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At Rhode Island Sea Grant, we are dedicated to providing new and exciting opportunities for students to engage in marine and coastal issues. Our aim is increasing knowledge and awareness of coastal and marine ecosystems for the next generation of professionals so that they may be stewards of these valuable resources.
We are committed to providing hands-on experiences for students across disciplines through fellowships, assistantships, and internships to work with communities on real problems.
Fellowships & Internships
RI Sea Grant Community Engagement & Communications Fellowship
Application deadline is Wednesday, November 5, 2025
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In our pursuit to support and train the next generation of coastal researchers, managers, and leaders, Rhode Island Sea Grant (RISG) is excited to offer two graduate fellowship positions through our Community Engagement and Communications Fellowship Program in 2026.
The purpose of this program is to provide students with hands-on opportunities to apply their knowledge to address real-world coastal management issues. Each fellowship opportunity will pair fellows with RISG-funded scientists, extension agents, and state resource management professionals to develop solutions to the problems facing coastal and marine communities.
RISG is offering two fellowship opportunities for 2026:
1. RISG-Extension Coastal Resilience Fellowship (Full-time, 20hrs/wk)
2. RISG-Extension Offshore Energy Communication Fellowship (Half-time, 10hrs/wk)
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ABOUT
This half-time fellowship is available for the Spring and Fall 2026 semesters, during which the student is expected to work on campus at the URI Narragansett Bay Campus.
The application deadline is Wednesday, November 5, 2025 >>
The fellowship package includes half tuition for the academic year and a 10-hour-per-week stipend. The fellowship is open to URI graduate students with strong written and verbal skills.
To be eligible:
- Students must be enrolled as full-time URI graduate students between January and December 2026.
- Applicants cannot have committed, full-time (20 hr/wk) funding for Spring 2026. This includes teaching and research fellowships/assistantships.
- Per university policy, graduate students cannot work over 20 hrs/wk without additional administrative approval.
Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship
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The Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship provides a unique educational experience to graduate students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources.
The Fellowship, named after one of Sea Grant’s founders, former NOAA Administrator and Dean of URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography, John A. Knauss, matches highly qualified graduate students with “hosts” in the legislative and executive branch of government located in the Washington, D.C., area for a one-year paid fellowship.
Rhode Island Sea Grant may forward the nomination of up to six students annually for this prestigious fellowship to the National Sea Grant College Program, which convenes a final selection panel to review all applications submitted nationally. Applicants must be enrolled in a U.S. accredited graduate or professional degree program in a marine or aquatic-related field in the U.S. or its territories.
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If you are interested in applying or have additional questions, please contact Kim Ohnemus, workforce development and research coordinator, Rhode Island Sea Grant, kohnemus@uri.edu.
For more information on the fellowship, please visit the National Sea Grant website.
Community Engaged Internship
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The CEI Program provides Rhode Island-based undergraduate students with the opportunity to engage in place-based research, outreach, education and/or communication projects in coastal communities. Students will be placed with mentors that may include Rhode Island Sea Grant extension staff, funded researchers, or representatives of local community-based organizations. Students will help to advance research and community outreach while gaining invaluable skills that will prepare them to enter the workforce after graduation.
As part of the larger Community Engagement Internship Program overseen by NOAA Sea Grant, students selected for this internship will have access to professional development opportunities and mentoring offered by the National Sea Grant College Program for Sea Grant interns nationwide.
For more information, click here.
Coastal Fellowship
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Rhode Island Sea Grant sponsors undergraduate Coastal Fellows through the Coastal Fellows Program of URI’s College of Environment and Life Sciences that is aimed at addressing emerging environmental problems from a range of disciplines and technologies.
The Coastal Fellowship Program provides training in both the classroom and applied venues to maximize educational opportunities. Coastal Fellows work within vertically integrated research or outreach teams that are problem-driven by nature.
