California Sea Grant Welcomes 2026 State Fellowship Cohort
The year-long fellowship offers hands-on training related to policy and management of marine, coastal and watershed resources
California Sea Grant is excited to welcome 19 recipients into its prestigious 2026 State Fellowship.
Over the course of one year, fellows receive real-world training in science, communication, policy and management while being hosted within a municipal, state or federal agency in California, contingent upon award funding.
The California Sea Grant State Fellowship is a 12-month paid unique educational opportunity for post-graduate students interested in marine, coastal and watershed resources and in learning about the decisions affecting those resources in California. Modeled after the John A. Knauss National Marine Policy Fellowship, the State Fellowship Program gives fellows hands-on experience planning, implementing and managing policies and programs throughout California.
The 2026 State Fellows, hosted by 10 agencies and organizations statewide, represent a broad cross-section of natural resource management entities committed to stewarding California’s diverse delta, bay, coastal and marine environments.
Meet our new state fellows:
- Addison Gleekel - Delta Stewardship Council, Planning and Performance Division
- Alyssa Burns - Delta Stewardship Council, Delta Science Program, Adaptive Management and Independent Science Board
- Amanda Specht - California Fish and Game Commission
- Brayden Wiley - Delta Stewardship Council, Delta Science Program, Collaborative Science and Peer Review Unit
- Carlotta Miotto - Port of San Diego, Aquaculture and Blue Technology
- Catriona Barr - California Coastal Commission
- Eva Sideris - State Water Resources Control Board, Ocean Desalination Unit
- Grace Young - Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Coast Standards, Planning, and Assessment Unit
- Isabella Funes - Port of San Diego, Environmental Conservation
- Jessica Patzlaff - Delta Stewardship Council, Delta Science Program, Research Funding Unit
- Julia Chavarry - NOAA Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
- Justin Funa - Ocean Protection Council, Biodiversity
- Kierstin Thigpen - San Francisco Estuary Partnership, Priority Conservation Area
- Melissa Palmisciano - Delta Stewardship Council, Delta Science Program, Science Communication and Synthesis Unit
- Michelle Dan - San Francisco Estuary Partnership, Wetlands Regional Monitoring Program
- Miles Tepper - California Coastal Commission
- Mukta Kelkar - State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Quality: Ocean Standards Unit
- Nathan Buchanan - Ocean Protection Council, Coastal Resilience
- Ninah Munk - California State Coastal Conservancy, South Coast
About California Sea Grant
NOAA’s California Sea Grant College Program funds marine research, education and outreach throughout California. Headquartered at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego, California Sea Grant is one of 34 Sea Grant programs in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce.