Marine Energy Workforce Development

The future of marine energy is dependent on the availability of a skilled workforce, which the U.S. Department of Energy’s Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) supports through a variety of opportunities including collegiate competitions, graduate student research programs, and fellowship opportunities for early-career professionals. For more information on educational resources for water power, visit WPTO’s educational resources webpage. 

The ongoing programs and resources that WPTO funds to support marine energy workforce development include: 

• Marine Energy Collegiate Competition: This competition challenges interdisciplinary teams of undergraduate and graduate students to offer unique solutions to the burgeoning marine energy industry. The competition is administered by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Applications open annually in the spring for activities that commence in the autumn. 
• Marine Energy Fellowship: This program offers fellowships to full-time graduate students with a marine energy-focused research thesis or dissertation and recent graduates focused on advancing their careers in marine energy. WPTO provides a stipend and benefits for students to work with a host institution, such as a national laboratory, industry technology developer, or other WPTO-approved facilities. The fellowship program is administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE) and applications open in the autumn for fellowships that begin in the summer or fall. 
• Energy Innovator Fellowship: WPTO is a co-sponsor of the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Innovator Fellowship program. The program funds recent graduates and energy professionals to support critical energy organizations in advancing solutions that will help modernize the power system, improve energy infrastructure for transportation and industry, and make the U.S. power system more reliable, affordable, and resilient. The fellowship program is administered by ORISE and applications typically open in the spring.
• Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship: The Knauss fellowship provides a unique educational and professional experience to graduate students who have an interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those resources. The Fellowship matches highly qualified graduate students with hosts in the legislative and executive branch of government for a one-year paid fellowship. Applicants are typically required to submit packages to their state Sea Grant programs in February for fellowships that begin a full year later (i.e., the following February). WPTO routinely hosts Knauss fellows. 
• AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship: This fellowship program provides opportunities to scientists and engineers to work in the learn first-hand about the federal government while contributing their knowledge and analytical skills. Fellows serve yearlong assignments in the executive, legislative and judicial branches of the federal government. Applications typically open in the summer, and WPTO routinely hosts AAAS fellows. 
• Marine Energy STEM Portal: To grow and spur innovation within marine energy, the industry must inspire the next generation of researchers, developers, and educators. To meet this challenge, the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed the marine energy STEM portal, PRIMRE. These resources are designed to showcase innovative research, help interested students learn more about the field, and assist educators in curriculum development.  

Through the Marine Energy Program’s Workforce Development portfolio, WPTO provides the next generation of marine energy innovators opportunities to develop skills needed to enter the marine energy workforce.