§9709 National Weather Service Hydrologic Research Fellowship Program

Summary

Creates a hydrologic research fellowship program for qualified people to do water-related research and work in the federal government. Qualified people must be U.S. citizens enrolled in a research graduate program at an accredited college or university in fields like hydrology, earth or atmospheric science, computer science, engineering, environmental or geosciences, urban planning, or related social sciences. Fellowships last up to 2 years. The NOAA Assistant Administrator for Weather Services sets the rules and research priorities, gives hiring preference to applicants from historically Black colleges and universities and other minority-serving institutions, and finds placements for fellows in executive branch jobs that match those priorities. Definitions: Assistant Administrator — NOAA’s Assistant Administrator for Weather Services. Decision support services — information to help water-resource decisions. Institution of higher education — college or university as defined in federal law. NOAA line offices — five NOAA offices including the National Ocean Service and others. Research priorities include community-based water modeling, using AI and machine learning, integrating hydrologic models into Earth system models, better visualizations, coupled fresh/salt water forecasting, water quality work, using in‑situ and satellite data, adding social science for decision support, and studying groundwater sustainability. Starting in fiscal year 2022 and after, federal agencies may hire program alumni into jobs without some usual hiring rules if the person earned the degree, completed the fellowship in the executive branch, meets OPM standards, and is hired within 2 years of finishing the fellowship.