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Grad student named state Sea Grant Fellow

When Scott Toews completes his master’s degree in Coastal and Watershed Science and Policy this semester, he won’t have to worry about finding a job.

He’s already got one lined up, although he doesn’t yet know what he will be doing or where he will be living.

Toews has been selected as a California Sea Grant Fellow, a highly competitive fellowship for graduate students interested in marine resources and the policy decisions affecting those resources.

A dozen agencies serve as hosts for the fellows, who spend a year in a paid position with one of them.

He and the other fellows will travel to Sacramento on Nov. 8, where they will be matched with agencies. His assignment will start in January.

“I have several preferences – the Ocean Protection Council, Ocean Science Trust or the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary,” he said.

The native of Winkler, Manitoba, Canada, has been working in Dr. Corey Garza’s Marine Landscape Ecology Lab at CSUMB.

Before coming to California, he earned a bachelor of science in biology and environmental studies at the University of Victoria in British Columbia.

“I became aware of CSUMB through Dr. Garza, as we had worked together off and on in British Columbia when he was a post doc for a CSU Los Angeles researcher,” Toews said.

“When Corey came here, he asked if I was interested in working with him and the CWSP program.”

Since he was interested in a program that integrated policy and science, what CSUMB had to offer “synched well with what I was looking for.”

The program’s strong technological focus also appealed to him. “It let me expand my skill set and has challenged me,” he said.

Between lining up his agency placement and starting to work, he’ll defend his thesis. It links marine habitat complexity and composition to genetic structuring in populations of black surfperch.

“More simply – it attempts to describe the role that habitat plays in the health of this species. The thesis is multidisciplinary, using population genetics, landscape ecology and spatial techniques,” he said.

Once the academic work is out of the way, he’ll have to move, most likely to Sacramento, Oakland or Santa Barbara, while he spends his year as a fellow.

Then, he’ll probably have a number of options.

“An appointment as a California Sea Grant Fellow is a highly desirable position that can lead to a number of significant career opportunities,” Dr. Garza said.

Learn more about CSUMB's master's program in Coastal and Watershed Science and Policy here.