New South Atlantic Fellowship to Focus on Reef Fish

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Scott Baker, msbaker@ncsu.edu
Katie Mosher, kmosher@ncsu.edu

North Carolina Sea Grant is accepting applications for a new South Atlantic Reef Fish Extension and Communication Fellowship. The position will provide on-the-job outreach training to increase public knowledge and awareness of reef fish issues in the region. Applications are due Oct. 15, 2021. 

The fellow will be based with the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) in Charleston, South Carolina, and have projects that include specialists and outreach staff from Sea Grant programs in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. The selected fellow will work with the media to highlight reef fish projects in the region, and will coordinate meetings with regional stakeholders and other SAFMC staff.

“Reef fish management is complicated and works best when stakeholders are aware of the current research as well as understand the management option,” explains Scott Baker, North Carolina Sea Grant fisheries specialist. “As a liaison between fishers, scientists and managers, the fellow will greatly increase our capacity to educate and inform stakeholders about reef fish issues in the South Atlantic region.”

Baker notes that as the population of the Southeast and the nation continues to grow and diversify, Sea Grant’s relevance increasingly will rely on how well the program embodies diversity, equity, and inclusion. Thus the program strongly encourages proposals from graduates of Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Minority Serving Institutions and/or from traditionally underserved and underrepresented communities, as well as from applicants who can demonstrate how their work and related outreach will benefit underserved and underrepresented communities.

The fellowship is part of a larger collaborative research project headed by the Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium and funded by the National Sea Grant College Program. Sea Grant programs along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts will be leading a number of related subprojects. 

Applications for the new fellowship must be submitted via the North Carolina Sea Grant’s eSeaGrant online portal. The complete description is available online at: go.ncsu.edu/reef

Applications are due by Oct. 15, 2021, at 5 p.m. Eastern.

Applicants must convey a desire to improve stakeholders’ comprehension of reef fishery issues, preferably with related science communication skills and experience. Additionally, applicants must be U.S. citizens, have earned an undergraduate degree from an accredited institution, and have a basic understanding of marine fisheries issues and outreach opportunities. 

Applicants must submit a resume; a statement highlighting their career goals; information for two references; and unofficial copies of undergraduate (and graduate, if applicable) student transcripts.

Contact Scott Baker at msbaker@ncsu.edu or 910-962-2492 with any questions related to the fellowship.

The South Atlantic Reef Fish Extension and Communications Fellowship is part of a larger project includes North Carolina Sea Grant, Texas Sea Grant, Louisiana Sea Grant, Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant Consortium, Mississippi State University, Florida Sea Grant, Georgia Sea Grant, South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, Northeastern University, and Fishery Management Councils from the Gulf of Mexico, the South Atlantic, and the Caribbean.

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