University of Michigan News Service – UM News

Student receives NOAA Coastal Management Fellowship

ANN ARBOR&#151Ruby Pap, a graduate student at the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources and Environment, was recently awarded a fellowship to focus on state-level coastal zone management issues. Pap was nominated for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Management Fellowship by George Carignan, interim director of Michigan Sea Grant.

Although most of the applicants had technical backgrounds, Pap was one of two students with a policy background, emphasizing mediation, conflict resolution and inter-agency relations, said Carignan. She will work at the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.

“I am very excited about working with a number of agencies and organizations to develop a volunteer water quality monitoring program at marinas in the San Francisco Bay,” Pap says.

Pap’s placement will provide her with hands-on experience in coastal zone management. “I am interested in inter-agency and inter-organizational cooperation in natural resources management. Integrated coastal zone management captures these policy aspects because the best way to manage coastal environments is through integration with other agencies and organizations whose own policies may be affecting the coast.”

The NOAA Coastal Services Center awarded five such fellowships to qualified students. The highly competitive program is designed to contribute to each student’s postgraduate education, professional development, and to contribute to various state coastal zone management programs. Pap was among more than 60 applicants for the fellowship. Others are from the universities of Charleston, Washington, New Hampshire, and Maine.

Michigan Sea Grant supports a variety of fellowships; for more information, see http://www.miseagrant.org/research/grant-fellows.html

Michigan Sea Grant, a cooperative program of the U-M and Michigan State University, is dedicated to the sustainable use of Great Lakes resources. Michigan Sea Grant is part of the National Sea Grant College Program funded by NOAA (http://www.csc.noaa.gov).