California Sea Grant welcomes new 2025 class of state fellows

California Sea Grant is excited to welcome 22 recipients into the prestigious 2025 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 2025 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.

Meet our fellows below: 

• Caroline Newell, California Fish and Game
• Dafna Bimstein, State Water Resources Control Board- Ocean Desalination Unit
• David Boehmer, Port of San Diego- Environmental Conservation
• Elizabeth Hofius, NOAA Chumash National Marine Sanctuary
• Grace Young, California Department of Transportation- District 4
• Hallie Brown, Ocean Protection Council, Biodiversity
• Hannah Merges, State Water Resources Control Board- Office of Information Management and Analysis
• Hollis Jones, Delta Stewardship Council- Delta Science Program- Collaborative Science and Peer Review Unit
• Irisanly Suarez Romero, Delta Stewardship Council- Climate Change and Environmental Justice
• Jack Anderson, Port of San Diego- Aquaculture and Blue Technology
• Jonathan Huang, Delta Stewardship Council- Delta Science Program- Adaptive Management and Independent Science Board
• Katya Beener, State Coastal Conservancy- Bay Restoration
• Melissa Ashley, NOAA Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
• Miranda Melen- San Francisco Estuary Partnership- Wetland Regional Monitoring Program
• Natalie Rossi, San Francisco Estuary Partnership- Nature Based Climate Adaptations
• Nicholas Rowlands, Delta Stewardship Council- Delta Science Program- Science Communication and Synthesis
• Olivia Won, Ocean Protection Council- Climate Change
• Sandra Traverso, NOAA Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary
• Sydney Schmitter, California Coastal Commission
• Tessa Filipczyk, State Water Resources Control Board- Ocean Standards Unit
• Thomas Morales, California State Coastal Conservancy- South Coast
• Vivian Sieu, Delta Stewardship Council- Delta Science Program- Research Funding