Amanda Wenczel examining ribbed mussels and marsh grasses sampled from a living shoreline initiative installed in June 2013.
Amanda Ann Wenczel, a Ph.D. candidate in the Graduate Program in Ecology and Evolution, has been selected for the Class of 2014 Eagleton Fellowship Program, earning her an Eagleton Martin Fellowship, which provides full tuition and a stipend of $6,000 for the school year.
“I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to participate as an Eagleton Fellow,” said Wenczel, who has always been intrigued by issues that combine science and management and views this fellowship as a chance to incorporate science and policy within her studies.
Wenczel earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College and a Master of Marine Policy degree from the University of Delaware. After earning her master’s degree, she had the opportunity to experience hands-on policy development and implementation as a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Management Fellow with the Ohio Office of Coastal Management.
While working as the project lead for the development of the non-regulatory Lake Erie Shore Erosion Management Plan, she not only learned a great deal about the interactions between a state agency and the public but she realized that in order to develop better policy recommendations related to shellfisheries–her favored topic of interest–she would need to learn more about the ecology of these organisms. She made the decision to attend Rutgers University for her doctorate degree, with the primary goal of strengthening her ecological knowledge to better manage coastal resources in the US.
During her three years at Rutgers, Wenczel has dedicated her time to the study of the potential feeding interactions of native New Jersey shellfish. Her hope is to use her research findings to make an impact in multiple industries and gain exposure in the world of management and policy development. She expects to complete most of her field work over the summer of 2013.
According to Wenczel, “the chance to participate in the highly respected Eagleton Institute of Politics Graduate Fellowship Program for the 2013-2014 academic year is an ideal way to finish my tenure here at Rutgers.”
