(Excerpt from: Graduate students from Georgia selected as Knauss finalists - July 12, 2018 by Emily Woodward)

Two graduate students from the University of Georgia and one from Savannah State University are finalists for the 2019 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship. The fellowship, sponsored by the National Sea Grant College Program, provides graduate students the opportunity to spend a year in marine policy-related positions in the legislative and executive branches of the federal government in Washington D.C. The students will join 69 other finalists selected from a competitive pool of nominees representing 30 of the 33 Sea Grant programs in the coastal and Great Lakes states and territories. The 2019 finalists will become the 40th class of the John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship program. The finalists from Georgia are:

Jordan Rutland, who earned a master's degree in marine science from Savannah State University. Rutland served as the chief scientist for routine dolphin surveys, monitoring and recording dolphin behavior. Rutland earned her bachelor's degree in biology from Paine College in Augusta, Georgia.

Christine Burns, a master's student in marine science at UGA. Burns is using aerial imagery to study historical changes to three salt marshes along the U.S. east coast. She earned her undergraduate degree in environmental science from Dickenson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Alicia Wilson, who earned her master's degree in natural resources from UGA. For her master's thesis, Wilson assessed the impacts of extreme high tide events on loggerhead sea turtle nesting along Georgia's barrier islands. She holds a bachelor's degree in marine biology from Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island.

This year's Knauss finalists join a group of over 1,200 professionals who have received hands-on experiences transferring science to policy and management through one-year appointments with Federal government offices in Washington, D.C. Knauss alumni go on to have successful careers in all sectors of society. Learn more about Knauss alumni by visiting "Where are they now?" on the Sea Grant website. Placement of 2019 Knauss finalists as fellows is contingent on adequate funding in Fiscal Year 2019.