OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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The Oregon Sea Grant Scholars Program has focused on broadening participation and diversity by restructuring our recruitment and review processes to make them more equitable. Our intent is to be more inclusive of applicants from various cultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds with unique lived experiences, skills and interests, including applicants that may have had fewer opportunities in the marine policy field. In line with this initiative, applicants will have the opportunity to demonstrate how their experience with diverse stakeholder groups and communities might apply to this fellowship and how they think this fellowship will advance their long-term career goals.
You can sign-up for the OSG Fellowship Announcements Listerv to receive information about upcoming opportunities. You can read more about some of our current scholars below.
This position is supported by National Sea Grant’s Community Engaged Internship program through Oregon Sea Grant.
This position will serve both the Environmental Leadership for Youth (ELY) Summer Camps and the New Beginnings for Tribal Students (NBTS) program, which are led by Oregon State University (OSU) in partnership with Oregon Sea Grant, Southwestern Oregon Community College (SWOCC) and the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians.
The ELY Summer Camps are intended to increase interest in the natural sciences and increase access to higher education for underrepresented youth in Oregon through hands-on activities and engagement. These summer camps are designed for youth entering 9th – 12th grades. There are two versions these camps, the ELY Migrant Camp serving primarily Hispanic students and the ELY Indigenous Camp, which is open to members of all Oregon Tribes and “urban natives”.
The NBTS program’s goal is to increase Indigenous student success by providing summer internship opportunities in the sciences to college undergraduate students. Each year, NBTS serves 10 OSU students and 5-7 SWOCC students. NBTS helps support these students by providing supplemental funding for completing a minimum of eight weeks of paid internship experience. This position will provide media and communications-related services to the ELY camps and the NBTS program for the purpose of documenting and disseminating information about these experiential learning initiatives.
This CEI intern will serve as a media, communications, and marketing point person for the NBTS and ELY programs during the summer of 2023. They will capture stories through photos, videos, and interviews to highlight the work and accomplishments of the NBTS interns and camp participants. Although the primary duties of this position require in-person interactions, occasional remote work may be possible. The CEI intern is expected to serve 20-40 hours per week from mid-June through mid-September 2023 (up to a maximum of 400 hours).
The CEI Intern will have the opportunity to participate in Sea Grant Summer Scholars’ professional development activities.
To be determined, based on the applicant’s location. Program personnel are located at Oregon State University in Corvallis and Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay.
$20/hour up to a maximum of $8,000 (400 hours, total). Additional funds may be available to support travel or other expenses related to the opportunity. Housing is not provided for this position.
Applications will be reviewed as they are submitted. The deadline to apply is April 28, 2023. The target start date for the position is Tuesday, June 20, 2023.
Download this full position description and application information.
MEGAN CONSIDINE
ASSIGNMENT: Megan will be working with The Nature Conservancy's Global Aquaculture Strategy Lead, Global Aquaculture Manager, and TNC staff from Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska to explore the potential to invest in and create restorative seaweed aquaculture farms in the Pacific Northwest.
EDUCATION: Megan graduated with a B.S. in Marine Science from the University of South Caroline and recently earned her M.S. in Marine Resource Management from Oregon State University. Her graduate research involved working directly with oyster farms in Oregon to detect and prevent an invasive pest that poses economic and ecological risks for this region’s oyster aquaculture industry.
PROFESSIONAL AND RESEARCH INTERESTS: Megan is interested in community based regenerative aquaculture because of its potential to provide food sovereignty, while maintaining and in some cases even improving the environment through key ecosystem services. She looks forward to gaining hands-on experience in community engagement within an emerging seaweed industry and robust exposure to experts in the regenerative aquaculture field.
Connect with Megan at LinkedIn or Research Gate
KAEGAN SCULLY-ENGELMEYER
ASSIGNMENT: In this position, Kaegan will support the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) activities related to Oregon’s Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia (OHA) policy. In particular, Kaegan will collaborate with other federal and state agencies and academia by assisting with the convening and facilitation of a scientific-technical workgroup. This workgroup’s charge will be to define and develop scientifically-supported methodologies for assessing OAH impacts in marine territorial waters that can be used to carry out water quality assessments within DEQ’s Clean Water Act assessment program.
EDUCATION: Kaegan is a recent graduate from the Earth, Environment, and Society Ph.D. program at Portland State University’s School of the Environment. He received his B.A. in Environmental Studies at the University of Oregon in 2009. He worked for several years in natural resource management projects in Oregon, ranging from wetland conservation and management to endangered species recovery. His graduate research focused on landscape-scale topics along the Oregon Coast, including human dimensions of coastal and marine resources and connections between forestry management practices and freshwater and estuarine bivalves.
PROFESSIONAL AND RESEARCH INTERESTS: Kaegan’s research and professional interests center on coastal water quality and land management issues. He is particularly interested in applied research and policymaking. During this fellowship, Kaegan is excited to gain hands-on experience working with policy staff and decision-makers to develop and implement water quality policies along the Oregon Coast.
Connect with Kaegan on LinkedIn.
MELISSA SYMMES
ASSIGNMENT: Melissa is an Oregon Sea Grant Public Access Research Fellow currently working for The Oregon Coastal Management Program in the Department of Land Conservation and Development. Her work will aid in developing a community-oriented public access policy framework in Oregon by informing policy development through community-specific research. Her research will help enable more equitable and sustainable public access to shorelines in Oregon.
EDUCATION: Melissa is a second year Master of Public Policy graduate student at Oregon State University. She will graduate with a concentration in Environmental Policy in 2022. Melissa graduated from Boise State University in 2020 with a degree in Environmental Studies and a double minor in Biology and Sustainability. She played 5 years of Division 1 college soccer at Boise State University and finished her last year as a graduate transfer at Oregon State University. In summer 2021, Melissa researched public perceptions on recycled water use for crop irrigation in the Sammamish Valley of Washington state. She is also currently working with Conservation Northwest examining how perceptions about non-lethal wolf management options impact the willingness of ranchers to ranch alongside wolves in Washington. Her graduate thesis will be determined from her research experiences.
PROFESSIONAL & RESEARCH INTEREST:Melissa is interested in environmental policies intersecting with conservation, wildlife, or natural resource management. During her fellowship she looks forward to working with policy professionals, applying her skills, and gaining insights into how policy impacts the Oregon coast and shoreline access. Looking ahead, her professional aspirations are to work in Washington D.C. helping create and impact policy decisions related to the environment.
ASTREA STRAWN
ASSIGNMENT:As the Climate Change and Natural Working Lands Coordinator Executive Fellow, Astrea works with Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) and the Oregon Global Warming Commission to assist state agencies in implementing Governor Brown’s Executive Order (EO) 20-04: Directing State Agencies to Take Actions to Reduce and Regulate Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Astrea utilizes science, policy research and public engagement tools in support of Section 12A of the EO, which calls for a multi-agency proposal to the Governor regarding the adoption of state goals for carbon sequestration and storage by Oregon’s natural and working landscapes.
EDUCATION: Astrea has a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Prescott College and an M.S. in Marine Resource Management (MRM) from Oregon State University, with a minor in Risk and Uncertainty Quantification in Marine Sciences. Her thesis research examined impacts of policy change on coastal communities and the commercial fishing industry. While studying at OSU, Astrea was also the social science lead on a trans-disciplinary fellowship team examining climate change impacts on the West Coast Dungeness crab fishery, and fishery dependent communities.
PROFESSIONAL AND RESEARCH INTERESTS: Astrea enjoys working in the intersection of human and environmental needs. Her professional interests have evolved from social science research specific to commercial fisheries, to encompass outreach, engagement, and policy decision making with natural resource groups across Oregon. Astrea is particularly interested in applying her skill set to climate change planning and mitigation in terrestrial and marine environments.
Connect with Astrea on LinkedIn.
DOUG ROSSI
ASSIGNMENT: As the 2021-2022 OSG/OASE Industry Fellow, Doug will work with The Tofurky Company as their Environmental and Sustainability Program Coordinator (ESPC). In this position, Doug will get first-hand experience in the research, design, and implementation of an environmental management system (EMS) and the beginnings of a sustainability program that aligns with this plant-based food manufacturer’s mission, business model, and environmental goals.
BACKGROUND: Doug grew up in Colorado but came out to Oregon for college. He recently graduated with a B.A. in Environmental Ethics & Policy as well as a B.B.A in Marketing from the University of Portland (UP) in May 2021. Starting in his junior year, Doug interned at a start-up company called Produce Mate that was started by a previous UP alum. At Produce Mate Doug oversaw all things related sustainability, and guided the company to begin the process of becoming a B Corp.
PROFESSIONAL INTEREST: Doug not only wants to help companies and people become more sustainable, but to also encourage conversation. More now than ever, Doug feels that it is important for us to have conversations about difficult topics, especially with those who have differing opinions. Doug hopes to be someone who can help build community and support those in need, all while doing better for our planet. This fellowship offers him the opportunity to listen to a diverse set of perspectives and to create an EMS that will consider the needs of many.
FELICIA OLMETA-SCHULT
ASSIGNMENT:As the Resilience Fellow, Felicia will be working with staff at Oregon Sea Grant and other partners to increase the resilience of Oregon communities to the impacts of climate change and coastal natural hazards (e.g., coastal erosion, earthquakes, and tsunamis). She will conduct engagement and outreach to local stakeholders to better understand and assess impacts of climate change and coastal hazards, and how to mitigate the impacts of hazards through improved practices and policies.
EDUCATION: Felicia has a B.S. in Oceanography from Hawaii Pacific University, a M.A. in Marine Affairs from the University of Rhode Island, and a Ph.D. in Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences from Washington State University. Her dissertation investigated the North Coast of California Marine Life Protection Act Initiative by studying how stakeholders interacted and were involved during the marine protected area (MPA) planning process and how they perceived socio-economic and ecological effects of MPAs. She was a 2018-19 Washington Sea Grant Hershman Fellow at the Washington Department of Ecology Shorelands & Environmental Assistance Program where she participated in the Washington Coastal Resilience Project.
AMY EHRHART
ASSIGNMENT: As the Aquaculture Fellow, Amy will be working with staff at Oregon Sea Grant to coordinate aquaculture efforts in the state and US West Coast region. Her main objective is to conduct a statewide needs assessment for developing shellfish and seaweed aquaculture opportunities in Oregon.
EDUCATION: Amy has a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Southern Utah University where she conducted research on sea anemone feeding behavior. She completed her PhD in Earth, Environment, and Society (Environmental Science) at Portland State University in December 2020. Amy’s dissertation research focused on pharmaceutical contaminants in coastal ecosystems in Oregon and Washington, and their effects on the commercially grown Pacific oyster.
PROFESSIONAL AND RESEARCH INTERESTS: Amy’s research interests are centered around anthropogenic effects on marine ecosystems and sustainable use of marine resources. Professionally, she is interested in the role of scientific research in decision making and aspires to work in an environment that links these sectors in solving real world problems. Through this fellowship, she hopes to gain experience in stakeholder engagement, and provide a resource to inform future research, outreach, and policies surrounding aquaculture in Oregon.
