Photo above: Dean Paul Shepson and Marine Division Head Gordon Taylor and the graduates of the SoMAS Class of 2025
Congratulations to our graduates! The annual SoMAS Convocation event was held on Friday, May 23, 2025 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 Dr. Chris Gobler gave the keynote address.
Stony Brook University celebrated the 65th Annual Commencement earlier that day, with 4,835 bachelor’s degrees conferred — among the 7,640 degrees presented overall. There were also 1,950 master’s degrees, 675 doctoral and professional degrees and 280 certificates conferred at the ceremony. Graduates represented 46 states and 65 countries and ranged in age from 16 to 82.
SoMAS 2025 Convocation Program
Candidates for Degrees
Awarding of Undergraduate Certificates
B.S. in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
Presented by Dr. Brian A. Colle
Sophia Caprara, Isabella Gagliano, Alexandria Marhone, Kazimir Nyzio
B.S. in Climate Sciences
Presented by Dr. Brian A. Colle
Isabella Maruca (First Graduate in Major)
B.A. in Environmental Studies
Presented by Dr. Gordon Taylor
Camille Ayala, Alexandria Azar, Madeline Bini, Rylee Brower, Nicolas Burzo, Maximino Cruz, Emely De La Hoz, Jared Emmanuel, Vincent Fusco, Kate Glenn, Timothy Gonzalez, Jonathan Gordon, Tara Hatzidakis, Alisa Islam, Alex Kelly, Devin Kennedy, Chaeyeon Kim, Jared Kirschner, Allison Ledermann, Kaitlyn Lerner, Winnie Lin, Guiming Liu, Jacquelin Locon Allende, Sydney Mantione, Vivian Mattle, Matthew McKenna, Antonio Mochmann, Isabella Park, Torre Parrinello, Tomoya Shinohara, Nyles Simblante, Viktoria Skobodzinski, Madeline Smyth, Madelyn Wicker, Jason Wood, Eliana Yens, Tiffany Zheng
B.S. in Marine Sciences
Presented by Dr. Gordon Taylor
Emma Aguilar, Aliyah Alston, Sage Anlyn, Grace Bryan, Grace Caldwell, Chase Carson, Quentin Delle Fave, Alisa D’Souza, Paxton Easton, Timothy Furst, Elizabeth Field, Briannah Gidlund, Chloe Grund, Shivani Gupta, Ione Henriksen, Anthony Hill, Tiffany Huang, Keri Jean, Julia Kaplan, Sasha Koulakova, Jaden McAleese, Natalie “Birdie” Mogaburo Kessler, Tanner Monnin, Mackie Myers-Aldous, Caidence Nigro, Kristina Novak, Michael Palumbo, Zoe Rebol, Alexander Reveal, Calogero Scozzaro, Vikram Sethi, Brianna Shaw, Blythe Triplett, Rose Von Eckartsberg, Adrian Wu, Steve Yang, Caroline Zellner
B.S. in Marine Vertebrate Biology
Presented by Dr. Gordon Taylor
Sierra Andujar, Caitlin Brislin, Jenna Cannavaro, Kaitlin Cho, Kayla Cook, Paige Cook, Destiny Corona, Jamie Ford, Nia Franklin, Ella Hartenberg, Diego Inigo-Payne, Nataliya Khmil, Rylee Kieffer, Meghna Koshy, Michelle Lee, Emma Loffredo, Angelina Maligres, Uriel Peguerra, Salome Pintado-Vertner, Molly Seaton, Madeline Smyth, Anushka Sonalkar, Jerin Tasnim, Natalia Valencia, Mia Vogel, Emily Ynoa
B.S. in Coastal Environmental Studies
Presented by Dr. David Taylor
Samantha Cabello, Samantha Cruz, Mia Dominguez, Madison Moreno, Yvonne Salerno, Ciara Torres
B.A. in Ecosystems and Human Impact
Presented by Dr. David Taylor
Naomi Burson, Adrian Espinoza, Artelen Reyes, Julia Samuelson, Viktoria Skobodzinski
B.A. in Environmental Design, Policy and Planning
Presented by Dr. David Taylor
Eben Bragg, Devyn Chan, Ashley Concepcion Taveras, Jessica Douglas, Adam French, Darvin Fuentes, Anthoni Haynes, Paul Kim, Anthony Labiento, Tess Lambie, Alexandra Lanzon, Sarah Moran, Tanisa Rahman, Franchesca Rodriguez, Brandon Sherman, Katarina Siafakas, Carl Wolpert, Caroline Zellner, Wei Zhang, Rebekah Zhao, Aaron Zilberman
B.A. in Environmental Humanities
Presented by Dr. David Taylor
Alanna Earls, Jungin Kim, Alexander Tan
B.A. in Sustainability Studies
Presented by Dr. David Taylor
Abigail Abragan, Corina Acosta, Taha Ahmad, Justin Burden, Emily Fredericks, Brandon Fried, Amie Hamilton, Taylor Lindberg, Anne McAward, Arya Nayak, Esther Poon, Yuka Shimizu, Kate Veliz
Awards
Undergraduate Research Honors
Presented by Dr. Paul Shepson, Dean
Taha Ahmad
Comparing the Impacts of Road Salt and CMA on Soybean Growth
Dr. Sharon Pochron, Advisor
Naomi Burson
Do CUREs improve STEM belonging?
