Where are they now? Find out how the Knauss Fellowship helped shape the career of ’11 alum Caitlin Frame

Caitlin is a research scientist, at the University of Concepcion and the Center for Climate Science and Resilience in Chile. She studies the production, destruction, and transport of the trace greenhouse gas nitrous oxide in the environment. Nitrous oxide is produced by microbial nitrogen cycle transformations in soils and aquatic environments and its concentration in the atmosphere has expanded over recent human history, largely as a result of agricultural fertilizer use. Previously, as a postdoc at UniBas, she investigated the biogeochemical controls on nitrous oxide production by ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms in Lake Lugano (Switzerland) and in the ocean upwelling area off the coast of Namibia. Caitlin was an Executive Sea Grant Knauss Fellow in 2011. What was your fellowship placement?Department of Energy, Wind and Water Power Program How did the Knauss Fellowship help you in your career?The fellowship gave me experience managing large government-funded projects. I also gained experience working with emerging renewable energy technologies in the U.S. What is one of your favorite memories from your fellowship?I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to work with the smart, dedicated, and friendly group of people at the DOE’s Wind and Water Power Program. A trip to Oregon and Washington state with one other Knauss fellow and two other people from my DOE program also stands out in my mind. We visited scientists at the marine renewable energy centers and the national laboratories that were conducting environmental and engineering research on marine renewable energy. Highlights were a tour of a wave tank laboratory and a boat trip to visit moored instruments in Puget Sound.