Florida Sea Grant considers graduate student education one of its top priorities because it is the future marine scientists and other environmental professionals who will one day design the creative management concepts needed to protect Florida’s coastal environment.

Sea Grant’s support for graduate education includes various scholarship and fellowship opportunities, as well as traditional research assistantships.

We administer an annual state-wide competition where outstanding students apply for various federal fellowships, including the Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship, two National Marine Fisheries Services fellowships, and a fellowship with the NOAA Coastal Services Center. Because of generous donations by private sponsors, we also administer scholarships that are funded by the Aylesworth Foundation for the Advancement of Marine Sciences, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and Scotts Miracle-Grow, Inc.

Each year between 30 and 40 students are supported by these initiatives. Recipients of past scholarships and fellowships are now working as university faculty members, ocean and coastal scientists at state and federal agencies, high school science teachers, business owners and NGOs. Many have become national and international leaders in their areas of expertise.

Florida Sea Grant also invests in university faculty and staff so that they, too, have the necessary skills and training to meet the long-term needs of the state and its coastal resources. Every research grant awarded to Florida’s university faculty members requires that at least one student be supported and actively engaged in research.

Brooke Denkert, 2009 Aylesworth Scholar