Sea Grant Seeks Undergraduates for Summer Science Fellowship Program

New York Sea Grant (NYSG) is looking for undergraduates to take part in the Community Engaged Fellowship (CEI), a nationwide program that provides unique opportunities to work with scientists, community groups and government agencies.

"As a future marine policymaker, last summer was incredibly impactful in building my understanding for how policy, science and local engagement can come together to build a climate-resilient future," said Miradyn Feist, an undergraduate who took part in a fellowship program that New York Sea Grant is again seeking applicants for this summer.

This summer, Antoinette Clemetson, NYSG's marine fisheries specialist, will mentor a Stony Brook University (SBU)-based East End waterways ambassador, who will lead an effort to support citizen scientists monitoring the region's freshwater waterways.

The student will:

1. (1) Identify resources to prepare a Harmful Algal Bloom (HAB) toolbox containing relevant outreach publications to educate the public about these species, best management practices and voluntary reporting;
2. (2) Help to train a core group of volunteers who will be participating in a proposed citizen science monitoring pilot project, including preliminary field data collection trips;
3. (3) Where possible, host information tables at recommended water quality events and help to prepare social media messaging.

This is one of three CEI opportunities being offered by NYSG statewide. The other two fellowships will be based in the Bronx (wetlands field data collection) and Buffalo (Great Lakes community case studies and digital outreach).

Applications for this summer's 10-week fellowships, which will begin June 1 and include a $6,000 stipend, are being accepted through March 10 at seagrant.sunysb.edu/ceifellowships.

Since 2021, NYSG has provided numerous students with opportunities to gain field experience, attend professional development workshops and engage in outreach that enriches the communities in which they work. Last summer, Barry Udelson, NYSG's aquaculture specialist based at SBU, mentored Miradyn Feist, then a rising junior at Cornell University, working on a double major in both environment & sustainability and government. Feist, one of eight undergraduates mentored in 2025 by NYSG specialists statewide, worked at Hart's Hatchery, an oyster business in Sayville, NY.

"I came into this with absolutely zero understanding of any kind about oysters," Feist said. "It's really like a whole new world has opened. Now I can talk about oysters for twenty minutes nonstop without being interrupted. There are all sorts of new stuff that I hadn't even known about before."

Her favorite task was a unique one: "I really liked cleaning the parasites [off the oyster broodstock (adults used for spawning)]," Feist shared with a grin. "It's really satisfying in a weird way - we dip them in bleach and all of these worms will crawl out of the oysters. Once they've been cleaned, the oysters are sparkling and pretty and they look ready to eat."

Feist's experience as a CEI fellow has done more than provide her with a warm, strong community network and practical experience - it has also influenced her future career path. While she originally considered focusing on law and policy related to open water fisheries, Feist is now thinking of possibly focusing on domestic production.

"In general, good policy comes from good science. So being able to say: 'I worked at a hatchery. I know what the issues are. I know that they're facing algal blooms. I know that [warmer waters are] affecting their spawning…' Being able to have that insight is going to be really helpful."

For more on last summer's CEI fellows, read NYSG's recent story.

New York Sea Grant

New York Sea Grant, with offices at Stony Brook University, is a cooperative program of Cornell University and the State University of New York, and is one of 34 university-based programs under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Sea Grant College Program.

- Sumayyah Uddin, NYSG