Pennsylvania Sea Grant is thrilled to announce that Faith Echiejile and Bhavik Gupta have embarked on their one year, paid fellowship through Sea Grant’s John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship program. Echiejile and Gupta join 43 other fellows, supported by 26 Sea Grant programs across the country, as they begin the career-advancing opportunity made possible by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Sea Grant College Program.
Established in 1979, the Fellowship is a unique opportunity for graduate students to expand their educational and professional experience with marine science, policy, and education at the federal level in Washington, D.C.
Finalists were selected through a competitive process involving national experts in marine science, policy, and education.The fellows are now working in federal agencies or legislative offices in Washington, D.C. applying their academic expertise to critical marine, coastal and Great Lakes policy issues.
“The Knauss Fellowship is an opportunity that launches careers,” said Dr. Sean Rafferty, Research Director for Pennsylvania Sea Grant. “We congratulate Faith and Bhavik and look forward to supporting them throughout the fellowship and their careers.”
Pennsylvania Fellows Faith Echiejile and Bhavik Gupta are both working in offices of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Faith Echiejile is working in NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research in the Climate Program Office. Faith has dedicated her education and career to environmental science and policy. She received her Bachelor of Science in Industrial Chemistry at Crawford University in Ogun State, Nigeria. She then moved to Youngstown, Ohio, to pursue a Masters of Science in Environmental Science at Youngstown State University, and is now finishing her Doctorate of Philosophy in Environmental Science at Drexel University. Faith’s educational and professional work has focused on studying the effects of changing weather patterns, including analyzing the relationship between precipitation levels and sediment loads and transport in rivers and streams.
Bhavik Gupta is working in NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research in the National Sea Grant Office. Bhavik’s academic and professional has focused on public sanitation and drinking and waste water management. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees in India, including a Bachelor of Technology from Lovely Professional University, a Master’s in Environmental Engineering from PEC University, and his Post Graduate Diploma from National Law University, Delhi. He then moved to State College, Pennsylvania to pursue a PhD in Civil Engineering at Penn State University, which he is in the process of completing. He has two focuses for his doctoral research, including renewable energy adoption in wastewater and assessing green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) implementations in small or medium sized municipalities in Pennsylvania.
Applications for the 2027 Knauss Fellowship are being accepted through July 1, 2026. For more information visit us online at https://seagrant.psu.edu/knauss-marine-policy-fellowship/.
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