Louisiana State University)

Host Office: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Lafayette, Louisiana

2017 Gulf Research Program Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellows

The National Academies’ Christine Mirzayan Science & Technology Policy Graduate Fellowship program provides early career individuals with the opportunity to spend 12 weeks at the National Academies in Washington, DC, learning about science and technology policy and the role that scientists and engineers play in advising the nation.

2017 was our fourth year participating in the program and two individuals joined us for 12 weeks and received awards totaling $18,000:

Brittany Bernik

Ph.D., Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (Tulane University)

Joshua Mullenite

Ph.D. candidate, Global and Sociocultural Studies (Florida International University)