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Fellowships and Internships
Supported
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Professionals Trained in Safe and
Sustainable Seafood Practices
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Students Supported Through
Professional Workshops & Trainings
Who We Are
TOGETHER FOR VIRGINIA
A Seven-University Partnership
Virginia Sea Grant combines the resources of Virginia’s top academic institutions and uses them to find innovative solutions to marine and coastal challenges faced by the Commonwealth. Together we work to improve coastal ecosystems, coastal communities, and working waterfronts by financially supporting researchers, graduate fellows, extension members, and interns. Alongside these universities and a variety of other partners, we act as an honest broker to spread useful, unbiased, and science-based knowledge to a wide variety of audiences and constituents.
VASG Advisory Board
The members of the VASG Advisory Board are active participants in the regular operations of Virginia Sea Grant, including strategic planning, programmatic policy development, and recruitment. The board is composed of representatives from each of VASG’s partner institutions, state agencies, non-profit partners, and private sector constituents. The board meets twice annually.
George Mason University
Amy Fowler
Associate Professor and Interim Director, Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center (PEREC)
Norfolk State University
Stephen Via
Associate Professor of Biology
Old Dominion University
Jessica Whitehead
Executive Director, Institute for Coastal Adaptation & Resilience
University of Virginia
Sarah Kucenas
Associate Dean for Research in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
Virginia Commonwealth University
Julie Zinnert
Associate Professor
School of Life Sciences and Sustainability
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Megan LaPeyre
Associate Dean for Research and Advisory Services
Amy Fowler, Associate Professor and Interim Director, Potomac Environmental Research and Education Center, George Mason University
Stephen Via, Associate Professor of Biology, Norfolk State University
Jessica Whitehead, Executive Director, Institute for Coastal Adaptation & Resilience, Old Dominion University
Sarah Kucenas, Associate Dean for Research in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia
Julie Zinnert, Associate Professor, School of Life Sciences & Sustainability, Virginia Commonwealth University
Brian Bond, Associate Dean for Extension, Outreach, and Engagement, Virginia Tech
Siddhartha Mitra, Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, William & Mary Batten School & VIMS
Megan LaPeyre, Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Advisory Services, William & Mary Batten School & VIMS
Alan Edwards, Director of Academic Affairs and Strategic Planning, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
Ryan Green, Manager, Virginia Coastal Zone Management Program
Bruce Vogt, Manager of Ecosystem Science and Synthesis, NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office
Paul Battaglia, Executive Vice President, American Institute of Architects – Virginia
Paula Jasinski, President, Green Fin Studio
Ashley Montgomery, Director of Design Research, Hanbury Design
Mike Congrove, Owner and Operator, Oyseter Seed Holdings
Mary-Carson Stiff, Executive Director, Wetlands Watch
Anna Killius, Executive Director, Chesapeake Bay Commission
Becky Gwynn, Executive Deputy Director, Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources
What We Do
Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Siddhartha Mitra
Professor and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs
Virginia Tech
Brian Bond
Associate Dean for Extension, Outreach, and Engagement in the College of Natural Resources and Environment
State Council of Higher Education
for Virginia (SCHEV)
Alan Edwards
Strategic Planning and Policy Director
Funding & Fellowships
We support graduate students through research fellowships and post-graduate students in fellowships in science policy and resource management. We also support national Sea Grant funding competitions and extension agents who conduct and communicate research for coastal communities that can benefit from it.
Virginia Sea Grant is excited to support the future leaders in coastal and marine science, by offering a range of research fellowships that provide graduate support, as well as opportunities to work with stakeholders and gain the necessary professional skills to help them be successful. Virginia Sea Grant’s professional post-graduate fellowships offer on-the-job training where fellows can work directly with state and federal agencies on coastal policy and management issues.
Coastal Adaptation
From helping communities plan for coastal storms, to bringing together design professionals to hear about the newest nature-based flood solutions, and improving living shoreline designs or evacuation communication — our fellows and extension help coastal communities thrive.
