SoMAS Convocation 2023

Photo above: Dean Paul Shepson Congratulates the SoMAS Class of 2023

Congratulations to our graduates!  The annual SoMAS Convocation event was held on Friday, May 19, 2023 at the Bauman Center for Leadership and Service. Students gathered with their friends and family and SoMAS faculty and staff to celebrate the completion of their journey at Stony Brook University.

Dean Paul Shepson provided opening remarks after the processional and Mr. Geoffrey Bansen (BS, ’10) gave a keynote address. Mr. Bansen is a SoMAS alum and one of the founding members of the Spirit of Stony Brook Marching Band.

Stony Brook University celebrated the 63rd Annual Commencement earlier that day, with 4,895 bachelor’s degrees conferred — among the 7,830 degrees presented overall. There were also 2,115 master’s degrees, 580 doctoral and professional degrees and 240 certificates conferred at the ceremony. Graduates represented 46 states and 71 countries and ranged in age from 19 to 76. Several graduates were highlighted for their distinguished academic careers, including Environmental Design, Policy, and Planning graduate Patrick Abel. Patrick is a student-athlete who broke a 30-year-old record in the 100-meter dash and also acted when he saw his peers were struggling with their mental health by co-leading a Black & Latino Men’s Health & Wellness Program, offering them needed resources and a space of support.

SoMAS Convocation Program 2023 (PDF)

 

Awarding of Undergraduate Certificates

B.S. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences Presented by Dr. Brian A. Colle

• Jason Barr, Amanda Cresanti, Lillian Huynh, Iryna Ivanyuk, Josef Moses

B.A. in Environmental Studies Presented by Dr. Darcy Lonsdale

• Jacob Addeo, Anthony Badalamenti, Emma Bartik, Lawrence Bastianelli, Julian Billan, Scott Bloechle, Nicolas Burzo, Lauren Cappello, Kamryn Cardali, Jade Carmichael, Alex Casamassima, Kaitlyn Cox, Clare Dana, Lawrence Gaines, Bryan Galvez, Sarah Golden, Brianna Gomerez, Jessica Graham, Riley Haas, Erin Hwong, Bodin Kim-Dailey, Sophia Locascio, Ashley Lopez, Daniel Maguire, Tyler Mansfield, Abighail McKinney, Gabrielle Negron, Amanda Nuzzo, Nicki Paraskevi Michailides, Caleb Pearson, Maria Seliquini, Cassidy Stephen, Alexa Valentine, Cameron Virgil, Morgan Whitman, Madelyn Wicker, Qilian Yu

B.S. in Marine Sciences Presented by Dr. Darcy Lonsdale

• Elisabeth Bata, Abigayle Belknap, Cyd Bloomfield, Audrey Calhoun, Emma Campbell, Kyler Cavalcante Bezerra, Clare Dana, Juliana Dovi, Molly Fowler, Ashley Goland, Jake Guyer, Samuel Katz, Lakshta Kundal, Jonathan Lubiantoro, Clayton McGoldrick, Sarah Praisner, James Quiroz, McKenna Santilli, Amira Scantlebury-Chance, Lauren Taveira, Kellianne Ticcony, Hunter Timpson, Alexandra Uszynski

B.S. in Marine Vertebrate Biology Presented by Dr. Darcy Lonsdale

• Shivani Annumala, Ariel Arnette, Ashley Beggs, Jonathan Chen, Michelle Efthimiou, Madison Enda, Samantha Fong, Jackie Graham, Desbe Greenstein, Amelia Grillo, Tabitha Halupa, Erin Hwong, Lucas Iudica, Janiece Jones, Elijah Jordan, Ana Kreidler-Siwinski, Cass Lamb, Mary Lares, Jonathan Lim, Matthew Mazzella, Connor McCooey, Brooke Osekoski, Amanda Paolella, Amber Ringle, Alexander Travagliato, Samdup Ukyab, Matthew Widmer, Christina Woodard

B.S. in Coastal Environmental Studies Presented by Dr. Katherine Aubrecht

• Zoe Borghardt, Yanze Liu, Jonathan Lubiantoro, Zuzu Naing, Tajrian Sarwar, Kelly Steele

B.A. in Ecosystems and Human Impact Presented by Dr. Katherine Aubrecht

• Kimberly Dallas, Shannon Haller, Thomas Kelly, Brooke Liebell

B.A. in Environmental Design, Policy and Planning Presented by Dr. Katherine Aubrecht

• Patrick Abel, Zhenyun Bai, Henry Chang, Joannan Chen, Emilyn Dimaio, Kathania Fredes, Justin Holman, Marc Jordan, Marlyn Mejia Juan, Ania Pracel, Liam Ronan, Huining Tang, Bryan Villatoro, Erin Witt, Tina Zheng

