Spring Break
Graduate students aim to change environmental policy
Hilary Brady
Issue date: 2/6/09 Section: Campus
02/06/09 - Among the members of Congress and government employees on their way to work this morning are two energetic University of Rhode Island graduate students on their way to changing environmental policy.
As part of the Rhode Island Sea Grant program, Nicholas Battista and Kate Mulvaney are working on a yearlong scholarship to study governmental marine law.
The Sea Grant, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, acts as a research funding body. It funds fishery and marine programs on select campuses in coastal and great lakes states.
Through the grant, Battista and Mulvaney were able to obtain a Knauss Fellowship. The prestigious award was named after John Knauss, the dean of oceanography at URI.
"Nationally, he was one of the guys who really started the study of ocean and marine affairs," Battista said. Knauss was part of the early ocean conservation movements. "He said we had to be concerned about our oceans, and we still are."
As graduate students, Mulvaney and Battista applied for the scholarship through the state, which then chose six applicants to be entered into a national pool of potential Fellows. In total, 48 students were chosen to go to Washington.
"It's all very representative of the country," Battista said. Mulvaney's focus during her stay in Washington will be with the Department of State Bureau of Ocean International Environment and Science Office of Marine Conservation.
Mulvaney said her primary responsibilities are looking at international fishery treaties that the United States are a part of, or may want to join in the future. "We also look at agreements between the United States and other countries regarding fisheries," she said.
Working with the executive branch of the government, Battista, a Maine resident, has the opportunity to collaborate with his hometown Congress representative, Chellie Pingree.
"I'm focused on a lot of legislation that is involved in environmental law. It's more the creation of law and working with nonprofit environmental groups," Battista said.
As part of the Rhode Island Sea Grant program, Nicholas Battista and Kate Mulvaney are working on a yearlong scholarship to study governmental marine law.
The Sea Grant, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, acts as a research funding body. It funds fishery and marine programs on select campuses in coastal and great lakes states.
Through the grant, Battista and Mulvaney were able to obtain a Knauss Fellowship. The prestigious award was named after John Knauss, the dean of oceanography at URI.
"Nationally, he was one of the guys who really started the study of ocean and marine affairs," Battista said. Knauss was part of the early ocean conservation movements. "He said we had to be concerned about our oceans, and we still are."
As graduate students, Mulvaney and Battista applied for the scholarship through the state, which then chose six applicants to be entered into a national pool of potential Fellows. In total, 48 students were chosen to go to Washington.
"It's all very representative of the country," Battista said. Mulvaney's focus during her stay in Washington will be with the Department of State Bureau of Ocean International Environment and Science Office of Marine Conservation.
Mulvaney said her primary responsibilities are looking at international fishery treaties that the United States are a part of, or may want to join in the future. "We also look at agreements between the United States and other countries regarding fisheries," she said.
Working with the executive branch of the government, Battista, a Maine resident, has the opportunity to collaborate with his hometown Congress representative, Chellie Pingree.
"I'm focused on a lot of legislation that is involved in environmental law. It's more the creation of law and working with nonprofit environmental groups," Battista said.
