Reflections of a Knauss Fellow: Part 1

The Knauss fellowship is a fantastic program which provides graduate students wonderful opportunities to work in Washington, D.C. for a year. Few in the legal community, however, are aware that law students are eligible, strongly encouraged in fact, to participate. The editorial staff here at The SandBar was so excited to learn that a recent law school graduate had been selected as a 2005 Knauss Fellow that we asked her to write a four-part series reflecting on her experiences. After reading Elizabeth’s first installment, we cannot wait to see what this year has in store for her. We know you will feel the same way. Enjoy!!!

Elizabeth Taylor, 2005 Knauss Sea Grant Fellow; J.D. Lewis & Clark Law School, Portland, OR (2004); Member CA Bar.

After graduating from law school last spring and wondering what to do next, I am happy to be spending 2005 as a Knauss fellow in Washington, D.C. The Knauss fellowship was established in 1979 by former NOAA administrator John A. Knauss. It provides the opportunity for graduate students interested in marine policy issues to work for a host in either the executive or legislative branch in Washington, D.C. for a year. The fellowship experience begins in November with placement week, an exciting and whirlwind week filled with informative presentations and interviews with potential hosts. My host for the year is the Marine Mammal Commission, an independent agency of the U.S. which was created in 1972 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA).

The primary focus of the Commission is to provide independent oversight of the marine mammal conservation policies and programs being carried out by the federal regulatory agencies. The MMPA was enacted in partial response to growing concerns among scientists and the general public that certain species and populations of marine mammals were in danger of extinction or depletion as a result of human activities. The Act was the first legislation anywhere in the world to mandate an ecosystem approach to marine resource management.

My initial impressions of both the fellowship and the Commission have been overwhelmingly positive. The Sea Grant community is an amazing network and Kola Garber, the director of fellowships, does a wonderful job of organizing plenty of opportunities to meet others in the marine policy world. There is also no shortage of former Knauss alums to give advice and provide valuable information. And of course D.C. is an endless source of interesting and knowledgeable persons involved in all aspects of shaping future policy.

To date, my work at the Commission has involved numerous topics, including drafting sections of the 2004 annual report to Congress and participating in various stakeholder meetings. I am particularly interested in international ocean policy issues and one of the annual report sections I worked on was the International Whaling Commission and their activities in 2004, particularly their annual meeting in Sorrento, Italy last July. I am also involved in the planning of several workshops the Commission will be conducting this year at Congress’ request. The first of these will be a workshop on killer whales and predator/prey interaction to be held in Seattle this spring. The second is a workshop this fall that will attempt to identify the most endangered marine mammals and measure the cost-effectiveness of the actions being undertaken to conserve them.

A range of marine mammal stakeholders travel to our office to speak with the Commission. Recently, we received visits from the Indigenous Peoples’ Council for Marine Mammals - a group of various Alaska Native Organizations - and the Makah tribe from Washington state. The Makah visit was of particular interest to me because I visited the tribe during my first summer of law school while participating in Lewis & Clark’s Indian Law Summer program and have been following the course of the Makah whaling developments. The Makah tribe recently filed an application for a waiver under the MMPA, a long and formal process that has never been completed before. Stay tuned for more on the Makah and their intriguing story in my next installment.