tklD 



By Pam Smith 



" It was a year to remember," Lise 

 Knelson Fondren says of her year as a Dean 

 John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow in 

 Washington, D.C. 



Fondren was a trailblazer. In 1985, she 

 was the first of 30 graduate fellows sponsored 

 to date by North Carolina Sea Grant. 



"It was, as they say, a learning 

 experience. Politics up close and personal is 

 very different from what most lay people 

 believe," she says. "I got to know Congress." 



Now married with children, Fondren 

 lives in Beaufort. Though her career moved 

 away from marine issues, her dedication to 

 rural health issues still touches the lives of 

 many coastal families. 



As an East Carolina University 

 sociology graduate student, Fondren was a 

 quick study during her Knauss Fellowship 

 days in then U.S. Rep. Barbara Boxer's 

 congressional office. 



Drawing on her undergraduate 

 background in zoology and marine studies, 

 she worked with Boxer on the Royal Seal 

 Commission. She responded to concerns 

 regarding science and the environment. 



"It was heavy, full fare," she recalls. 

 "I suppose I was flattered by Rep. Boxer's 

 confidence in my ability to 'just handle it.' " 



Knauss Fellows are selected on the 

 basis of their ability to share their scientific 

 or marine policy expertise with policy makers 

 in the nation's capital, says N.C. Sea Grant's 

 coastal law and policy specialist Walter 

 Clark, who monitors the fellowship program. 



On the flip side, he says, fellows get a 

 first-hand look at how science is used in the 



Kristen Long and David Canny, both Duke 

 University graduate students, are the newest 

 Knauss fellows from North Carolina. 



policy arena — and how decisions are made. 



Clark explains that the National Sea 

 Grant Program has a goal of developing 

 well-prepared professionals who understand 

 the changing nature of science and research 

 in marine and coastal issues. 



That's why, in 1979, the unique 

 fellowship program was established. The 

 fellowship gives eligible graduate students 

 one year's work experience on a congres- 

 sional staff, or with an executive agency 

 dealing with marine programs. 



READY FOR ACTION 



The Knauss Fellowship is a vehicle for 

 applying academic lessons to a real world 

 experience. 



Kristen Long, one of North Carolina 

 Sea Grant's two current Knauss fellows, 

 says her transition into that "real world" was 

 unexpectedly fast. 



Since February, Long has been 

 assigned to the Office of Protected Re- 

 sources in NOAA's National Marine 

 Fisheries Service. 



Long, a master's candidate majoring in 

 environmental management at Duke 

 University, leads a double life as a Knauss. 

 She spends part of her time with the 

 Endangered Species Division working on 

 sea turtle issues. And, she works with 

 International Protected Resources, where 

 she focuses on issues surrounding the 

 Convention on International Trade of 

 Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna. 



After a brief round of orientation 

 meetings, Long assisted in convening an 



Joseph Cione chases hurricanes for a living at 

 NOAA's Hurricane Research Division in 

 Florida. 



international workshop on the sustainable 

 trade of stony coral species in Jakarta, 

 Indonesia. 



It was a productive meeting. "Three 

 working groups came up with best manage- 

 ment principles for stony corals, including 

 an approach ensuring sustainable resource 

 use, best collection practices, and ecosystem 

 assessment and monitoring guidelines," 

 Long says. 



So far, it has been an exciting experi- 

 ence — and she has a half year still to go. 



But Joe Cione, Knauss Class of 1992, 

 may have topped her for excitement as a 

 fellow and "on the job." 



"I was one of the few meteorology 

 students picked at that time," says Cione. 

 He was assigned to NOAA's Office of 

 Global Programs, which oversees the 

 Atlantic Climate Change Program. 



Cione, who was completing his 

 doctoral program at North Carolina State 

 University at the time, conducted field work 

 in the Soloman Islands and Australia. He 

 flew in aircraft 60 meters above the ocean to 

 get a better idea of air/sea energy flux. 



Now with NOAA's Hurricane 

 Research Division at the Atlantic Oceano- 

 graphic and Meteorological Laboratory in 

 South Florida, Cione studies the air/sea 

 interaction as it relates to hurricanes. "The 

 ocean is a virtual fuel tank. It's important to 

 know and understand how a hurricane uses 

 that energy." 



He flies through two hurricanes a year. 

 "The cowboy in me loves to fly into the 

 storm." 



40 HIGH SEASON 2001 



