SeaGrant grads fellowship finalists

Three graduate students from Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium member universities have been named finalists for the competitive 2020 Sea Grant John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship. Leanne Poussard of the University of Southern Mississippi, Christine Bassett of the University of Alabama, and Aaron Macy of University of South Alabama will interview in the fall in Washington, D.C., with potential host agencies and offices in the legislative and executive branches of government. The interviews will determine where they will be placed during their fellowship year, which begins in February. As Sea Grant Knauss Fellows, they will actively transfer science to policy and management through their appointments with federal government offices. Poussard is a graduate student and research assistant studying coastal sciences at USM’s Gulf Coast Research Lab. She is using mathematical modeling to measure efficiency of National Marine Fisheries Service shellfish survey gear. Bassett is a Ph.D. candidate studying geological sciences at UA. Her research uses geochemistry to examine geologically-recent ocean conditions and climate changes in the Pacific to better understand the current ocean and climate conditions and events. Macy, a Ph.D. candidate in marine science at USA and the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, is also an extension program associate at Mississippi State University. His dissertation investigates impacts on ecosystem services as marshes transition to black mangroves in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, and engaging high schools in wetlands stewardship. (Source: Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium 07/26/19)