Hi. My name is Fabiola Rivera-Irizarry.
My name is Grace Casselberry.
I'm Jaida Elcock.
My name is Erin Arneson.
Hello.
My name is Keiko Wilkins.
Hi, my name is Carina Fish.
My name is Brijonnay Madrigal., (Group) I'm a Nancy Foster scholar.
As a NOAA Dr.
Nancy Foster scholar, we are ambassadors
for the National Marine Sanctuaries within the United States.
The NOAA Dr.
Nancy Foster Scholarship is part of the Office
of National Marine Sanctuaries, and it supports graduate students
that are doing research directly connected to research needs in the sanctuary.
So there's a mixture of master's students and Ph.D.
students here as scholars.
we come from all different parts of the country
working on all different kinds of research.
This scholarship definitely promotes diversity in a lot of different ways.
Diversity in research, for sure.
I obviously work on sharks, but we have other scholars
that are working on seabirds, who are learning more about offshore wind,
working with microplastics, working with corals.
Someone's even working with archeology
and maritime heritage, which is really interesting.
So this huge diversity of different types of sciences
and different research fields, which is great because I feel like then
as scholars, we all get to really learn from each other. In addition to that,
you get access to the national marine sanctuaries within the United States.
So it's been an incredible opportunity
to to get to work with the superintendents of the sanctuaries,
as well as the research coordinators, and really get an idea of what
are NOAA’s research priorities within these sanctuaries,
and get an understanding of how my research can kind of fill
those knowledge gaps to better inform policy and management.
We're able to bring partnerships together
between stakeholders and academic research
and the sanctuaries to help improve management and policy needs.
The Foster scholar group, I
feel, is like a little science family. So, as a Dr.
Nancy Foster scholar, I really strive to change
the perceptions of what a marine scientist can look like.
And of course there's racial diversity as well.
We've got so many different people from so many different places,
and I always like to say that diversity in people creates diversity in thought,
which creates diversity in innovation, which is going to lead us towards
further scientific discovery and better understanding of our oceans
and science in general.
So it is really nice
to be a part of a program that promotes such diversity, that allows us
to better each other and better the field of science in general.
So although research is
a really huge component of the Nancy Foster scholarship,
another large, really important component is education and outreach.
And so each scholar engages in some sort of education and outreach project
within a sanctuary. I always say like it's hard
to expect someone to care about something when they don't know about it.
So educating people about science, about the ocean,
about how important it is, I think is really crucial to get people
to care about it and make movements forward for the betterment of our ocean.
I think it's very important to educate, especially children and young
adults, because
that's the future generations.
If we do not do that, then what will they have in the future?
So for me, education is a very, very powerful tool.
And the Nancy Foster scholarship exposed me
through different exercises and different workshops
throughout the years
on how to break that barrier and make you comfortable in settings
that are completely out of your comfort zone.
I gained some communication skills through this scholarship.
It's basically an opportunity to not only be a scholar,
but also to become an ambassador
of conservation of our ocean.
Well, it makes sense.
Any time you have a mechanism in place that takes up and coming students
and gives them an opportunity to work with the sanctuary explicitly
on sanctuary mandates, questions we have that we cannot answer ourselves.
I mean, that's a good idea.
If I had one word to describe the NOAA Nancy Foster
Scholarship Program, I would say it's inspiring. Amazing.
Opportunity. When I'm around the other scholars
I feel cheerful, I feel uplifted.
So I know that's not one word, but cheerful and uplifted.
Those are the words I would use to describe the program.