Center for Ocean Solutions Early Career Fellowship Program

Center for Ocean Solutions Early Career Fellowship Program

The Center for Ocean Solutions (“COS”) seeks two recent graduates who have received a JD or PhD in the social sciences in the last five years, and who have completed substantial course work and/or gained experience in ocean or coastal science, law, or policy to collaborate with researchers and experts on one or more interdisciplinary projects focused on elevating the impact of the social, physical and natural sciences on ocean policy.

COS is a collaboration between Stanford University – including researchers at Hopkins Marine Station and main campus – the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute to develop practical and sustainable strategies that address the major environmental and economic challenges facing our oceans by bringing leading experts in marine science and policy together with decision makers.

In addition to helping implement better policies, COS is working to develop current and future leaders who understand the value of interdisciplinary problem solving. This fellowship program is designed to draw on and enhance the academic and professional skills of early career professionals and researchers by placing them in interdisciplinary collaborations focused on identifying, developing, and implementing enduring solutions to the greatest challenges facing the earth’s coast and ocean.  COS is committed to providing each fellow with appropriate training and mentorship, including access to special leadership and communications workshops, courses, and one-on-one training provided through Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment.  In addition, at least one advisor from COS’s collaborating institutions will be responsible for providing ongoing advice and oversight for each fellow.  The decision of who will serve as the primary advisor for each fellow will depend on the fellow’s disciplinary strengths as well as the projects in which the fellow is involved.

Projects currently underway at COS for which legal, policy, and social science expertise are needed include:

Ecosystem-Based Marine Spatial Management

COS has already undertaken substantial work in this focal area working with many collaborators, including the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation, Marine Map, COMPASS, NCEAS, NOAA’s Coastal Services Center, California Ocean Protection Council, California Ocean Science Trust, The Nature Conservancy, the EBM Tools Network, and the Meridian Institute. We anticipate considerable effort over the coming one to three years focused on the following:

• Evaluate and recommend institutional mechanisms for addressing cumulative impacts through marine spatial management.  Conduct in-depth analysis and evaluation of potential decision-making structures that account for and address cumulative impacts in coastal and marine systems.
• Evaluate and recommend institutional mechanisms to apply emerging ecosystem services frameworks and resilience thinking to marine spatial management.
• Evaluate and recommend legal and institutional mechanisms for incorporating dynamic ocean features into marine spatial planning and management frameworks using state-of-the-art models and forecasts.

Climate Change Adaptation

• Support decision-makers in their efforts to manage coastal resources in a changing world.

• • COS is currently in a scoping phase on a joint project with The Natural Capital Project and The Nature Conservancy.  The ultimate objectives of the project are to: (1) Work with state and local decision makers to design and assess the effectiveness of protection and restoration strategies to meet development, tourism, and property/infrastructure protection objectives in the face of climate change; (2) Work with state and local decision makers to construct relevant scenarios of natural and engineered approaches to climate change adaptation; (3) Modify existing interdisciplinary modeling approaches for quantitatively assessing the economic and social costs and benefits of natural, engineered and non-structural (policy and behavioral) solutions; (4) Apply the methodology in several settings to assess the effects of coastal adaptation and climate scenarios on other ecosystem services provided by coastal and nearshore environments; (5) Use assessments to inform decision-making and enhance the capacity of key sectors (e.g., coastal real estate and insurance companies, local and regional governments) to respond to and plan for a changing climate, and (6) Adapt and refine a suite of decision-support tools that can be used more widely.
  • COS is currently developing a needs assessment survey in collaboration with California Sea Grant and Southern California Sea Grant, as well as in coordination with various state and federal partners including NOAA’s Coastal Services Center and California’s Coastal Commission and San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.  The insights from this survey which seeks to understand coastal decision-makers a) attitude towards and awareness of climate change, b) level of preparedness for the impacts of climate change and c) barriers to responding to climate change will assist the center and various other institutions in designing trainings and tools and identifying gaps in research to assist coastal decision-makers develop and implement coastal climate change adaptation plans.
  • COS is currently working with the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary as well as municipal representatives and researchers on developing a series of workshops that will assist in region-wide adaptation planning.

• Climate Change Adaptation Communication. This project – currently underway – is examining how best to communicate the risks arising from climate change to coastal communities in the San Francisco bay region, including the challenges and opportunities involved in a changing climate. It will also focus on different ways to engage key stakeholders and coastal communities in identifying and realizing adaptation options. The project in its upcoming stages will involve focus groups, surveys, and developing training opportunities for a variety of coastal stakeholders.

• Another project currently being proposed will, if funded, focus on successful adaptation in coastal communities across the West Coast. The project aims to unpack the notion of “successful adaptation” and explore its various dimensions with academic experts and coastal decision-makers.

Land-Sea Interactions (note that most coastal climate change adaptation work involves land-sea interactions)

• Develop technology for real time in situ measurements of fecal indicator bacteria and enteric pathogens in seawater in partnership with researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (http://www.mbari.org/).  Develop and help implement institutional mechanisms for coastal managers and public health officials to use such a rapid detection technology to manage coastal waters and identify coastal pollutant sources more efficiently and effectively.

Eligibility:  Individuals may apply who are embarking on a career in a marine-related field, including policy, law, social, natural, or physical sciences, and demonstrate a strong interest and some experience in ocean science and public policy.  Applicants must have earned a graduate degree (PhD or JD) within the past five years and must be fluent English speakers and writers.  We seek applicants whose academic and work background demonstrates (1) primary strength in either (a) law and policy relating to coastal and marine issues or (b) social sciences relating to marine and coastal issues and (2) secondary strength in complementary discipline/s.  Exemplary applicants might include, for example:  a recent PhD in human geography, sociology, or resource economics with work experience in applying their primary discipline to marine law or policy; or a recent JD focused on ocean or coastal policy with significant natural or physical science expertise relating to marine or coastal systems.

Award:  Each fellow will receive an annual stipend of $56,000, health insurance coverage, relocation allowance, and limited support for travel and supplies.

Application Deadline:  The application period will remain open until the fellow positions are filled.

Fellowship Dates:  Starting date is negotiable with each awardee; term of fellowship is one year with the possibility of extension up to three years total.

Application Requirements:

• Curriculum vitae (not more than three pages).
• Personal education and career goal statement emphasizing applicant’s interest in, expected contributions to and expectations from the fellowship, including identification of the Center for Ocean Solutions project/s which most interest him/her and requested start date (not to exceed 1500 words).
• Two letters of recommendation, one from academic advisor and one from someone who is familiar with applicant’s professional abilities.
• Official copy of undergraduate and graduate transcripts.

Fellowship Selection and Placement Process:

• Applications should be submitted electronically to the Center for Ocean Solutions at:  [email protected].
• Center for Ocean Solutions will convene its Fellowship Committee to review and rank applications on a rolling basis, beginning April 15, 2011.  The Fellowship application process will remain open until the position/s are filled.  Criteria for evaluation include:

• • Applicant’s academic record and employment history, including applicability to the objectives of the fellowship
  • Contribution of the fellowship to applicant’s career goals
  • Applicant’s personal, research, and communication skills
  • Letters of recommendation

• COS will then interview application finalists by phone or in person.

For additional information, please visit:  centerforoceansolutions.org.  Any questions not answered in this announcement or through the Ocean Solutions website should be submitted electronically to [email protected].