NOAA LMRCSC II fellow and University of Maryland Eastern Shore junior Sarah Rawlinson‘s research focuses on the diet of groundfish from the Gulf, a project led by LMRCSC II Doctoral Fellow Kayland Huckaby. Rawlinson has assisted with the stable isotopes analysis portion of the project, as well as some DNA metabarcoding.
Rawlinson was selected by the NOAA Office of Education as an Ernest F. Hollings undergraduate scholar on May 1, 2025, which awards her a two-year academic scholarship for her junior and senior years, a paid summer internship opportunity, and funding to participate in two national scientific conferences.
For her internship, Rawlinson will spend summer 2026 in Ohio at Old Woman Creek National Estuarine Research Reserve, working on a project titled “An Assessment of the Extent of Subsurface Marine Debris on Lake Erie Beaches.”
“All in all, Hollings has allowed me to connect with tons of undergraduate students from across the country,” she said.
Rawlinson’s efforts outside of the Hollings scholarship have allowed her to connect with peers overseas, as well. She recently returned from a winter study abroad program in Copenhagen, where she took a course on Scandinavian happiness through the Council on International Educational Exchange, from Dec. 28-Jan. 16.
“I’ve tried different cuisines, visited different museums, and made some new friends,” she said.
She was also accepted into the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Emerging Fellows pilot program to support future researchers pursuing the aquatic sciences. The program will fund her travel to Scotland to attend the Ocean Science Meeting, Feb. 22-27, 2026, along with 10 other students.
Rawlinson aims to earn a Ph.D. in marine chemistry and hopes to work as a scientific researcher, studying phytoplankton and water quality.
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