Environmental Journalism Fellow
Marlowe Starling
Photo by Zach Read
Community Organizing Fellow
Mikaela Loach
Conservation Videography Fellow
Isaias Hernandez
junior fellows network
Alain Rasolo
is a wildlife artist and conservationist based in Madagascar. As a Safina Center Fellow, he developed community resources for local artists, students, and tourists to learn about Ranomafana National Parks’ ecosystems and surrounding communities. He founded oloNala, a non-profit that combines art and conservation to promote education, sustainable development, and environmental stewardship in Madagascar.
You can learn more about Rasolo’s work here.
Fellowship completed: 2024
Belén Garcia Ovide
is a marine scientist, sailor and wildlife and founder of Ocean Missions. As a Safina Center Fellow, she expanded citizen science programs in Iceland to test waters for plastic pollution, water quality, and environmental DNA samples. She also organized local workshops and conservation summits to spread awareness of the issues affecting Iceland’s oceans.
You can learn more about Belén’s work here.
Fellowship completed: 2024
Alex troutman
is a wildlife biologist, environmental educator & science communicator. As a Safina Center Junior Fellow, Alex has worked to highlight and celebrate diversity in nature and encouraged Black individuals to pursue careers in science fields traditionally lacking diversity. He also worked directly on wildlife conservation projects at Tensas River National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana.
You can learn more about Alex’s work, here.
Fellowship completed: 2021
Molly Adams
is a birder, advocate and conservationist. As a Safina Center Junior Fellow, Molly promoted diversity and equity in the birding community while fundraising for human rights organizations through the Feminist Bird Club, in addition to playing important roles in advocating for bird-safe building legislation in NYC and the “Bird Names for Birds” movement.
You can learn more about Molly’s work here.
Fellowship completed: 2020
Kate Thompson
is a medical anthropologist and illustrator working to bring together the fields of wildlife conservation and human health. As a Safina Center Junior Fellow, Kate studied the hunting and consumption of endangered animals as PhD Candidate at Stony Brook University and medical anthropologist within the Institute for the Conservation for Tropical Environs.
You can learn more about Kate’s work here.
Fellowship completed: 2020
Cheyenne Cunningham
is a graduate from Coastal Carolina University who has interests in environmental law and ecosystems-based management of fisheries, oil and gas, deep-sea mining and commerce. As a Safina Center Junior Fellow, she began laying the foundations for her legal ambitions, taking on qualifying exams, courses and research.
You can learn more about Cheyenne’s work here.
Fellowship completed: 2019
Katlyn Taylor
is a marine biologist, naturalist, guide, and U.S. Coast Guard licensed captain. As a Safina Center Fellow, she hosted the WhaleNerds Podcast and worked with photographer Jodi Frediani to produce the book Wild Monterey Bay, a series of essays written by over 40 people from different walks of life, each describing their most memorable experience with wildlife in Monterey Bay.
You can learn more about Katlyn’s work here.
Fellowship completed: 2024
Jasmin Graham
is a shark scientist and environmental educator who specializes in elasmobranch (shark and ray) ecology and evolution. She co-founded Minorities in Shark Sciences, an organization dedicated to supporting gender minorities of color in marine biology and elasmobranch ecology.
You can learn more about Jasmin’s work here.
Fellowship completed: 2024
Alex Chege
is an evolutionary biologist, behavioral ecologist, conservationist, and photographer originally from Nairobi Kenya. As a Safina Center Fellow, he produced several photo series about niche ecosystems and the humans around them. He also worked on Kiwayu Island in Kenya to study the dietary adaptations of local vervet monkey populations for his PhD program.
You can learn more about Alex’s work here.
Fellowship completed: 2024
Madeleine kate mcgowan
is a filmmaker, writer, artist, activist, and founder of award-winning documentary project Other Story. As a Safina Center Junior Fellow, Madeleine Kate created immersive video installations, performances, and films that illuminate the lives of people affected by climate change globally—including Solastalgia, a 48-hour science fiction musical/performance art installation that takes audiences into “a world on the other side of a climate collapse.”
You can learn more about Madeleine Kate’s work, here.
Fellowship completed: 2021
Erica Cirino
is a science writer, author, and artist who investigates the intersection of the human and nonhuman worlds. As a Safina Center Junior Fellow, Erica reported on the story of plastic worldwide, producing talks, workshops, news stories, as well as photographs and other artworks.
You can learn more about Erica’s work here.
Fellowship completed: 2020
Jessie Perelman
is a deep-sea biologist and science writer. As a Safina Center Junior Fellow, Jessie pursued a PhD in the Biological Oceanography Doctoral Program at the University of Hawai’i (UH) where she has been a member of the Deep-Sea Fish Ecology Lab, focused on the effects of deep-sea mining on ocean ecology.
You can learn more about Jessie’s work here.
Fellowship completed: 2020