B.A. in Environmental Humanities Presented by Dr. Katherine Aubrecht

• Cassandra Larosa

B.A. in Sustainability Studies Presented by Dr. Katherine Aubrecht

• Alex Casamassima, Garrett Davis, Matthew Esposito, Francesca Greco, Gavin Krois, Nadia Kuban, Hong La, Evan May, Bryan Miata, Maxwell Montague, Yuanchun Ren, Chiara Scharpf, Kellianne Ticcony, Justin Weissman

• Rachel Carlowicz
  Evaluating seasonal abundance, lipid storage, and energy density of Calanus finmarchicus and other copepod prey fields in the New York Bight 
  Dr. Joseph D. Warren, Advisor
• Walter Dawydiak
  Transcriptional Response of Aureococcus anophagefferens to the Protozoan Grazer, Oxyrrhis marina
  Dr. Christopher J. Gobler, Advisor
• Darren De Silva
  Effects of the harmful alga Cochlodinium (aka Margalefidinium) polykrikoides on clearance rate of the hard clam Mercenaria mercenaria
  Dr. Christopher J. Gobler, Advisor
• Flynn DeLany
  Positive Community Interactions of Artificial Eastern Oyster Reefs (Crassostrea virginica) on Cotransplanted Eelgrass (Zostera marina) Growth and Survival
  Dr. Bradley J. Peterson, Advisor
• Allegra Ervin
  Bayesian Stochastic Stock Reduction Analysis as a Data-Limited Approach to Assess Historic Populations of Exploited Fisheries
  Dr. Michael G. Frisk, Advisor
• Madeleine Foley
  Assessing Drivers of Route Fidelity in Two Closely Related Gull Species
  Dr. Lesley Thorne, Advisor
• Christopher Fragano
  Validation of Atmospheric Model Analyses for Offshore Wind Energy Assessment Using Two Floating LIDARS South of Long Island
  Dr. Brian A. Colle, Advisor
• Theresa Hong
  Physiological Response to Thermal and Hydric Stress in the Fiddler Crab Leptuca pugilator Along a Latitudinal Transect
  Dr. Jeffrey S. Levinton, Advisor
• Geresa-Leigh Luke
  Thermal Tolerance Variation in Young-of-the-Year Winter Flounder Across the Southern New England Region
  Drs. Michael G. Frisk & Anne McElroy, Co-Advisors
• Jessica MacGregor
  Stressed-out scallops: analyzing drivers of physiological stress and mortality of the northern bay scallop (Argopecten irradians irradians) in the Peconic Estuary, NY
  Dr. Bradley J. Peterson, Advisor
• Bradley McGuire
  The ability of North Atlantic bivalves to filter feed and accumulate toxins from the harmful algae, Dinophysis acuminata
  Dr. Christopher J. Gobler, Advisor
• Naomi Miller
  The Link Between Extreme Storms and Climate Action: A Study of Coastal New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut
  Drs. Donovan Finn & Kevin Reed, Co-Advisors
• Kevin Shaffer
  Evaluating Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Bioaccumulation in a Long Island (NY) Coastal Lagoon
  Dr. Christopher J. Gobler, Advisor
• Celia Werner
  Radar Proxy Updraft Properties in QLCSs During PERiLS – 2022 
  Dr. Michael French, Advisor

Doctor of Philosophy in Marine & Atmospheric Sciences

• Hannah Blair
  Variability, abundance, and composition of acoustic and net tow measurements of epi- and mesopelagic fish and zooplankton across the southeastern US outer continental shelf and slope
  Dr. Joseph Warren, Advisor
• Erica Bower
  Analyzing Global Extreme Precipitation throughout the Entire Tropical Cyclone Life Cycle in Observations, Predictions, and Projections
  Dr. Kevin Reed, Advisor
• Raymond Czaja
  Climate change impacts on pre- and post-settlement processes: insights on the declining Atlantic surfclam, Spisula solidissima solidissima, fishery
  Dr. Bassem Allam, Advisor
• Wengui Liang
  Regional Mechanisms of Future Hydroclimate Changes in a Warmer Climate
  Dr. Minghua Zhang, Advisor
• Brandyn Lucca
  Improving acoustic target classification and density estimates of epi- and mesopelagic organisms
  Dr. Joseph D. Warren, Advisor
• Caroline Schwaner
  Costs and mechanisms of resilience to ocean acidification in marine bivalves
  Dr. Bassem Allam, Advisor
• Teresa Schwemmer
  Early life physiological and energetic responses of Atlantic silversides (Menidia menidia) to ocean acidification, warming, and hypoxia
  Dr. Bassem Allam, Advisor
• Han Sun
  Connectivity Within a Large Partially Mixed Estuary
  Dr. Robert E. Wilson, Advisor
• Darci Swenson Perger
  Iron and phosphorus cycling and benthic fluxes in sandy bioirrigated sediments
  Dr. Laura Wehrmann, Advisor