Contact: Leo Bodensteiner, WWU associate professor of Environmental Science, (360) 650-7375.

BELLINGHAM - Western Washington University Environmental Science graduate student Ian Smith has won a prestigious John Knauss Fellowship and will serve a year in Washington, D.C. helping formulate the country's marine fisheries policy.

He is the first Western student to ever be awarded a Knauss Fellowship.

Smith, a 2002 graduate of Bellingham's Sehome High School and a 2006 graduate of the University of Washington, said the experience he will get while on the fellowship - the rare opportunity to work on drafting a country's marine fisheries policy, instead of just working within those policies in the field - will be invaluable to his future career.

"This experience will help me to either work in academia or to go into politics and work on policy from that end," Smith said.

The fellowship was established in 1979 and is named for former NOAA Administrator John Knauss; it provides funding to allow the student to live in the nation's capital for a year, where the students are placed on the staff of either a legislative member, usually from one of the coastal or Great Lakes states, or an Executive Branch staff member who works directly in marine policy.

Smith's advisor at WWU, Associate Professor of Environmental Science Leo Bodensteiner, said the experience Smith will get on the fellowship - of integrating the science he is learning right now with the policy that uses that science to enforce fisheries regulations and planning from a regional and national perspective - will enrich his degree and further prepare Smith for his career.

"Many, many scientists have to work within the framework of these policies - but few actually get a chance to help draft and implement them, so it will be a great experience for Ian," he said.

For more information on the Knauss Fellowship, contact Ian Smith at ismith37@gmail.com, or Bodensteiner at (360) 650-7375.

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