Nickerson Fellowship

The Joshua A. Nickerson Conservation Fellowship

The Joshua A. Nickerson Conservation Fellowship, offered in partnership by the National Park Service and Friends of the Cape Cod National Seashore, has provided support to qualified individuals since 1992. At least one fellowship is awarded each year to individuals whose work will contribute to our knowledge of natural and cultural resources within Cape Cod National Seashore, and of the relationships of these resources to the local communities in which they are found.

Proposals may be submitted for research in the broad areas of the natural and social sciences. Topics of interest include terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem processes, biotic and abiotic ecosystem components, cultural and natural resource management, and the political and social implications of resource protection and management.

The amount of the fellowship varies from year to year. Housing may also be available to fellowship recipients while research is being conducted in the park. Laboratory equipment and field equipment may be available as well.

How to Apply

The application period for the 2025 Nickerson Fellowship is now open. Please use the links below to download the application packet, which describes the fellowship requirements in detail, as well as the fellowship coversheet. Applications must be received by March 28th, 2025. If you have any questions, please contact Geoff Sanders, Chief of Natural Resource Management and Science.

• Download the Nickerson Fellowship Application Cover Sheet (78 KB .docx)

• Download the Nickerson Fellowship Application (205 KB .docx)

2024 Nickerson Fellowship Recipients

Katie Button – The Impact of Saltwater Intrusion on Macroinvertebrate Communities in the Herring River, Wellfleet, MA

The Herring River estuary spans over 1,000 acres through the towns of Wellfleet and Truro, Massachusetts. In 1909, a manmade dike was constructed across the mouth of the river that muted saltwater exchange into the Herring River and transitioned saltmarsh into degraded freshwater habitat. The Herring River Restoration Project aims to replace the dike and gradually introduce saltwater into the estuary. In January of 2021, a tidal breach at Duck Harbor Beach caused seawater from Cape Cod Bay to overwash into freshwater portions of the Herring River. This project investigates how repeated saltwater exposure will affect the current freshwater macroinvertebrate community in comparison to 2014-2015 baseline data. This project sampled macroinvertebrates at 15 permanent sampling locations in three newly established zones: the impact zone and freshwater and marine reference zones. We hypothesized that the impact zone would have significant changes in the benthic macroinvertebrate structure, while the two reference zones would remain unchanged from the baseline study. There was a significant decrease in the mean abundance and species richness of macroinvertebrates across all three habitat strata from 2015 to 2023. The macroinvertebrate species assemblage significantly changed in the 2023 impact and reference fresh zone driven by the complete loss or decrease of a freshwater aquatic sow bug (Caecidotea sp.) and a freshwater fingernail clam (Sphaeriidae). These results anticipate that the Herring River macroinvertebrate assemblage will undergo significant changes in response to the salinization of freshwater as intolerant species are replaced by the recruitment of tolerant species in an open estuary habitat, with potential to support ecosystem function.

Kelly McCusker - A population dynamics and seasonal movements of nesting Atlantic Horseshoe Crabs (Limulus polyphemus) in a partially restored salt marsh lagoon at Cape Cod National Seashore

East Harbor is a salt marsh lagoon which had been isolated for 100 years from the wider marine environment until connection to Cape Cod Bay was restored in 2002 by Cape Cod National Seashore and the town of Truro. The re-introduction of tidal exchange resulted in increased salinity, improved water quality, recolonization by benthic invertebrate species, and re-establishment of predators of native species, including Atlantic Horseshoe Crabs (Limulus polyphemus), indicating a shift towards functioning as a healthy estuarine rather than unhealthy freshwater system. Horseshoe crab populations are declining locally and regionally due to habitat destruction and overharvesting, and as a protected environment, East Harbor provides invaluable refuge as a spawning ground and nursery. This study aimed to understand the role of East Harbor for horseshoe crab populations by characterizing the population structure and distribution of horseshoe crabs within East Harbor and evaluating the site's long-term habitat suitability for sustaining a viable horseshoe crab population. Objectives included quantifying the abundance of adult and juvenile horseshoe crabs in East Harbor, characterizing environmental factors within East Harbor where adult and juvenile horseshoe crabs are present, and tracking the subtidal movement patterns of adult and juvenile horseshoe crabs through opportunistic sampling methods and an acoustic tracking program. By tagging all horseshoe crabs found within East Harbor during the breeding season, the study quantified the abundance of both adult and juvenile horseshoe crabs. In addition to abundance, the study used acoustic transmitter tags placed on 25 adult female horseshoe crabs and receivers positioned around the lagoon to track crab movement patterns within East Harbor, Moon Pond, and out into Cape Cod Bay. Results of this study can inform understanding of East Harbor’s role in horseshoe crab populations and the larger estuarine food web as well as management decisions at Cape Cod National Seashore.

