California Sea Grant welcomes new 2024 class of state fellows

California Sea Grant is excited to welcome 21 recipients into the prestigious 2024 State Fellowship.

Over the course of one year, fellows receive unparalleled training at the interface of science, communication, policy and management through a municipal, state or federal agency in California.

The California Sea Grant State Fellowship is a 12-month paid educational fellowship for graduate students who are interested in marine, coastal and watershed resources and the decisions affecting those resources in California. Modeled after the highly successful Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship Program, the State Fellows Program offers participants experience planning, implementing and managing relevant policies and programs in the state of California.

The 2024 State Fellows, hosted by 12 agencies and organizations throughout California, represent a diverse swath of natural resource management entities driven to steward California’s rich delta, bay, coastal and marine landscape.

Learn more about the fellows, their projects and partners below:

• Alexandra Stella, Delta Stewardship Council (DSC), Delta Science Program (DSP), Collaborative Science and Peer Review Unit (CSPRU)
• Beverly Scharnhorst, State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), Division of Water Quality- Ocean Standards Unit (OSU)
• Brandon Quintana, California Coastal Commission (CCC)
• Chelsea Bowers-Doerning, Port of San Diego (POSD), Environmental Conservation Department (ECD)
• Conner Smith, Ocean Protection Council (OPC), Marine Biodiversity
• Dane Whicker, Delta Stewardship Council (DSC), Planning and Performance Division (PPD)
• Devon Rossi, California Fish and Game Commission (FGC)
• Eleanor Bent, California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC)
• Elena Suglia, State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), Office of Information Management and Analysis (OIMA)
• Hannah Kempf, San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP), Wetlands Regional Monitoring Program (WRMP)
• Jason Gonsalves, Port of San Diego (POSD), Environmental Conservation Department (ECD)
• Jessica Weidenfeld, Delta Stewardship Council (DSC)-Delta Science Program (DSP), Communication and Synthesis Unit (CSU)
• Libby Mohn, Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS)
• Lilamarie Bowen, San Francisco Estuary Partnership (SFEP), The Priority Conservation Area (PCA)
• Lilianna Watson, Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA), Education 
• Margot Mattson, Delta Stewardship Council (DSC)-Delta Science Program (DSP), Adaptive Management Unit and Independent Science Board Support (AMUISBS)
• Megan Nguyen, Delta Stewardship Council (DSC)-Delta Science Program (DSP), Research Funding Team (RFT)
• Nicole Rosenberg, Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA), Community Engagement
• Robert Hyla Jr., State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), Division of Water Quality- Seawater Desalination Unit (SDU)
• Rose An, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), Sediment Management (SM)
• Sachiko Lamen, Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS)