By Sydney Mahan, Virginia Sea Grant Correspondent
Virginia graduate student Steve Manley has been named a finalist for the prestigious 2015 Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship. Representing the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS), Manley will advance to placement week this fall, during which he and other Knauss Fellowship finalists will be paired with the legislative or executive branch agency where they will serve as marine-policy Fellows.
Manley is the fourth Virginia Sea Grant student named as a Knauss finalist for the 2015 Fellowship year.
As a student of biological oceanography, Manley hopes that the yearlong Knauss Fellowship will give him the opportunity to see how marine science and policy work together within the federal government.
“I’m just excited to see how policy decisions are made at the federal level. I’ve spent a lot of time working from the science side,” Manley says. “I’m interested to see how the science and policy collide, and how these agencies will use science for the betterment of the American people.”
Manley has a bachelor’s degree in marine science and biology with a minor in chemistry from the University of Miami. He expects to receive his master’s degree from VIMS in biological oceanography this September. Manley has also worked as a research assistant in the VIMS Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Lab, a geographic information system and environmental specialist in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, and a lab technician at the University of Miami’s Coral Reef Conservation Research Lab.
The Dean John A. Knauss Policy Fellowship, established in 1979 by the National Sea Grant College Program, offers exceptional graduate students the opportunity to contribute their knowledge and experience to current marine policy issues. Fellows are placed within the legislative or executive branches of government in Washington, DC. During their time in Washington, Fellows learn about national policy decisions that affect ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources.