Virginia Sea Grant supports established collaborations as well as new or emerging collaborations that respond to dynamic challenges.
Professional Development
Our fellowships support tomorrow’s leaders in coastal science and resource management while addressing today’s research needs. Our research fellows collaborate with a professional mentor to connect their research to communities that can use it — whether that’s fishery managers, local government planners, or farmers on Virginia’s Eastern Shore.
Our fellows work with a professional development coordinator to identify areas for growth and meet each fellow’s unique goals. During the fellowship, students have the opportunity to participate in science communication training, collaborative team science training, and networking events.
Supporting Seafood
Virginia is the third-largest producer of seafood in the United States, and our seafood industry has an annual economic impact of more than half a billion dollars. Virginia Sea Grant supports the seafood industry through extension work on topics like food safety and aquaculture, and research that keeps our coastal resources healthy.
Virginia’s seafood industry includes more than 80 fish species from the tidal rivers, Chesapeake Bay, and the Atlantic Ocean. Virginia Sea Grant extension work with the fishing industry and seafood processors to ensure safe, sustainable, and delicious seafood makes it to restaurants, markets, and dinner tables across the nation.
We Invest in People
(Figures above reflect data collected between 2018-2024)
A Rich History of Collaborative Scientific Research
Making a difference means making an investment—supporting coastal communities and businesses, discovering new solutions to coastal and marine problems, helping communities deploy those solutions, preparing tomorrow’s workforce, and positioning Virginia to be a national leader in coastal and marine resource issues, management, and economies.
Virginia Sea Grant provides opportunities for Virginia that directly impact our stakeholders, constituents, and champions. This means:
- BETTER aquaculture research and technical assistance
- BETTER workforce development in STEM and policy fields related to coastal and marine science
- BETTER development of resilience and adaptation strategies for Virginia communities
What is Sea Grant?
The National Sea Grant College Program was established by the U.S. Congress in 1966 and works to create and maintain a healthy coastal environment and economy. The Sea Grant network consists of a federal/university partnership between the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and 34 university-based programs in every coastal and Great Lakes state, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The network draws on the expertise of more than 3,000 scientists, engineers, public outreach experts, educators and students to help citizens better understand, conserve and utilize America’s coastal resources.
Sea Grant’s objectives are to increase the understanding, assessment, development, utilization, and conservation of the Nation’s ocean, coastal, and Great Lakes resources. The program provides assistance to promote a strong educational base which includes responsive research and training activities, broad dissemination of knowledge and techniques, and multidisciplinary approaches to environmental problems. A focus on education, research and training, knowledge transfer, and a multidisciplinary perspective remains relevant and needed to address today’s coastal, estuarine and marine challenges.
2024-2027 Virginia Sea Grant Strategic Plan
Virginia Sea Grant will rise to the occasion, develop bold, innovative strategies that are transformative, shape an exciting future, and lead. VASG will be at the forefront of what is possible for a Sea Grant program. We will do this through forward thinking goals, objectives, and strategies. We will be the most innovative and integrated Sea Grant program in the nation, through the proactive leveraging, orchestrating, and nurturing of a diverse, Commonwealth-wide, university-based organizational network and a cohort of VASG-supported collaborative leaders in coastal and marine science, management, policy, and communities. VASG will invest in people, their ideas, skills, and capabilities, and the impact and difference they make.
Together with our partners, we do more for coastal Virginia.
VASG’s strategic plan aligns with and complements the National Sea Grant College Program Strategic Plan.
Virginia Sea Grant Charter
The Charter describes the purpose and objectives of VASG:
- Advance common coastal and marine science, research, education, and outreach interests
- Promote identification and exploration of new opportunities for partnerships and initiatives across our partner institutions and the Commonwealth
- Advance the collaboration, coordination, and integration of VASG’s capacity in its functional areas (i.e., research, extension, education, communication) in order to achieve broader societal impacts
- Promote interdisciplinary, integrated activities that address pressing coastal and marine resource problems in the Commonwealth, the region, and the nation
- Facilitate further development and management of the VASG program in the Commonwealth of Virginia
