Graduate scholarship supports marine-science studies

The Malouf Scholarship is awarded to support graduate students who combine societally relevant research with education or public engagement. There are no restrictions on the discipline, which may include, but is not limited to: biological, geological, physical and chemical sciences; marine resource management and policy; legal studies; marine resource economics; social sciences; engineering; geology; education or public health. Oregon Sea Grant awards two Malouf Scholarships annually to one master’s or professional student and to one doctoral student.

Informational Webinar

AWARD & ELIGIBILITY

The award amount is not to exceed $11,100, and is disbursed in 12 monthly payments of $925. The scholarship is for one year and is not renewable. The scholarship may be used for tuition, supplies, research, travel for field work, attendance at professional and academic meetings, or general living expenses. How funds are used is at the discretion of the recipient.

The Robert E. Malouf Marine Studies Scholarship is for graduate students enrolled in a master's/professional or PhD program in any discipline at any college or university physically located in Oregon. Master's/professional degree students must be in the first year, or just beginning the second year, of their degree program at the time of award. PhD students can be in the first, second, or just beginning the third year of their degree program at the time of award.

Additional information about this opportunity can be found in the 2023 Malouf Scholarship Request for Applications (PDF).

The Malouf Application Review Criteria Matrix (PDF) provides detail on how your application will be reviewed.

HOW TO APPLY

Oregon Sea Grant uses eSeaGrant for fellowship application submissions. To access eSeaGrant, send an email to [email protected] declaring your interest in applying. Please include the name of the fellowship you wish to apply for in the subject line. An eSeaGrant account will then be created for you. All components of your application, including letters of recommendation, will be submitted through eSeaGrant. Stating your interest does not obligate you to apply. We are here to provide assistance as needed; however, please do not wait until the last minute to apply.

NEXT DEADLINE

The deadline for 2023 applications was July 28, 2023. The 2024 deadline will be posted here once known.

Robert E. Malouf Marine Studies Scholars 

Joshua Blockstein (2023)

Assignment: Josh's research aims to understand 1) the needs and perspectives of marginalized coastal communities and 2) develop strategies for increasing resilience to coastal hazards. Marginalized communities are disproportionately vulnerable to natural hazards due to underlying inequities. Josh's Master's research identified that disaster preparedness is limited among the Latinx community due to linguistic barriers. Additionally, assets such as community-based organizations and churches are essential for supporting social networks and facilitating access to resources for this community and should be better incorporated into resilience plans. His PhD work will focus on co-developing workshops that increase individual and community disaster preparedness.

Education: Josh received his B.S. in Biological Sciences in 2017 from the University of Southern California and his M.S. in Marine Resource Management from Oregon State University. He is currently a PhD student in Environmental Sciences, advised by Dr. Jenna Tilt.

Professional and Research Interests: Josh's research connects community resilience, natural hazards, and policy and planning - approached through a critical geography lens. Through primarily qualitative methods, he aims to better engage with and understand the ways in which societal inequities and environmental crises are interrelated. In the future, he wishes to work in a community engagement, outreach, or professor of practice role for Oregon Sea Grant or another state agency or community organization.

 

Jennifer Waldo (2023)

Assignment: Jennifer's Master's project is focused on one of the major emerging threats to Oregon marine ecosystems and coastal communities: ocean acidification. Her research aims to understand how public perceptions of ocean acidification influence people's engagement in climate actions. Jennifer is collaborating with the Oregon Marine Reserves to explore the use of psychologically grounded communication strategies that will identify how ocean acidification and other ocean issues can be made salient and evoke public action. This research will connect local communities, specifically those along the coast, with the conservation and climate issues close to home, which will support mitigation and adaptation efforts towards ocean acidification and marine-related climate change issues in Oregon.

Education: Jennifer received a B.S. in Marine Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2022. During her undergraduate, she assisted with a research study incorporating tuna purse seine fisher knowledge in the quest for manta and devil ray bycatch mitigation methods. This led Jennifer to initiate her honors senior thesis project, through which she surveyed tuna fishery helicopter pilots on their ability to communicate manta and devil ray sightings to the vessel as a potential early alert system for bycatch avoidance. Jennifer is currently a Master's student in Fisheries Science at Oregon State University working in the Human Dimensions Lab with Dr. Megan Jones.

Professional and Research Interests: Jennifer is a marine conservation social scientist and ecologist interested in using interdisciplinary research methods to holistically approach human-related issues connected to marine and coastal environments. She is involved in a variety of projects, all with the shared idea of bridging our understanding of marine ecology with stakeholder and resource-user knowledge in order to develop effective conservation strategies. Jennifer hopes to pursue a career at the science-management interface of marine conservation working to promote the sustainable use of resources and support healthy communities in a changing climate.

