McMillan Receives Gulf Research Program Recognition

Louisiana Sea Grant (LSG) education coordinator Ali McMillan has been named one of 13 Early-Career Research Fellows by the Gulf Research Program of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

The Early-Career Research Fellowships program – broken into an Environmental Protection and Stewardship track and an Education Research track – supports emerging scientific leaders as they take on untested research ideas, pursue unique collaborations and build a network of colleagues who share their interest in advancing the safety of the offshore energy system and improving the well-being of coastal communities and ecosystems.

Eight fellows will be joining the Environmental Protection and Stewardship track, where their work will focus on advancing scientific knowledge and its application to improve understanding of how climate change, sea-level rise and shifting water quality affect organisms, populations or ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico region.

The five fellows joining the Education Research track – which includes McMillan – will contribute to the advancement of science, STEM and environmental education in the Gulf of Mexico region or Alaska by considering the impacts of establishing sense-of-place in formal or informal learning environments.

McMillan is an education coordinator at LSG, based at Louisiana State University (LSU). Her research explores place-based learning, adolescent identity development, interdisciplinary literacy, rural education and community stewardship. Funded by organizations such as the National Geographic Society and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, her work includes student learning initiatives, teacher development and stewardship programs in coastal Louisiana. McMillan holds a B.S. in secondary education from LSU, a master’s in human relations from the University of Oklahoma and a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction from LSU, where she also earned the 2024 Distinguished Dissertation Award. With 14 years of teaching experience, including roles in Nigeria, Spain and the U.S., McMillan integrates global perspectives into her work to promote education and environmental stewardship.