Past Recipients & Final Report Topics

2023 - Alexander Richards - Eastern Spadefoot Toad Surveillance for Fungal Disease on Cape Cod

2022 - Theodore Kuhn - Nitrogen concentrations in aquatic macrophyte and freshwater mussel tissue as an indicator of anthropogenic nitrogen loading to Cape Cod kettle ponds

2021 - Christine Hudak - Detecting Gray Seal Robustness Using Environmental (e)DNA analysis in the southern Gulf of Maine

2020 - Kathrine Sperry - Assessing the impact of salt marsh restoration techniques on Spartina alterniflora genetic variation

2020 - Stephen Tomasetti - From New York to Cape Cod: assessing the differential vulnerability of the Atlantic bay scallop to low-oxygen and high-temperature stress

2017 - Alia Al-Haf, Ph. D. - Quantifying Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Seagrass Meadows over a Nutrient Gradient in the Cape Cod National Seashore

2017 - Faming Wang, Ph.D. - Field greenhouse gas data collection to support the Herring River Carbon Project and its Feasibility Study

2017 - Owen C. Nichols - A novel low-volume portable pump system for zooplankton sampling in shallow, turbulent, 'dirty' environments

2016 - Owen C. Nichols - Shellfish and horseshoe crab larval flux at the East Harbor tidal restoration site

2016 - Derrick Alcott - Predator-prey interactions of a river herring spawning migration at anthropogenic obstacles prior to restoration

2015 - Kate Morkeski - Greenhouse gas emissions from Herring River marshes

2015 - Derrick Alcott - Migratory delay, response to predators, and passage success of river herring in the Herring River Estuary of Cape Cod National Seashore. (Secondary award for monitoring equipment purchase).

2014 - Alexis Fisher - Alexandrium fundyense cysts in the Nauset Marsh System: factors controlling germination and bloom initiation in a changing climate

2013 - Hollie Emery - The Effect of Precipitation Intensification on Salt Marsh Ecosystems and Their Services

2012 - Erin Hilley - Myrmecochory and Coremaconradii at the Cape Cod National Seashore: Exploring the benefits of ant seed dispersal in a coastal environment

2011 - Jennifer Burkhardt - Determining the role of salt marsh macroalgae (ecads) in Cape Cod salt marshes

2010 - Scott Buchanan - Spatial Ecology and Habitat Utilization of the Eastern Hognose Snake

2009 - Taylor Harvey - Sediment Characterization of the Herring River Restoration Area

2008 - Jessie Wheeler - Evaluating Suitable Habitat for Native Halophyte Establishment Using Prescribed Burning in a Restored Salt Marsh on Cape Cod, Massachusetts

2007 - Ethan Estey - Recreational Angler Creel Survey of Outer Cape Beach Access

2006 - Todd Tupper - extension, no additional stipend

2005 - Todd Tupper - Habitat Variables Influencing Breeding Effort in Northern Clade Bufo fowleri

2004 - Cate O'Keefe - extension, no additional stipend

2003 - Cate O'Keefe - Habitat Suitability for the Alewife in East Harbor

2001 - Whitney Kurz - Impacts of Biomedical Bleeding on Horseshoe Crabs

1999 - Brett Still - Systematic Inventory of Park Amphibians (joint project of Audubon and CACO Inventory Monitoring Program)

1997 - 1998 - Jean Poitras - Cases of Intergovernmental Cooperation Between the National Park Service and Local Governments

1995 - Aria Brissette - Pond Restoration and Impact Assessment Plan

1994 - Todd Rinaldi - Kettle Pond Hydrology - Gull Pond, Duck Pond, Wellfleet

1993 - Scott Shumway - 2nd-year award, same topic with match from NPS "Challenge Cost-share Program"

1992 - Scott Shumway - Species Interactions in Dune Plants, CACO