 


Carly Ringer (2022)

Assignment: Carly’s research aims to (1) better understand the patterns and effects of coastal foredune management in Oregon and (2) produce a new Oregon Dune Management Guidebook. In developed areas, communities with dune management plans can allow dune grading (i.e., flattening) and other types of dune management/maintenance to preserve viewsheds and reduce sand inundation. The affects that these management techniques have on dune morphology is not well understood, so Carly is also exploring the differences in managed and unmanaged dune morphology. The results, along with information about dune systems and updated management recommendations, will be included in the Oregon Dune Management Guidebook. The guidebook will serve as a reference for local planners, contractors, and state agency managers when making dune management decisions.

Education: Carly received her B.S. in Geography with a specialization in GIS and minor in Mathematics in 2019 from Brigham Young University. As an undergraduate, she worked as a teaching assistant and research assistant in the geography, geology, and mathematics departments, and was a GIS/Engineering intern for a local city. After graduating, she worked as a software product engineer at ESRI in Redlands, CA. Carly is currently a master’s student in the Marine Resource Management program at OSU working with Dr. Meagan Wengrove.

Professional and Research Interests: Carly is passionate about improving the relationships between humans and the environment and increasing community resilience to coastal hazards. She plans to combine her interests in spatial science and technology, coastal processes and hazards, and beach/dune management to provide solutions that balance the needs of natural, built, and social environments.

 

Courtney Beringer (2022)

Assignment: Courtney's research aims to improve the public's understanding of wave energy converters and increase power production efficiency through experimental testing. Wave energy is still in the early stages of development and fundamental research is needed to engineer better devices and gain the public's trust. Over the past two years, Courtney has designed, built, and tested an open-source wave energy converter called LUPA which is the first open-source research platform for wave energy researchers to utilize. She is also developing a website to share all the codes, data, and models and hopes to engage with Oregon Coast communities about wave energy.

Education: Courtney received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Energy Systems from Iowa State University in 2019. She is currently a PhD student in the Coastal and Ocean Engineering program at Oregon State University, working with Dr. Bryson Robertson through the Pacific Marine Energy Center.

Professional and Research Interests: Courtney's goal is to become a tenured track faculty at a research university as she enjoys the trifecta of teaching, research, and service. She prioritizes people and planet in wave energy research and hopes to pass on this mindset to the next generation of engineers. Courtney is an Oregon Museum of Science and Industry Science Communication Fellow so you can also find her talking to museum-goers about wave energy at "Meet a Scientist" events.

Visit Courtney's website or connect with Courtney on LinkedIn.

 

Laura Baker (2021)

Assignment: The goal of Laura's master assignment is to perform the first analysis of the impacts of razor clams on Oregon coastal communities. The project will look at the Pacific razor clams' ecological, economic, and socio-cultural impacts for coastal communities, focusing on the northern Oregon coast. From these results, she will create outreach materials that will be the most beneficial for the communities that rely on this natural resource. This project will be conducted in collaboration with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. 

Education: Laura received her B.S. in Earth System Science with a concentration in Ocean Science from Oregon State University in 2019. During her undergraduate, she worked in a benthic marine ecology lab that led her to be interested in how the ecology of a place can impact the people that use that area. She is currently in her second year in the Marine Resource Management program. 

Professional and Research Interests: Laura's research interests lie in adding human dimensions to marine fisheries. She also hopes to address conflict areas between harvesters, managers, and the communities to manage marine resources effectively and engage the communities. Laura also is interested in using Geographic Information Science to help communities set up aquaculture projects and conserve natural resource areas.

View Laura's website.

 

Jess Schulte (2021)

Assignment: Jess’s research aims to comprehensively understand fisheries as part of a larger, cultural picture in the Pacific Northwest and contribute to critical outreach and engagement with the broader public. Combined with a variety of anthropogenic stressors, fisheries in this region have experienced significant drops in stock, followed by ecosystem effects and repercussions on local economies. Despite their often significant roles in local ecosystems though, large sharks have been conspicuously absent from modeling and management efforts in the region. Jess’s research will provide the first insights into the trophic ecology of an abundant apex predator in these marine ecosystems, the Broadnose Sevengill Shark (Notorynchus cepedianus). Her project will determine how this predator maintains Oregon’s productive marine ecosystems from a quantitative and cultural lens and inform our management of critical fisheries through top-down interactions.

Education: Jess graduated with honors from the University of Florida in 2013 with a degree in Environmental Science, focusing on climate change and other broad-spanning global anthropogenic impacts. She interned with the Florida Museum of Natural History’s shark research lab as well as the US Geological Survey’s Benthic Ecology Lab.  This work led to full-time opportunities in USGS’s Invasive Fish lab and, eventually, the Peace Corps. She worked on coastal resource management in the Philippines, and the State Department, working from Washington DC on international climate change programs and diplomacy. She is a first-year PhD student in Fisheries Science at Oregon State University in Dr. Taylor Chapple’s Big Fish Lab.

