National Marine Fisheries Service-Sea Grant Joint Fellowship Program

The 2024 NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) – Sea Grant Joint Fellowship Opportunity is now OPEN.

Please see the NMFS-Sea Grant Joint Fellowship program page for more information.

There are two different concentrations within this Federal Funding Opportunity (NOAA-OAR-SG-2025-29114).

Concentration in Population and Ecosystem Dynamics

The NMFS-Sea Grant Fellowship Program in Population and Ecosystem Dynamics expects to award at least four new Ph.D. Fellowships to students who are interested in careers related to marine ecosystem and population dynamics, with a focus on modeling and managing systems of living marine resources. These fellowships can provide support for up to three years. The emphasis will be on the development and implementation of quantitative methods for assessing marine ecosystems, for assessing the status of fish, invertebrate, and other targeted species stocks and for assessing the status of marine mammals, seabirds, and other protected species. Fellows will work under the guidance of NMFS mentors at participating NMFS Science Centers or Offices.

Concentration in Marine Resource Economics

The NMFS-Sea Grant Fellowship Program in Marine Resource Economics expects to award one new Ph.D. Fellowship to students who are interested in careers related to the development and implementation of quantitative methods for assessing the economics of the conservation and management of living marine resources. This fellowship can provide support for up to three years. Fellows will work under the guidance of NMFS mentors at participating NMFS Science Centers or Offices.

Before Applying

• The NOAA NMFS – Sea Grant Fellowship application guidelines and review criteria have been updated. Familiarize yourself with these changes before developing your application.
• Review the 2025 NOAA NMFS – Sea Grant Fellowship Student Guide, the specific guide for this NMFS-Sea Grant Fellowship, with updated application procedures and updated review criteria.
• Review the Student Applicant Guide to Sea Grant Fellowships, a general guide for Sea Grant Fellowships.
• All application elements must be submitted in one combined PDF document in the exact required order as noted in the guidelines. Have your institution’s Sponsored Programs Office Proposal Administrator ensure that you have followed the guidelines that are newly required for applications that will be submitted via the eRA grant system. This includes “flattening” a PDF document and other tips for preparing PDFs without using the “bundling” or “portfolio” feature when compiling into one PDF, per the eRA guidance, noted on page 6 of the NOFO.
• Note the student versions of the documents cannot be edited by the State Sea Grant Program; students and academic advisors, please utilize your Sponsored Programs Office Proposal Administrator to review and finalize all documents per the NOFO guidelines, prior to submitting to Texas Sea Grant, otherwise the document will be returned for revisions.
• Utilized the Grants Management Division’s Budget Narrative Guidance to ensure that you have fully justified each budget item in detail.

How to Apply

• Submit an email Letter of Intent to Apply for this competition, by December 15, 2024 to Mia Zwolinski, Texas Sea Grant Research Coordinator, at mzwolinski@tamu.edu. This is a firm deadline. An email submission receipt will be provided to the applicant. We will make arrangements to ensure that your institution’s Sponsored Programs Office Proposal Administrator and our Texas A&M Sponsored Research Services Proposal Administrator are connected to work together on this application.
• Submit an application consisting of one PDF containing all required elements per the funding opportunity guidelines, by January 23, 2025, 5:00 pm CST, to Mia Zwolinski, Texas Sea Grant Research Coordinator, at mzwolinski@tamu.edu. This is a firm deadline. An email submission receipt will be provided to the applicant.
• All elements of the application must be completed by the student and submitted in one combined PDF in the exact required order as noted in the Federal Funding Opportunity guidelines.
• Texas A&M University – Texas Sea Grant, as the state Sea Grant program, is the eligible applicant per the funding guidelines. Your application materials will be packaged into the overall application as a sub-recipient from Texas A&M University – Texas Sea Grant to your institution.
• Texas A&M Sponsored Research Services will complete the Grants.gov application file and submit by March 13, 2025.
• The time between your submission to Texas Sea Grant by January 23rd and submission to the sponsor March 13th, is required in order to review your documents for completeness and to prepare an overall proposal application by Texas A&M University – Texas Sea Grant for approval and submission to the sponsor via eRA grants system.
• The Abbreviated Environmental Compliance Questionnaire (AECQ) will be reviewed for completeness, to include permit copies or expected receipt if a permit is pending, per guidelines. This document should also include animal use protocol (AUP) and human subject exemption information and approvals or status of reviews/approvals by your institution’s IACUC or IRB, if applicable. Please find the documents below for your use:
• Please note that the links in the original NOFO are broken. Please find the documents below for your use:
  • NSGO Abbreviated Environmental Compliance Questionnaire  
  • NEPA Questionnaire – Step-by-Step Guidance  
  • NEPA Questionnaire – Fieldwork Example  
  • NEPA Questionnaire – Labwork Example