In 2011, the NRS awarded a $5,000 Mediterranean Reserve Managers International Cooperative Fellowship to Fiorenza Micheli, a Stanford University professor of biology. Micheli planned to use the funds to develop science-based conservation measures for a Tyrrenian Sea marine sanctuary and a proposed marine sanctuary in the Adriatic Sea.
With the grant, Micheli invited her collaborators from Italy to California to learn about marine protected areas. She arranged meetings with scientists, government agencies, National Marine Sanctuary staff, and others involved in managing Marine Protected Areas along the California coast. Participants also visited the NRS's Bodega, Landels-Hill Big Creek, and Scripps Coastal reserves to meet with reserve staff and discuss research and management issues.
Micheli published a paper describing this exchange in the Italian journal Economia e Ambiente, Issues 5-6, 2013. You can download a copy of the paper here.