Professional and Research Interests: Jess is interested in the intersection of economically and culturally important fisheries, anthropogenic impacts, and adaptive management. Combining her experience in research, conservation, and policy, she hopes to use quantitative methods to study feeding ecology, movement, and population dynamics to bridge the gap between research, policymakers, and diverse stakeholders for effective ecosystem management.

View Jess's LinkedIn, the Big Fish Lab website, and Big Fish Instagram site.

 

Rebecca Smoak (2021)

Assignment: Rebecca Smoak’s research project focuses on understanding how the ocean's changing physical factors reverberates through lower trophic levels and affects the energy available to commercially and ecologically important fisheries in the Northwest. Rebecca is also co-collaborating on an upcoming CEOAS Summer Camp for 2022. This camp will promote coastal and marine science and conservation to low-income- first-generation, and underserved students who otherwise would not have the opportunity to have access to a University STEM-oriented camp.

Education: Rebecca completed her B.S in Earth and Environmental Sciences, focusing on Wildlife Ecology and Conservation and minors in Forestry and Biology at Washington State University. During her time as an undergrad, she participated in four NOAA research cruises that led to her current research at OSU. Rebecca was awarded the CIMRS First-year Marine Studies Graduate Fellowship in 2020-21. She is a second-year Master’s student in the Marine Resource Management program at Oregon State University.

Professional and Research Interests: Rebecca’s long-term goal is to bridge the gap between marine research and outreach. Hoping to work in research upon completion of her degree, she is also looking to use her voice and love of people to connect with members of small coastal communities in the Northwest and develop relationships with those members. In addition to her research, Rebecca is working as a STEM Ambassador to create opportunities for scientists, fishermen, and members of coastal communities to interact and build relationships with one another.

 

Mee-ya Monnin (2020)

Assignment: The goal of Mee-ya’s master’s project is to perform a feasibility analysis for an alternative form of electronic monitoring in Oregon’s recreational charter fleet. Mee-ya’s research will utilize stereo-video photogrammetry (calculating measurements and/or the creation of models of objects using photos or videos) to identify, quantify, and measure recreational catch in Oregon’s nearshore bottomfish fishery and compare it to sampling data collected by state port samplers via standard sampling techniques. If stereo-video provides an enhanced method for data collection and fishery monitoring, recommendations will be made for adoption of the new technology. Mee-ya plans to collaborate with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and local fishers to conduct her work.

Education: Mee-ya completed her Honors BS in Fisheries and Wildlife Science at Oregon State University in 2014. During her undergraduate degree, Mee-ya spent two seasons at McMurdo Station, Antarctica studying the thermoregulation of Weddell seals (Leptonychotes wedddellii) using photogrammetry to calculate surface area and volume measurements of the seals. Mee-ya is currently a second year MS student in Fisheries Science at Oregon State University.

Professional and Research Interests: Mee-ya’s research interests include evaluating the effects of human activities (fishing, gear use, pollution, etc.) on fish populations and marine ecosystems. Mee-ya is interested in a career that places human dimensions issues at the forefront of research. Mee-ya seeks to assist in bridging communities and various professional disciplines together to approach marine issues in a more holistic and effective manner.

 

Janet (Shu Min) Tsai (2020)

AssignmentJanet's doctoral research project is exploring the relationship between environmental identity (i.e., how people see their relationship with the natural environment based on their personal experience, culture and history) and environmental-crisis learning, especially issues related to abstract concepts – ocean acidification – in free-choice learning settings (i.e., museums and aquariums). Janet's research project will focus on people who visit museums and aquariums, including Western people (in the U.S.), indigenous peoples (in the U.S.), and both Brazilian and Taiwanese people to see how cultural-historical contexts influence individuals’ environmental identity that somehow might affect their learning experiences in free-choice learning settings.

Education:  Janet completed a B.S. in Life Sciences and M.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from National Taiwan University. During her undergraduate studies, Janet worked on several climate warming and conservation projects. Janet then completed her M.A. in Bioethics and Science Policy from Duke University; she is currently a PhD student in Environmental Sciences at Oregon State University.

Professional and Research Interests: Janet was trained as an ecologist and environmental ethicist. Her current research is in Dr. Shawn Rowe’s Free-Choice Learning Lab and she is working toward a career as a research curator, focused on science education at a major science museum. Janet's research interests include environmental crisis, environmental ethics, environmental psychology, environmental identity, museum study, and environmental education in free-choice learning settings. She is also particularly interested in exploring how the general public learns science in museums or aquariums and to what extent this kind of public science education does or does not affect public’s awareness on critical science issues.
View Janet's website .

See a list of past Maulof Scholars