September 2, 2025
Congratulations to our new WSG Hershman Fellows!
We are pleased to announce that recent graduates Delaney Cyphers, Cirque Gammelin, and Courtney Skalley have been awarded the Washington Sea Grant Hershman Fellowship for 2025–2026. This fellowship places highly motivated, qualified individuals with marine and coastal host offices throughout Washington, providing fellows with a unique perspective on building marine policy and allowing them to share their academic expertise with the host offices.
This year’s host offices are Port of Seattle, the Quinault Indian Nation and The Nature Conservancy. The fellows will begin working in host offices in September.
This year’s fellows are:
DELANEY CYPHERS
Delaney grew up exploring tidepools along the Oregon coast, experiences that sparked a lifelong passion for protecting marine environments and the communities who rely on them. She holds a Master’s of Marine Affairs from the University of Washington, where she focused on perceptions of aquaculture and equitable marine resource policy. While getting her Master’s degree, Delaney worked with NOAA Fisheries’ Aquaculture Team. There she gained valuable insight in the ESA consultation process and developed policy tools. She also served as editor of NOAA’s West Coast Region Aquaculture Newsletter where she learned how to better communicate science to a large audience. As the Hershman Fellow at the Port of Seattle, Delaney will support the update and implementation of the Underwater Noise Mitigation and Management Plan. She is also excited to contribute to the Port’s efforts to restore critical nearshore habitat and promote sustainable maritime practices in Puget Sound.
CIRQUE GAMMELIN
Growing up fishing and hunting amongst the mountains of western Wyoming, Cirque is driven by a curiosity for exploring ecosystems and improving resource management practices. After earning his bachelor’s degree in biology from Bowdoin College, he landed in Seattle to peruse a master’s degree at the UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences. While in graduate school, he managed the UW Alaska Salmon Program field research camp in Chignik Lake, Alaska. His thesis research focused on assessing long term changes in lake habitat productivity, and describing how multiple populations of juvenile sockeye salmon exploit alternate rearing habitats. His work in a rural Alaskan community inspired interest in applying science to improve resource management strategies in coastal communities. As a Hershman fellow, Cirque is excited to contribute to the Marine Spatial Planning of the Quinault Indian Nation.
COURTNEY SKALLEY
Courtney, a fish enthusiast, is passionate about researching, communicating, and educating the public about the marine world. Though this interest developed as she grew up alongside Puget Sound, Courtney formally made the decision to pursue a career in marine and environmental science after earning a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology from Texas Christian University in 2019. She worked as a fisheries observer for NOAA in the Bering Sea, where she lived aboard commercial fishing vessels while collecting catch data and gaining firsthand insight into the fishing industry. Courtney went on to earn her master’s degree from the University of Washington’s School of Marine and Environmental Affairs, where she applied her undergraduate studies in her thesis research: a phylogenetic analysis of soft-nose skate species, a common component of bycatch in North Pacific fisheries. After graduating from SMEA in 2024, she solo-traveled through remote regions of Africa and Asia as a UW Bonderman Fellow, exploring how communities around the globe incorporate natural resources into their cuisine, clothing, and culture. Now, Courtney is thrilled to return home to the Pacific Northwest as a Hershman Fellow, where she will bring her technical skills and fisheries knowledge to The Nature Conservancy’s work on Indigenous-led aquaculture initiatives in Puget Sound.
Congratulations, fellows! We can’t wait to see what you accomplish.
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Washington Sea Grant, based at the University of Washington, helps people and marine life thrive through research, technical expertise and education supporting the responsible use and conservation of coastal ecosystems. Washington Sea Grant is one of 34 Sea Grant programs supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in coastal and Great Lakes states that encourage the wise stewardship of our marine resources through research, education, outreach and technology transfer.
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SEP
2025