2023 NOAA Coastal Management Fellows Announced

Natalie Cross, a recent graduate of Stanford University’s Earth Systems master’s program, has been selected for the prestigious NOAA Coastal Management Fellowship, which offers on-the-job training for postgraduate students focused on coastal resource management and policy.

Managed by the NOAA Office for Coastal Management, the fellowship matches candidates with state and jurisdictional coastal zone programs to work on select projects chosen by NOAA. Nationally, five fellowships were awarded this year.

Cross will be working with the Coastal States Organization, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C., that represents the governors of coastal states and territories. She will focus on the National Coastal Zone Management Program, a voluntary partnership with NOAA, and will focus on states’ abilities to integrate the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and accessibility into their programming.

The NOAA Coastal Management Fellowship was established in 1996 to provide on-the-job education and training opportunities for postgraduate students. The related NOAA Digital Coast Fellowship was established in 2012, with a focus on technical assistance to help advance the goals of the Digital Coast, a website supplying coastal data, and its partner organizations. California Sea Grant recruits and nominates students attending California universities, who apply together to both programs.