Geography held its annual graduation reception for our undergraduates on Saturday, June 13 from 11:00 – 1:00, in the Buchanan Courtyard, directly after the UCSB Commencement ceremony. About 150 Geography personnel, including friends and family of our new graduates, were served light refreshments. Chancellor Henry Yang and MLPS Dean Wiltzius made introductory speeches, and our Chair, Oliver Chadwick, announced the student awards.
AKELLA FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP IN GEOGRAPHY AWARD: Each year, the Akella Family Scholariship is awarded to talented and deserving undergrad student(s) enrolled in the department. The Scholarship will be used to support undergraduate student(s) based on the criteria of compelling family/personal circumstances and academic achievement. Highest consideration is given to those who have unique and challenging obligations (i.e.; re-entry/non-traditional students, extended family responsibilities, etc). This year’ winner is Lauren Joy Travis. Lauren served in the armed forces for 7 years, speaks several languages, and has a triple major in Geography, Anthropology, and Linguistics.
NICHOLAS BOURDAKIS MEMORIAL AWARD: The Bourdakis Fund was established after the tragic death of Nicholas, who died in February 2001. He had just declared Geography as his major. This fund helps to keep Nick’s memory alive by supporting future generations of outstanding undergraduate students in Geography at UCSB. The award goes to Stephanie Elaine Truitt, a freshman who became a geography major after taking Geography 3B with Dr. Terry Smith.
JACK AND LAURA DANGERMOND UNDERGRADUATE FELLOWSHIP: The Jack and Laura Dangermond Undergraduate award is a significant honor to the most accomplished student in geographic information science (GIS) in the department of Geography. Jack and Laura Dangermond are the co-founders and President and Executive Vice President respectively of ESRI. The Environmental Science Research Institute is a major industrial supplier of software in the field of GIS. The award goes to Christal Celeste McCrary, a junior who will spend next year abroad in New Zealand.
GEOGRAPHY PERSEVERANCE AWARD: A new award, established to recognize the accomplishments and tenacity of undergraduates who have overcome major problems outside of the classroom. Alice Macall is this year’s winner. Alice not only supported herself and put herself through college without outside help, but she helped support her siblings as well.
GEOGRAPHY VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR: Another new award, won by Eli M. Krispi. Eli is a double major in Geography and Environmental Studies and has been an intern for the Office of Sustainability for 3 years. Eli designed a volunteer-run comprehensive recycling system which is now being used as a model for a campus-wide program that has won the Associated Students Green Award and recognition from the California Integrated Waste Management Board’s Waste Reduction Awards Program.
The Geography Department has established two awards which honor students graduating with superior grade point averages. The first, OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AS A GEOGRAPHY MAJOR is awarded to students graduating with a grade point average of 3.5 or higher. An impressive 21 of our 46 undergraduates won the Outstanding Achievement Award this year. Congratulations to Carlos Baez, Kimberly Botts, Lauren Davis, Daniel Doran, Christopher Dorr, Jenny Douthett, Cheyne Hadley, Scott Heimerman, Spencer Johnson, Eli Krispi, Kelsey Lester, Robert Matchett, Michael Matisek, Patrick McIntyre, Shannon Moy, Scott Raymond, Daniel Segal, Eric Tomczak, Lauren Travis, Katie Von Der Lieth, and Brandon Warner!
The honor of DISTINCTION IN THE MAJOR is awarded to students who are graduating with a GPA of a 3.5 overall GPA with a 3.6 or higher in Geography classes and have undertaken a major independent study project and/or graduate-level studies. The CHAIR’S AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN GEOGRAPHY is awarded to the graduating senior who has majored in Geography and has attained the highest overall grade point average. Scott Glenn Raymond has the high honor of having earned both Distinction in the Major and the Chairs Award, as well as an Outstanding Achievement award—quite a feat!
(Photo credits: Richard Weinberg; more photos by Richard and by Keith Clarke can be seen at https://legacy.geog.ucsb.edu/events/event-photos/seniors-reception-2009/)
