WEBVTT 00:02.043 --> 00:05.380 Hi. My name is Fabiola Rivera-Irizarry. 00:05.588 --> 00:07.465 My name is Grace Casselberry. 00:07.465 --> 00:08.383 I'm Jaida Elcock. 00:08.383 --> 00:10.427 My name is Erin Arneson. 00:10.427 --> 00:10.885 Hello. 00:10.885 --> 00:13.221 My name is Keiko Wilkins. 00:13.221 --> 00:14.639 Hi, my name is Carina Fish. 00:14.639 --> 00:18.601 My name is Brijonnay Madrigal., (Group) I'm a Nancy Foster scholar. 00:19.519 --> 00:21.688 As a NOAA Dr. 00:21.688 --> 00:25.442 Nancy Foster scholar, we are ambassadors 00:25.442 --> 00:28.528 for the National Marine Sanctuaries within the United States. 00:30.196 --> 00:31.322 The NOAA Dr. 00:31.322 --> 00:34.284 Nancy Foster Scholarship is part of the Office 00:34.284 --> 00:37.829 of National Marine Sanctuaries, and it supports graduate students 00:37.829 --> 00:43.793 that are doing research directly connected to research needs in the sanctuary. 00:44.419 --> 00:47.338 So there's a mixture of master's students and Ph.D. 00:47.338 --> 00:49.632 students here as scholars. 00:49.632 --> 00:52.677 we come from all different parts of the country 00:52.677 --> 00:55.680 working on all different kinds of research. 00:55.889 --> 00:59.726 This scholarship definitely promotes diversity in a lot of different ways. 00:59.768 --> 01:01.478 Diversity in research, for sure. 01:01.478 --> 01:04.939 I obviously work on sharks, but we have other scholars 01:04.939 --> 01:09.235 that are working on seabirds, who are learning more about offshore wind, 01:09.402 --> 01:12.405 working with microplastics, working with corals. 01:12.447 --> 01:14.115 Someone's even working with archeology 01:14.115 --> 01:16.409 and maritime heritage, which is really interesting. 01:16.409 --> 01:20.538 So this huge diversity of different types of sciences 01:20.538 --> 01:23.792 and different research fields, which is great because I feel like then 01:23.792 --> 01:27.087 as scholars, we all get to really learn from each other. In addition to that, 01:27.087 --> 01:31.549 you get access to the national marine sanctuaries within the United States. 01:31.925 --> 01:33.885 So it's been an incredible opportunity 01:33.885 --> 01:37.055 to to get to work with the superintendents of the sanctuaries, 01:37.680 --> 01:40.975 as well as the research coordinators, and really get an idea of what 01:40.975 --> 01:43.978 are NOAA’s research priorities within these sanctuaries, 01:43.978 --> 01:46.815 and get an understanding of how my research can kind of fill 01:46.815 --> 01:50.485 those knowledge gaps to better inform policy and management. 01:50.944 --> 01:53.947 We're able to bring partnerships together 01:54.072 --> 01:57.408 between stakeholders and academic research 01:57.408 --> 02:02.247 and the sanctuaries to help improve management and policy needs. 02:03.414 --> 02:05.375 The Foster scholar group, I 02:05.375 --> 02:10.713 feel, is like a little science family. So, as a Dr. 02:10.713 --> 02:14.676 Nancy Foster scholar, I really strive to change 02:14.676 --> 02:17.679 the perceptions of what a marine scientist can look like. 02:17.720 --> 02:20.890 And of course there's racial diversity as well. 02:20.890 --> 02:23.601 We've got so many different people from so many different places, 02:23.601 --> 02:27.814 and I always like to say that diversity in people creates diversity in thought, 02:27.814 --> 02:31.526 which creates diversity in innovation, which is going to lead us towards 02:31.693 --> 02:34.779 further scientific discovery and better understanding of our oceans 02:34.779 --> 02:36.072 and science in general. 02:36.072 --> 02:37.365 So it is really nice 02:37.365 --> 02:40.827 to be a part of a program that promotes such diversity, that allows us 02:40.827 --> 02:44.455 to better each other and better the field of science in general. 02:47.625 --> 02:48.835 So although research is 02:48.835 --> 02:53.256 a really huge component of the Nancy Foster scholarship, 02:53.548 --> 02:56.968 another large, really important component is education and outreach. 02:56.968 --> 03:01.264 And so each scholar engages in some sort of education and outreach project 03:01.264 --> 03:04.434 within a sanctuary. I always say like it's hard 03:04.434 --> 03:07.437 to expect someone to care about something when they don't know about it. 03:07.604 --> 03:11.691 So educating people about science, about the ocean, 03:11.900 --> 03:14.944 about how important it is, I think is really crucial to get people 03:14.944 --> 03:19.490 to care about it and make movements forward for the betterment of our ocean. 03:19.991 --> 03:23.328 I think it's very important to educate, especially children and young 03:23.328 --> 03:24.078 adults, because 03:25.163 --> 03:28.166 that's the future generations. 03:28.291 --> 03:31.753 If we do not do that, then what will they have in the future? 03:31.753 --> 03:35.298 So for me, education is a very, very powerful tool. 03:35.715 --> 03:38.718 And the Nancy Foster scholarship exposed me 03:38.760 --> 03:41.638 through different exercises and different workshops 03:41.638 --> 03:42.722 throughout the years 03:42.722 --> 03:45.850 on how to break that barrier and make you comfortable in settings 03:45.850 --> 03:48.853 that are completely out of your comfort zone. 03:48.853 --> 03:52.148 I gained some communication skills through this scholarship. 03:52.565 --> 03:56.527 It's basically an opportunity to not only be a scholar, 03:56.527 --> 03:59.948 but also to become an ambassador 04:00.114 --> 04:03.117 of conservation of our ocean. 04:03.534 --> 04:04.744 Well, it makes sense. 04:04.744 --> 04:09.290 Any time you have a mechanism in place that takes up and coming students 04:09.290 --> 04:13.378 and gives them an opportunity to work with the sanctuary explicitly 04:13.378 --> 04:18.007 on sanctuary mandates, questions we have that we cannot answer ourselves. 04:18.466 --> 04:20.510 I mean, that's a good idea. 04:20.510 --> 04:23.596 If I had one word to describe the NOAA Nancy Foster 04:23.596 --> 04:28.059 Scholarship Program, I would say it's inspiring. Amazing. 04:28.518 --> 04:30.979 Opportunity. When I'm around the other scholars 04:30.979 --> 04:32.605 I feel cheerful, I feel uplifted. 04:32.605 --> 04:36.609 So I know that's not one word, but cheerful and uplifted. 04:36.651 --> 04:38.820 Those are the words I would use to describe the program.