Dr. Sharon Pochron, Advisor
Emily Kim
The Effect of Road Salt on Eisenia fetida
Dr. Sharon Pochron, Advisor
Margaret Myers-Aldous
Surf Climate at Ditch Plains
Dr. Henry Bokuniewicz, Advisor
Diego Inigo-Payne
Studying NY’s Artificial Reefs: Effects of Material Type and Age on Settlement Communities
Brittney Scannell and Dr. Bradley Peterson, Advisors
Kazimir Nyzio
The Impact of Global Warming on Lake Champlain’s Lake-Effect Snowfall: An Updated Climatological Perspective
Dr. Ping Liu, Advisor
Paxton Easton
Effects of Simulated Climate Change Conditions on the Survival of Jonah Crabs (Cancer borealis)
Dr. Christoper Gobler, Advisor
Kristina Novak
The Use of Cultivated Kelp to Mitigate Harmful Algal Blooms Caused by Alexandrium and Pseudo-Nitzschia
Dr. Christoper Gobler, Advisor
Blythe Triplett
Clearance Rates of toxic Cyanobacteria (Dolichospermum) and nontoxic algae (Pavlova lutheri) by Eastern Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and Blue Mussels (Mytilus edulis)
Dr. Christoper Gobler, Advisor
SoMAS Dean’s Scholarship Awards for Academic Excellence
Presented by Dr. Paul Shepson, Dean
Margaret Myers-Aldous
Marine Science major, Coastal and Environmental Studies double minors, 3.98 GPA
Caroline Zellner
Marine Science and Environmental Design, Policy and Planning double major, 3.97 GPA
Petra M. Udelhofen Memorial Scholarship Award
Presented by Dr. Brian A. Colle
Samantha McKay
Timothy Magnussen Memorial Scholarship Award
Presented by Dr. Brian A. Colle
Alexander Laporte (Senior), Juniper Chien (Junior)
Awarding of Graduate Certificates
Master of Arts in Marine Conservation and Policy Certificates
Presented by Dr. Ellen Pikitch
Megan Barrow, Madeline Bini, Tegan Castelluccio, Zachary Doubek, Kiera Healy, Magdalena Kelly-Miller, Christine Kieres, Arthur Kuntarakornkiti, Jennifer Lander, Hannah Mearns, Jordyn Medina, Ryan O’Keeffe, Lauren Russell, Cayla Schaeffer, Daniel Spanbauer, Melanie Warren, Patricia Wiedenkeller
Master of Science and Doctoral Certificates in Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
Presented by Dr. Joe Warren
Master of Science in Marine & Atmospheric Sciences
Monique Escalante
Spatial and temporal variability of copepod and other zooplankton abundance and community composition in the New York Bight
Dr. Joseph Warren, Advisor
Ann Marie Famularo-Pecora
Differential nitrogen assimilation by Microcystis and co-occurring plankton during harmful cyanobacterial blooms across North American Lakes
Dr. Christopher J. Gobler, Advisor
Mairead Farrell
HABs and Ocean Acidification in Long Island Waters: Co-occurrence and Implications
Dr. Christopher J. Gobler, Advisor
Master of Science in Marine Atmospheric, & Sustainability Sciences
Kristen Hutz
Assessing Human Impact on Historically Monitored Zostera marina Habitat and Future Restoration Sites within the Peconic Estuary
Dr. Sung Gheel Jang, Advisor
Yanze Liu
Investigating Efficient PFAS Degradation Using Vacuum Ultraviolet /Ultraviolet (VUV/UV) Photochemical Technologies
Dr. Qingzhi Zhu, Advisor
Josef Moses
Flood Risk Perceptions and Protective Actions: Investigating the Impacts of Immersive Visualization and Group Interactions on Vulnerable Populations
Dr. Brian A. Colle, Advisor
Khandker Tahsin
How Pre-Disaster Housing Vulnerability Shapes Post-Disaster Outcomes: Study of Lee County, Florida, and Hurricane Ian
Dr. Sara Hamideh, Advisor
Lucas Wong
Differences In Species Richness Between Floating and Benthic Oyster Aquaculture Cages
Dr. Bradley J. Peterson, Advisor
Doctor of Philosophy in Marine & Atmospheric Sciences
Erin Leghart
The Climatology and Environmental Conditions for Vertical Shear and Turbulent Layers in Winter Storms
Dr. Brian A. Colle, Advisor
Jing-An Lin
Woodchip-based Permeable Reactive Barriers for Groundwater Nitrogen Removal: Design Optimization to minimize Greenhouse Gas Release informed by Experimental Studies and Reaction-Transport Modeling
Dr. Nils Volkenborn, Advisor
Robyn Linner
Evaluating the Drivers of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) Spatial Dynamics under Altered Stock Structure in a Changing Gulf of Maine
Dr. Yong Chen, Advisor
Alyson Lowell
Understanding the early life history of Zostera marina in changing oceans: applying experimental and field observations for improved seed-based restoration
Dr. Bradley J. Peterson, Advisor
Zackary Mages
Characteristics of Shallow Convection in Diverse Coastal Conditions
Dr. Pavlos Kollias, Advisor
Phillip Yeh
Life Cycle and Processes of Cool Season Precipitation Structures Within Northeast United States Cyclones
Dr. Brian A. Colle, Advisor
Many thanks to everyone who helped organize this event! This event could not have happened without the support of the numerous volunteers. Photos from the event taken by Kurt Bretsch are available on Google Photos. Video from the livestream edited by Mark Lang is available on YouTube. The student slideshow created by Lucas Merlo is available on YouTube.
From the Stony Brook University 65th Commencement Ceremony
Baccalaureate
Advanced Degrees & Certificates
All programs, including the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences
