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 2018, we supported 32 new fellows across the 3 programs with awards totaling $2,058,000.

2018 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 2018, 20 individuals received awards totaling $1,520,000 as our fourth class of Early-Career Research Fellows:

Srijan Aggarwal

Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

University of Alaska Fairbanks

Adrienne Simoes Correa

Assistant Professor, Biosciences

Rice University

Nicole Errett

Lecturer, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences

University of Washington

Ipsita Gupta

Assistant Professor, Petroleum Engineering

Louisiana State University

Lauren Clay

Assistant Professor, Health Services Administration

D’Youville College

Sarah Davies

Assistant Professor, Biology

Boston University

Pedram Hassanzadeh

Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering | Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences (Joint)

Rice University

Betty Sao-Hou Lai

Assistant Professor, Counseling, Developmental, and Educational Psychology

Boston College

Mark Losego

Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Georgia Institute of Technology

Talea Mayo

Assistant Professor, Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering

University of Central Florida

Christopher Patrick

Assistant Professor, Life Sciences

Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi

Xingyong Song

Assistant Professor, Engineering Technology and Industrial Engineering | Mechanical Engineering (Joint)

Texas A&M University

Marccus Hendricks

Assistant Professor, Urban Studies and Planning

University of Maryland

Vincent Lecours

Assistant Professor, Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences

University of Florida

Jill McDermott

Assistant Professor, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Lehigh University

Alejandra Ortiz

Assistant Professor, Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

North Carolina State University

Kevin Smiley

Assistant Professor, Sociology

University at Buffalo

Beth Stauffer

Assistant Professor, Biology

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

Courtney Thompson

Assistant Professor, Geography

Texas A&M University

Hannah Vander Zanden

Assistant Professor, Biology

University of Florida

2018 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 2018, 10 individuals received awards totaling $520,000 as our fourth class of Science Policy Fellows:

Marcy Cockrell

Host Office: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Tallahassee

Kathleen Ernst

Host Office: NOAA RESTORE Science Program, Stennis, Mississippi

Kathryn Keating

Host Office: RESTORE Council, New Orleans, Louisiana

Michelle Culver

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

Christianah Oyenuga

Host Office: Harris County Public Health, Houston, Texas

Selby Servais

Host Office: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Fairhope, Alabama

Huy Vu

Host Office: The Water Institute of the Gulf, Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Benjamin Wilson

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

Elizabeth Robinson

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

Kelcee Smith

Host Office: Texas Parks & Wildlife Department, Austin

2018 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.

2018 was our fifth year participating in the program and 2 individuals joined us for 12 weeks and received awards totaling $18,000:

Karina Khazmutdinova

Florida State University

Martha Sibley

Southeastern Louisiana University