Sara Parkison reflects on her year as a Knauss Fellow

As someone who has always been interested in fighting climate change, University of Delaware doctoral candidate Sara Parkison has focused her academic journey on the subject of energy transitions.

Specifically, Parkison has a lot of experience working at the nexus of social science and energy technology development. That includes experience in topics from grid integration and vehicle-to-grid technology, to offshore wind deployment and supply chain development.

With this in mind, Parkison wasn’t sure that the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship Program—which is sponsored by the National Sea Grant College Program and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and provides students with the unique opportunity to help advance the bridge between policies and sciences in the oceans, Great Lakes and water resources—would be a great fit for her.

“I spent most of my time at the University of Delaware assuming that the Knauss Fellowship wasn’t necessarily an opportunity that would apply to me,” Parkison said. “I figured that it was primarily targeted towards students who were engaged in the physical science aspects of the marine environment, and less relevant to those working on energy and social science. It wasn’t until a friend encouraged me to consider applying that I realized how wrong I was.”

Parkison was recommended for the Knauss Fellowship by Delaware Sea Grant and after an eight-month process full of applications and interviews, she got the news that she was selected.

During the fellowship, Parkison worked with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), an agency known for being the primary regulator in offshore wind development.

Working with BOEM was her first experience at looking at the environmental justice impacts of offshore wind—her research up until then had been focused on identifying supply chain capacity shortfalls and investment needs.

“There are so many different fields intersecting in our oceans, and a lot of them apply to the work I was already doing,” Parkison said. “The fellowship provides an amazing representation of the variety of issues intersecting in our oceans”

Working with BOEM allowed Parkison to take on projects that were focused on work in an equity focused field, something that she searched out during her interviews. Over the course of her fellowship, she led the development of pilot programs to advance engagement with underserved communities. She collaborated closely with community-based organizations, state partners, local governments, lessees, and other federal agencies to hold environmental justice forums and research how to help advance more equitable practices.

The lessons and experiences she gained from the fellowship have carried over into her new work. Recently, Parkison started a position as a policy and research manager at an organization called Turn Forward.

“Being able to carry on all the lessons I’ve learned and apply them to my new position has been super rewarding,” Parkison said. “I can see how my frame of reference has changed over the past year and it’s been really wonderful.”

Reflecting on her time as a Knauss Fellow, Parkison recognizes how her mindset and attitudes towards her work have changed, expressing immense gratitude for the fact that she was pushed to apply.

“I’ve always been really passionate about fighting climate change and advancing equity,” Parkison said. “Carrying out our transition away from fossil fuels only works if we do it right and bring everyone along. This fellowship was such a gift in giving me the chance to learn from those working on that and letting me contribute to meaningful work.”