Left to his own devices, Ben Dorfman would go swimming in the ocean every day. “As much as I can,” he confirms. He has a passion for the water that, had he been on friendlier terms with chemistry, might have made him a marine biologist. But Dorfman prefers working with words over formulas, which has led him to a different kind of ocean work: focusing on sea-level rise policy.

Three doctoral students from California universities have been selected for the 2024 NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)-Sea Grant Fellowship. Lizzy Ashley and Emma Gee have been awarded the program’s Population and Ecosystem Dynamics Fellowship, which supports research on ways to assess the status of marine ecosystems, fisheries and protected species. Gal Koss has been awarded the program’s Marine Resource Economics Fellowship, which focuses on addressing the economic dimensions of conserving and managing living marine resources.

NOAA Sea Grant has announced the finalists for the 2025 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship program. Since 1979, the National Sea Grant College Program has provided one-year fellowships working in federal government offices in Washington, D.C. to over 1,300 early-career professionals. The 88 finalists in the 2025 class were nominated by Sea Grant programs across the country. The finalists include five from California Sea Grant.

Two California graduate students have been selected for the prestigious NOAA Coastal Management Fellowship. Managed by the NOAA Office for Coastal Management, the fellowship matches students who are focused on coastal resource management and policy with state and jurisdictional coastal zone programs to work on select projects chosen by NOAA. Nationally, seven fellowships were awarded.

Throughout 2024, California Sea Grant is showcasing our State Fellowship, which places graduate students in 12-month paid roles with the agencies and organizations that plan, implement and manage ocean policies and programs in California. This month, the third in the series, we’re highlighting fellows working with the San Francisco Estuary Partnership.

Header photo: Sugar kelp miso soup; recipe by Claire Bastarache

It’s not that edible seaweed is entirely exotic in America: Many U.S. diners are accustomed to seeing dried nori wrapped around sushi rolls. Even kombu — another dried seaweed, used to make dashi broth — has become readily available in many grocery stores.

This is the tenth in a yearlong series of stories showcasing the research that the Ocean Protection Council supported in partnership with California Sea Grant, with funding from Proposition 84.