Tuesday, December 16, 2003

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Shauna N. Slingsby, a summer 2003 recipient of a University of North Carolina at Wilmington master’s of science degree in marine science, was selected as a National Sea Grant’s Dean John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow for 2004. Slingsby received an executive fellowship to work as the coral reef program officer in the NOAA-Fisheries Office of Habitat Conservation, Ecosystem Assessment Division and will begin her fellowship in February 2004.

Four North Carolina students were chosen to spend a year learning about federal policy-making which impacts ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources.

Slingsby completed her thesis “Patterns of Association and Interactions between Juvenile Corals and Macroalgae in the Caribbean” in the summer of 2003. Her field work was conducted in Florida, Mexico and Bonaire, Netherland Antilles.

Larry Cahoon, a professor of biological sciences at UNCW, said, “I think the Knauss Fellowship award is fitting recognition of Shauna's talents, experience, poise, and performance in challenging situations.”

Slingsby earned a bachelor’s of science degree in Conservation and Resource Management at the University of California at Berkeley.

Slingsby formerly managed a coral reef monitoring program in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, worked with the marine park director of Costa Rica’s National Park Service and as a research-level underwater diving instructor.

Since completing her master’s thesis, she has been working as a biology instructor at UNCW and Brunswick Community College. She also is continuing research for the Coastal Ocean Research and Monitoring Program at UNCW.

A native of Newport Beach, Calif., she is the daughter of Susan and Stephen Slingsby of Newport Beach.

Slingsby’s fellowship is valued at $38,000.