Following Teemer’s Knauss Fellowship Journey: July Update

In his July reflection, Knauss Fellow Teemer Barry shares highlights from his second month.  Read on to learn about Teemer’s latest experiences and insights as he continues his fellowship journey.

July 2026 Update

The second month of the fellowship was far more elaborate than the first. Office activities primarily centered around the cultivation of working relationships with new Mussel Watch Program collaborators and substantial achievement in some analyses. The end user network analyses progressed as planned, marked by the delivery of a preliminary analysis for one of our major in-house service delivery tools. Joys from continued improvement with social network analysis led to increased satisfaction in the ability to witness the larger program and portfolio grow.

The month held two of the larger personal development activities of the fellowship year: the National Marine Educator Association (NMEA) conference as well as the NOAA Educational Partnership Program (EPP) Biennial Education and Science Forum. NMEA was pleasant, if not limited by digital attendance, relegating the bulk of my networking to emails in the last few weeks of the month. The EPP forum was undoubtedly the highlight of the month (next to leaps made in SNA progress). I specifically remarked that this was my “dear family reunion,” though it was much more. The forum provided all the benefits that I had intended from the opportunity to provide mentorship to current Cooperative Sciences Center scholars, network with early-career alumni, and reconnect with mentors of times past.