Federal Funding Opportunity Number: NOAA-OAR-SG-2025-29114
Florida Sea Grant is now accepting applications for the 2025 NMFS-Sea Grant Fellowship Program from Florida Ph.D. students interested in population and ecosystem dynamics or marine resource and environmental economics. Complete applications are due to Florida Sea Grant by 5:00PM EST, on Jan. 23, 2025.
The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)-Sea Grant Joint Fellowship Program in Population and Ecosystem Dynamics and Marine Resource Economics places Ph.D. students in research-based fellowships that provide support for up to three years.
This joint fellowship program offers two specialized areas:
Population and Ecosystem Dynamics: This fellowship focuses on the development and implementation of quantitative methods for assessing marine ecosystems, for assessing the status of fish, invertebrate, and other targeted species stocks and for assessing the status of marine mammals, seabirds, and other protected species.
Marine Resource Economics: This fellowship focuses on the development and implementation of quantitative methods for assessing the economics of the conservation and management of living marine resources.
During their fellowship, fellows are guided by at least two mentors: a faculty mentor from the fellow’s university and a mentor from NOAA Fisheries. Fellows are also required to participate in a yearly research symposium.
Florida applicants are encouraged to contact Florida Sea Grant or browse Southeast Fisheries Science Center’s staff and publications to identify and connect with a potential NOAA Fisheries faculty mentor whose research aligns with their own.
Since the program began in 1999, 11 graduate students from Florida have been placed in NMFS-Sea Grant fellowships. Most recently, this fellowship has been awarded to population and ecosystem dynamics fellows in 2020, 2022, and 2024.
Alumni of the NMFS-Sea Grant fellowship typically hold future positions in NOAA Fisheries, other agencies, academics, and fishery management councils.
The NMFS-Sea Grant fellowship has provided me with resources and a network of like-minded students and established researchers across the field of fisheries science and the country that already have and will continue to enhance my research and allow me to achieve my career goals.
Fellowships offer funding for up to three years, and cost sharing by the fellow’s institution of higher education is required. Funding is contingent on availability of funds and satisfactory performance by the recipients.
Eligible applicants are any graduate student that: 1) is of U.S. citizenship, and 2) is enrolled in or provisionally accepted to Ph.D. degree programs in academic institutions in the United States and its territories in population dynamics, ecosystem dynamics, resource or environmental economics, or a related field such as wildlife biology, fishery biology, natural resource management, marine biology, quantitative ecology, applied mathematics, applied statistics, or simulation modeling at an institution of higher education in the United States or its territories.
All prospective fellows from Florida must submit their applications through Florida Sea Grant’s eSeaGrant portal at eflseagrant.ifas.ufl.edu. Consult the 2025 NMFS-Sea Grant Fellowship Student Guide and the 2025 NMFS NOFO for a complete list of requirements as well as tips and best practices for a successful submission of a NMFS-Sea Grant Fellowship application.
Applicants are encouraged to reach out to Florida Sea Grant at fsg-students@ifas.ufl.edu at least one month before the application deadline to provide notification of intent to apply.
University of Florida Applicants:
In addition to an eSeaGrant submission, applicants from the University of Florida should be sure their proposals are submitted into UFIRST using the “pre-proposal” application type and must be approved through UFIRST by January 23, 2025. UF Faculty mentors should be listed as the pre-proposal’s PI.
Non-University of Florida Applicants:
Non-UF applicants will be required to submit a Letter of Commitment from their institution’s sponsored programs office or Office of Research along with their applications in the eSeaGrant portal.
Questions?
For questions, contact Florida Sea Grant Student Programs Coordinator Cassie Sexson at fsg-students@ifas.ufl.edu.
Additional information is available at the National Sea Grant fellowship website at seagrant.noaa.gov/NMFS-SG-Fellowship.
To learn more about other Florida Sea Grant graduate fellowships, visit flseagrant.org/student-opportunities.
About Florida Sea Grant
Hosted at the University of Florida (UF), the Florida Sea Grant College Program supports research, education and Extension to enhance coastal resources and economic opportunities through a partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the State University System of Florida, and UF/IFAS Extension in counties statewide. flseagrant.org | @FloridaSeaGrant
Media Contacts
Cassie Sexson, Student Programs Coordinator, fsg-students@ifas.ufl.edu
