NC Sea Grant – NC Space Grant Graduate Research Fellowship

The NC Sea Grant and NC Space Grant Graduate Research Fellowship Program invites interdisciplinary proposals addressing critical focus areas such as sediment budgets, erosion, and habitat transformations. Emphasizing regional collaboration, the fellowship aims to concurrently fund graduate students in North Carolina and Louisiana to tackle sediment loss issues. Proposals must utilize data from NASA and NOAA, fostering innovative methodologies for effective natural resource management and providing unique professional development opportunities for students across both states.

Overview
The joint North Carolina Space Grant – North Carolina Sea Grant Graduate Research Fellowship Program invites interdisciplinary proposals from across the state based on four broad focus areas.
2026 RFP Focus Areas:
Sediment BudgetsErosionHabitat transformations and the resultant impact on biotaManagement Response as it relates to developing mechanisms, methods and/or tools to help natural resource managers make optimal decisions.
The fellowship requires the use of data from vast archives and remote-sensing capabilities available through the National Aeronautics and Space Agency (NASA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as part of the research process. Successful proposals must adeptly utilize relevant measurement instruments and/or remote-sensing data sources from NASA, NOAA, or other sources that can include, but are not limited to, radiometers, spectroradiometers, satellite sensors, LIDAR, aerial imagery, and other data collected from airplanes, unmanned aerial vehicles, and/or unpiloted submersibles in the execution of the proposed work.
Regional Approach
Both states need new information and approaches to help generate mitigation and adaptation responses. Louisiana Sea & Space Grant Programs and North Carolina Sea & Space Grant Programs wish to facilitate a regional partnership to concurrently fund a graduate student in each state. While the Louisiana- and North Carolina-based graduate students will each be working independently on their own project, they will be required to engage with each other as a cohort. The sponsoring agencies will help ensure that this collaboration occurs. This will allow for the transregional aspect of this effort to develop and provide unique professional development opportunities for each student (and their faculty mentors), as well as ensure that lessons learned in both states would be transferred broadly across each region represented. Sediment loss is driven by land-side as well as water-side processes. Both are relevant topics for this RFP and we welcome proposals focused on either, or both.