Teams involve some mix of faculty, research or outreach staff, Land and Sea Grant educators, post-doctorate fellows, community professionals, and graduate students. These multigenerational teams provide students with a range of learning experiences and project-related support. Students take responsibility for a small piece of the project’s overall research or outreach design and follow the work through to completion.
Rhode Island Sea Grant Law Fellowship
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Rhode Island Sea Grant Law Fellow Program: Rhode Island Sea Grant sponsors law students as Sea Grant Law Fellows to research and write on ocean and coastal law issues including the resolution of marine resource management and conservation issues.
Established in October 2003, the Rhode Island Sea Grant Legal Program located at the Marine Affairs Institute at Roger Williams University School of Law is one of only four Sea Grant legal programs in the nation.
The Legal Program responds to research requests from state and regional agencies and other Sea Grant constituents on coastal zone management, fisheries, public access, aquaculture, ports and harbors, and other areas of marine law. The Legal Program is prohibited from providing legal advice or becoming involved in litigation.
The information provided by the program’s students and attorneys is intended for informational purposes only.
For more information, please contact Read Porter, Staff Attorney, Marine Affairs Institute, at rporter@rwu.edu or by telephone at 401-254-5734.
NOAA Coastal Management and Digital Coast Fellowship
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This program’s mission is to provide on-the-job education and training opportunities in coastal resources management and policy for postgraduate students and to provide project assistance to state coastal zone management agencies and other key NOAA partners.
These two-year fellowships are offered by the NOAA Coastal Management Program.
National Marine Fisheries Service-Sea Grant Fisheries Graduate Fellowship
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The NMFS-Sea Grant Joint Fellowship Program in Population and Ecosystem Dynamics and Marine Resource Economics is designed to help Sea Grant fulfill its broad educational responsibilities and to strengthen the collaboration between Sea Grant and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
Since 1999, Sea Grant and NMFS have partnered to train students through this joint fellowship program in two specialized areas: population and ecosystem dynamics as well as marine resource economics. Population and ecosystem dynamics involve the study of fish populations and marine ecosystems to better assess fishery stock conditions and dynamics.
The goals of the NOAA Fisheries/Sea Grant Fellowship Program are:
- To encourage qualified applicants to pursue careers in either population and ecosystem dynamics and stock assessment or in marine resource economics
- To increase available expertise related to these fields
- To foster closer relationships between academic scientists and NOAA Fisheries
- To provide real-world experience to graduate students and accelerate their career development.
To help achieve the goals of the fellowship, each Fellow will be required to work closely with an expert (mentor) from NOAA Fisheries who will serve on the Fellow’s committee. The mentor may also provide access to research data sources and to working/laboratory space in a NOAA Fisheries research facility and/or research vessel, if appropriate.
Eligibility
The Fisheries Fellowship is available to US citizens who are graduate students enrolled in PhD degree programs in academic institutions in the United States and its territories. Only U.S. citizens are eligible to apply. Foreign Nationals are not eligible.
Length of Fellowship
Ph.D. candidates interested in the population and ecosystem dynamics of living marine resources and the development and implementation of quantitative methods for assessing their status can receive up to three years of funding. Ph.D. students in marine resource economics, concentrating on the conservation and management of living marine resources, can receive two years of funding.
How to Apply
Opportunities are posted late in the calendar year. Applications are typically due in January.
The 2022 Fellowship Opportunity has been announced. Please see grants.gov for the full announcement.
Contact
For more information or application questions, please contact Kim Ohnemus | kohnemus@uri.edu
Photo ©Jesse Burke
Senior Capstone
Rhode Island Sea Grant Community-Planning Specialists work to make Sea Grant’s signature senior capstone project meaningful for both the students and community.
Students from an array of disciplines work together to solve real-world problems in local communities through design, policy, and economics.
This project combines student skill sets in landscape architecture, marine affairs, ocean engineering, and natural resources economics in a one-of-a-kind collaborative project that engages students across sectors but also with community professionals to learn about issues related to sea level rise, flooding, and other coastal hazards.