By Walter Ryce

Caroline Rodriguez’s fascination with the ocean has carried her to some amazing places to do important work in marine science. CSU Monterey Bay was a launching pad for her latest adventure. 

In 2021, Rodriguez, then a CSUMB marine science graduate student, was selected for the highly competitive Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship Program. For the 2022 cohort, 73 fellows were selected nationwide; Rodriguez is believed to be the first CSUMB student to earn such a spot. 

“The time I spent at CSUMB really provided that scientific background and understanding that I needed,” Rodriguez said. “I was able to hone my research skills, take ownership of a project, and dive into how the scientific method works.”

The Knauss program can lead to permanent jobs with agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and U.S. Geological Survey. But it begins with a one-year paid fellowship in Washington, D.C. 

Rodriguez was placed with NOAA’s Office of International Affairs, which deals with international treaties, negotiations and more for the entire agency. She had worked with NOAA officials before through CSUMB, according to Cheryl Logan, professor of marine environmental physiology and one of Rodriguez’s mentors. 

“Her [masters] thesis, ‘Measuring the Impact of Thermal Stress on Coral Resilience in Hawai'i Using Large-Area Imagery,’ was completed in close collaboration with researchers at the NOAA Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center in Honolulu, Hawaii," Logan said.

Rodriguez completed a 12-week NOAA internship as part of a NOAA Center for Coastal and Marine Ecosystems fellowship in 2019. 

“I was so impressed with every [NOAA person] I met in Hawaii and knew that I wanted to work with NOAA,” she said. 

She moved to Washington, D.C., in February and said she was picky about where she lived. If there was a COVID-19 lockdown, she wanted a place where she would be happy to stay five to seven days a week. But if she were working in person, she wanted a place close enough to ride a bike to work and get to a grocery store. 

“I rarely use public transportation just because it's free to bike, and I love biking,” she said. 

She found such a place, and began work in April 2022 at the NOAA office inside the sprawling Herbert C. Hoover Building. 

“As soon as I started, my work just kind of took off,” Rodriguez said. “My portfolio was full of so many different things; I just had so much to do the whole year.”

She was working in policy, but said her science background helped her understand it better. 

“It was all really new at first and definitely overwhelming,” she said. “I worked extra hours just to make sure I knew what was going on, but also because everything was so exciting and new and interesting that I wanted to spend my free time doing it.”

 

One of the first things she did was work with the State Department to get blanket overflight clearance from Cuban officials for NOAA Hurricane Hunter planes to fly over Cuba to collect meteorological data. 

In addition, Rodriguez organized a bilateral meeting with Cuban officials to discuss blanket overflight clearance for Hurricane Hunter aircraft from the U.S. Air Force 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. While Cuba did not show flexibility for granting blanket overflight clearance for the Air Force aircraft, they were able to alleviate the Cuban government’s fears about what those planes actually do. 

She got a chance to do some science work managing several projects for the Arctic Council’s Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment. Unfortunately, as soon as she started, all former activities were paused due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. After several months hiatus, Arctic Council working groups were given the green light to resume work on projects that did not involve Russia, which is a major partner in the Arctic Council. 

Rodriguez said it will be important to keep that work going in spite of geopolitical tensions: “We talk about climate change effects, but the Arctic is not just seeing them now — they've been living them for years and years. So it's critical to work together.”

She then worked on briefing materials, remarks and talking points for the U.S. Our Ocean Conference, co-hosted by the Republic of Palau. 

“It was really cool to see the NOAA administrator speaking the words that I helped prepare on a global platform,” Rodriguez said. 

Over the summer, Rodriguez coordinated NOAA’s involvement in, and represented the United States at the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea conference in New York City. 

She participated in NOAA’s Hurricane Hunter “weather tour” for lawmakers and policymakers to help them better understand what the agency does. 

“I got to sit in the cockpit and pretend to [fly] the planes,” she said. 

She also connected with fellow CSUMB alum, Capt. Jason Mansour, who pilots such planes for NOAA. 

A significant and far-reaching project she was involved in was the U.S. government’s initial preparations for a global plastics treaty following the U.N. Environmental Assembly’s passing of a resolution to begin negotiations on a legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including for the marine environment.

Once that resolution passed, the rest of Rodriguez’s fellowship was devoted to preparing for the first round of negotiations for the global plastic pollution treaty. Her office is guiding NOAA through that process, and Rodriguez is excited to have played a role in the position papers and text. 

She said that compiling and distilling information at such a high level is “exhausting and very challenging but also thrilling. And it just  makes you feel really proud.”

Outside of fellowship assignments, Rodriguez and her other Knauss fellows helped each other with their thesis papers and articles for publication. Some of her Knauss fellows invited the cohort on tours of their workplaces — like the Legislature and the Pentagon. They went to the beach together, attended Kentucky Derby and Halloween parties, and went inner-tubing down the Potomac River. They went to museums, followed by happy hours. 

“We had a kickball league,” she said. “We played on the National Mall, which is so cool. You’re just surrounded by all the national monuments, and you'd see Air Force One going right over you.”

She gives credit to her mentors —  Logan; Moss Landing Marine Laboratories faculty member Amanda Kahn; NOAA research ecologist Thomas Oliver; and Elizabeth McLanahan, director of NOAA’s Office of International Affairs — for helping her at different junctures in her academic and career trajectory.  

“I'm so proud of Caroline's research accomplishments at CSUMB and her growth as a marine conservation leader through the competitive Knauss Fellowship over the past year,” Logan said. “Caroline is an incredible role model and poised to make a strong impact in the field of marine science and conservation.” 

In addition to strong mentors, Rodriguez’s work in D.C. was also driven by another force. 

“I loved what I was doing. I loved my job. I loved the fellowship and the people I was working with and the other fellows.”

To celebrate the attainment of her master’s degree, as well as the completion of her fellowship, Rodriguez took two months to travel the world, hitting Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Australia. 

She has since been hired for a full-time position with NOAA’s Office of Marine and Aviation Operations in Silver Spring, Maryland.