Gerhard F. Kuska and Gonzalo A. Cid, doctoral students in the College's Marine Policy Program, are among an elite group of 37 students from across the nation to receive the prestigious Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship for 2002.

Sponsored by the National Sea Grant College Program in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the yearlong fellowship will enable Kuska and Cid to work at a government agency in Washington, D.C., on marine policy issues.

"We are very honored to have two of our students receive this highly competitive fellowship," Carolyn A. Thoroughgood, dean of the College and director of the University's Sea Grant College Program, says. "Students who receive the Knauss Fellowship have a unique opportunity to work directly with policy experts in the nation's capital. This experience is invaluable to their future career goals."

The fellowship program was established in 1979 and was named in honor of Knauss, one of Sea Grant's founders, a former NOAA administrator and dean of oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. Recipients are matched to host agencies in the legislative and executive branches.

Kuska will be working in the office of Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon. Wyden's office is active on many marine-related issues, such as the protection of commercially important fisheries on the West Coast and reauthorization of several major pieces of legislation relating to the management of fisheries and marine mammals. Kuska's duties will range from preparing background information to developing policy goals to analyzing and tracking pending legislation.

As a doctoral student, Kuska has been working with his adviser, Biliana Cicin-Sain, who is director of the College's Center for the Study of Marine Policy, to determine how collaboration and coordination among U.S. federal ocean and coastal programs can be improved.

Cid will be working in the International Program Office of NOAA's National Ocean Service, which is dedicated to promoting coastal stewardship throughout the world. He will assist office staff in developing global policies that will help protect marine environments in such areas as Southeast Asia and the Caribbean.

Cid says he is especially pleased to be assigned to that office, as he considers it an extension of his doctoral research. He and Cicin-Sain are evaluating how free-trade agreements may affect a country's institutional structures, policy decisions and coastal management programs.

--Kari Gulbrandsen