North Carolina Sea Grant is now accepting applications for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coastal Management Fellowships.
Donor Name: North Carolina Sea Grant
State: North Carolina
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Fellowship
Deadline: 01/27/2023
Size of the Grant: $15,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
These national fellowships provide on-the-job opportunities in coastal resource management and policy, while also offering key expertise to state coastal zone management agencies and other NOAA partners.
This two-year opportunity offers a competitive salary, medical benefits, and reimbursement for relocation and travel expenses. Five new fellowships will start in August 2023 and end in August 2025
Selected fellows will visit their host organizations prior to the start of the fellowship to meet the staff and to look for housing. Host sites for 2023-2025 fellowships are located across the United States: Hartford, Connecticut; Washington, D.C.; Augusta, Maine; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; and Olympia, Washington.
Goal
To recommend and develop programmatic, policy and funding outcomes intended to improve the quality and quantity of open and equitable coastal access opportunities in Connecticut, focusing on innovative approaches and broadening the ways coastal access can better address the needs of underserved communities and groups.
Objectives
- Become familiar with history, limits, components, and approaches of the CPA program.
- Assemble a project steering committee of key DEEP and external stakeholders and establish a regular meeting schedule.
- Develop a suite of example approaches for use in stimulating stakeholder ideas and discussions.
- Engage in meaningful public participation with groups representing but not limited to CMP staff, other DEEP divisions (e.g., Wildlife, Fisheries, Environmental Justice), the CEEJAC and external stakeholders (e.g., Long Island Sound Study, CT NERR, nonprofits, municipal officials/boards/commissions, community leaders and neighborhood groups, outdoor recreation interests, neighboring states, etc.) to gain insight on needs, gaps, and potential opportunities. Groups should contain a focus towards underserved communities.
- Develop a suite of prioritized recommendations geared towards improving both internal CMP approaches as well as outcomes for external stakeholders.
- Design a grant program that can assist groups and communities, particularly those in underserved locales, address themes suggested by assessment recommendations or other projects/efforts that increase coastal access opportunities.
- Develop guidelines and processes for conducting an initial round of funding.
- Implement a select number of recommendations (leveraging the advice of mentors and the steering committee regarding those which may be most valuable and achievable).
Strategic Focus Area
- This project most aligns with the objectives described under the focus areas ‘Vibrant and Sustainable Coastal Economies’ and ‘Healthy Coastal Ecosystems’. Increasing the public’s access to their coastline is extremely important for many recreational reasons, but also has benefits that expand beyond the casual ‘beach day’.
- Making Connecticut’s coast accessible to more of its residents, especially those in underserved communities, is an important step in reconnecting them with an integral part of their state’s ecosystem and helps to imbue them with a sense of why we must preserve and protect it.
- This fellowship will help assist in the conceptualization of coastal access projects that could help to educate people as to their relationship with, and impacts on, our coastal resources.
Cost-Share Description
Connecticut will provide $15,000 ($7,500/year) in required matching funds from state monies allocated to the DEEP Operations and Expense budget
Funding Information
- Fellows will be reimbursed up to $1,000 to move to their fellowship location and up to $1,000 to move at the end of the two-year fellowship. If relocation is not required or the fellowship is not completed, relocation reimbursement will not be provided.
- Coastal Management Fellows will be reimbursed up to $8,400 for professional development and travel over the two-year fellowship. A portion of this money must be used to travel to specific meetings and conferences required by the fellowship program. These include a summer fellowship meeting, the Social Coast Forum, and the Coastal Geo Tools Conference. Digital Coast Fellows are provided up to $11,600, and are required to attend two in-person Digital Coast partnership meetings in addition to the three required meetings mentioned above. Fellows may use the remainder of these funds at their discretion to attend conferences, workshops, or trainings (prior approval from NOAA and their host organization is required).
- Any travel requested by the fellowship host, such as travel required to complete the fellowship project or travel to the host organization’s annual conference, must be covered by the host and should be considered when budgeting for hosting a fellow.
Eligibility Criteria
Current and recent graduate students who have received or will receive their degrees from colleges and universities in the state between August 1, 2021, and July 31, 2023 are eligible.
For more information, visit North Carolina Sea Grant.
