Jamie Fogg: Winner of prestigious scholarship supports humpback whale research

Jamie Fogg, a rising junior marine science major with a concentration in marine biology and Maine Top Scholar, was awarded the prestigious National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Ernest F. Hollings Undergraduate Scholarship in the last application cycle. Fogg is one of only two students in Maine and 130 nationwide to receive this honor.

“I am passionate about environmental protection and research,” said Fogg. “My goal is to produce tangible research that will influence policy in local communities. I also want to help increase accessibility to ecological education.”

As a NOAA Hollings Scholar, Fogg will receive $9,500 each year for the next two academic years, a paid internship and funding to attend professional conferences. She will also have the opportunity to work with NOAA, where she is excited to connect with talented and accomplished minds in the field and gain valuable experience.

This summer, Fogg attended the Hollings Orientation, where she connected with her fellow scholarship recipients and with senior NOAA managers and staff. The experience not only fostered meaningful relationships, but also expanded her understanding of NOAA’s diverse scope of work through their six line offices: the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, the National Ocean Service, the National Weather Service, the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research and the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.

When applying for the scholarship, Fogg says she gathered strong references from professors and Ph.D. students with whom she had built meaningful professional connections. Over the past two years, she worked with Kristina Cammen, associate professor of marine mammal science, which drastically influenced her academic interests. She also found guidance through the University of Maine’s Office of Major Scholarships (OMS), which supported her throughout the application process. 

“The Office of Major Scholarships and Nives Dal Bo-Wheeler were so helpful throughout my application process,” she said. “They met with me to go over my application and offered review sessions before I submitted my application. OMS is an amazing resource at UMaine, I highly recommend them to anyone planning to apply for any merit scholarship in the future.” 

Throughout the summer, Fogg worked as a research assistant in collaboration with Allied Whale, where she has contributed to a 50-year research effort to identify and input sighting data on humpback whales in the North Atlantic Humpback Whale Catalog; and Bar Harbor Whale Watch Company, where she collected behavioral and distributional data on whale sightings and photographed them for photo identification. In summer 2025, she’ll complete her NOAA Hollings Internship, which could take her anywhere in the U.S.

The application cycle for the NOAA Hollings Scholarship opens on Sept. 1, 2025, and the national deadline is Jan. 31, 2025. UMaine students who are interested in applying should meet with Dal Bo-Wheeler, director of the Office of Major Scholarships, at nives.dalbowheeler@maine.edu.

Learn more about UMaine’s Office of Major Scholarships at umaine.edu/majorscholarships.

Contact: Samantha Perry, samantha.perry@maine.edu