Michigan Sea Grant-supported fellows and interns frequently leverage their experiences into exciting career opportunities as they work on behalf of the Great Lakes and oceans.
Shaping the next generation of Great Lakes scientists and stewards is a crucial part of Michigan Sea Grant’s mission. In addition to K-12 programming and adult workshops, Michigan Sea Grant provides meaningful, funded internship and fellowship opportunities to Michigan students and recent graduates.
Several Michigan Sea Grant-supported students recently used their fellowship and internship experiences to reach career goals. Katrina Sky Munsterman served as a National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)-Sea Grant Fellow in 2022 while working toward her PhD at the University of Michigan, which she completed in 2025. She then accepted a postdoctoral research position at NOAA Fisheries in Washington. “I truly think the NMFS-SG fellowship helped me land this dream position,” she said.
Undergraduate intern Abraham Stone inventoried Lake Superior shoreline habitats in 2024. Stone now works for the Michigan Natural Features Inventory within Michigan State University Extension. He said, “The botanical skills I developed during my internship were a key part in my hiring as a full-time botanist.”
Undergraduate intern Andrew Slagter spent Summer 2025 working with Calvin University’s Plaster Creek Stewards program, evaluating species diversity in restored rain garden habitats. Slagter parlayed his experience into a multimedia communications internship with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at its Washington, D.C., headquarters. “Thank you again for helping me make so many valuable connections in the environmental and climate sector,” he said.
Michigan Sea Grant periodically recruits applicants for various internship and fellowship opportunities. Our 2026 interns are currently diving into their summer projects; watch our newsroom and social media channels for updates throughout the summer. Internship applications for Summer 2027 will open in late 2026.
We are currently taking applications for two career-shaping fellowship opportunities:
- Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship: This prestigious fellowship places graduate students and recent grads in federal executive and legislative offices to work in Great Lakes and marine science and policy. Applications close July 1, 2026.
- Great Lakes Fellowship: This fellowship sits at the intersection of science, policy, and community. The binational fellowship represents a partnership of the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network (GLSGN), the Great Lakes Commission (GLC), and the International Joint Commission’s Great Lakes Regional Office (IJC-GLRO). Applications close June 20, 2026.
