Two UD students go to Washington
2023 Knauss Fellows will work on ocean issues
University of Delaware students Joy Deep Chakrabartty and Grant Voirol have received placements for their 2023 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowships. Both students were nominated by Delaware Sea Grant (DESG) to receive the fellowships.
Sponsored by the National Sea Grant College Program and its parent organization, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Knauss Fellowship provides a one-of-a-kind educational experience for students interested in the national policy decisions that affect ocean, coastal and lake resources.
Chakrabartty has been placed in NOAA’s National Environmental Satellite, Data and Information Service (NESDIS) in their Satellite Oceanography and Climatology Division where he will work with the GEO Blue Planet Team. Voirol will work with the Department of Transportation’s U.S. Committee on the Marine Transportation System (CMTS).
Joy Deep Chakrabartty
GEO Blue Planet is an international initiative that bridges the gap between data and services to deliver usable information that supports informed decision-making. The global network is made up of ocean and coastal observers, social scientists, and end-user representatives from a variety of organizations and academic institutions. Chakrabartty, a doctoral candidate in UD’s School of Marine Science and Policy, explained that the United States accumulates huge amounts of oceanic and atmospheric data through NOAA satellites and the GEO Blue planet team is responsible for making best use of that data for sustainable development.
“Analyzing this data and understanding how to use them for our betterment is very exciting for me,” said Chakrabartty. “Moreover, the GEO team works with the U.N. and many other countries so this role offers the opportunities to represent U.S. interests and views in high-level meetings.”
While there were many positions within NOAA and other federal organizations that Chakrabartty said would have been great opportunities, this position in particular was his first choice.
“The role of this position is fluid, and the prospects on which I can work are limitless,” said Chakrabartty. “My interest is to work on the blue economy and climate change and help other federal and state agencies with our findings, while also assisting the executive director of the GEO Blue Planet and the chief of the Satellite Oceanography and Climatology Division to share knowledge about ocean and coastal satellite data and information internationally. I am fortunate to be placed with my first choice and representing the U.S. delegation team in high-level meetings is very intriguing.”
Grant Voirol
During the Knauss placement process, Voirol realized he wanted to work somewhere that had an impact on the climate, specifically related to emissions and renewable resources. Because the Committee on the Marine Transportation Systems does a lot of work in those areas across agencies to help improve the performance and efficiency of various aspects of the marine transportation system, Voirol said he is excited to get to work.
“The transportation sector is a huge contributor toward greenhouse gas emissions so this seemed like a great place to make an actual impact,” said Voirol, who is completing his master’s degree at UD where he studies Adélie and Gentoo penguin movement and foraging ecology. “I'm also really excited to work with the staff at CMTS who seemed very supportive and passionate and were definitely a big draw to the office.”
While he is unsure of what exactly he will be working on in his role, Voirol said he expects it will have something to do with helping to coordinate maritime transportation in the Arctic.
“The current fellow in this position has done a lot of work on this subject, and I will probably continue with that as well as other projects,” said Voirol. “I would love to work on policy dealing with offshore energy areas, energy innovation, and infrastructure investment. I’m looking forward to working across agencies on something that I think is incredibly important to the globe moving forward, as well as getting a huge amount of experience dealing with and writing policy.”
For more information on the other 2023 Knauss Fellows, check out the Knauss Fellowship Program website.
In addition to Chakrabartty and Voirol, Delaware Sea Grant nominated three 2023 Knauss Fellows from Washington, D.C., universities. Because the District of Columbia does not have a Sea Grant program, the state programs in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia rotate reviewing applications from students there. The three successful students were Thalia Eigen from American University and Jack Polentes and Jewel Tomasula from Georgetown University. Learn more about them, as well as Chakrabartty and Voirol, in Delaware Sea Grant’s article announcing them as finalists.
Article by Adam Thomas | Photo illustration by Tammy Beeson