The Department of Geography celebrated the class of 2023 during a hybrid event in Science Hall and online on Friday, May 12th. Students from all academic programs (Undergraduate, GIS Professional Programs, and Graduate) were represented at the celebration as awards were announced and graduates were called by name and recognized. Professor and Department Chair Jack Williams provided opening remarks, while Professor Jenna Loyd presented the Undergraduate, Graduate and GISPP award winners. Undergraduate Advisor Joel Gruley recognized the Bachelor’s degrees and Professor Jonathan Nelson the GISPP graduates. Professor and Director of Graduate Studies Sarah Moore recognized the Masters and PhD recipients. The Department of Geography faculty and staff would like to offer our congratulations to all of the accomplished graduates and award winners!

Bachelor’s Degree Graduates

A total of 48 students makes up this academic year’s graduating class of undergraduates. Thirty-three of these students are double majors, two are triple majors, two are honor’s students, two were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s most prestigious liberal arts honor society, and nearly all of them earned at least one certificate. During their time on campus, this impressive group racked up numerous accomplishments in the areas of research, public service, awards and scholarships, and geography-related internships. We’re extremely proud of all our graduating seniors and with them the best of luck as they embark on the next exciting chapters in their lives. 

Undergraduate Awardees

• Ian Bohachek – Petchenik Award in Cartographic Design (2^nd Place)
• Leah Bulbula – Kohn Scholarship Award
• Sydney Davison – Olmstead Award for Achievement in the Cartography & GIS Major
• Sophie Michalski – Petchenik Award in Cartographic Design (1^st Place)
• Hans Purisch – Olmstead Award for Academic Excellence
• Tien Vo – Olmstead Award for Achievement in the Geography Major

2022-23 Undergraduate Graduates

• Matthew Bettencourt – BA, English & Geography
• Amalia Cabigas – BA, Geography & Spanish
• Luke Casesa – BA, Geography
• Claire Clarke – BS, Geography
• Ellie Crabb – BA, Environmental Studies & Geography
• Claire Daffada – BA, Communication Arts & Geography
• Sydney Davison – BS, Cartography/GIS & Geography
• Logan DeMars – BS, Cartography/GIS & Geography 
• Emma Donohue – BA, Conservation Biology & Geography
• Laura Flucke – BS, Cartography/GIS & Environmental Sciences
• Eli Ganong – BA, Cartography/GIS & Environmental Studies
• Lucas Gordy – BS, Geography
• Claire Harned – BA, Geography
• Grace Harvey – BS, Cartography/GIS & Forest Science
• Emilee Hendricks – BA, Anthropology & Geography
• Tyler Hengst – BA, Geography & History
• Will Hope – BA, Environmental Studies & Geography
• Kyle Hulbert – BA, Environmental Studies & Geography
• Matt Jacques – BS, Cartography/GIS & Geology/Geophysics
• Jeremy King – BA, Geography & History
• Laura Klatt – BA, Geography & History
• Katherine Koehler – BA, Geography (Honors) & Spanish
• Gabrielle Liberatore – BA, Environmental Studies & Geography
• Gavin Mauer – BS, Cartography/GIS & Geography
• Rachel McLaughlin – BS, Environmental Studies & Geography
• Sophie Michalski – BA, Anthropology & Geography
• Liam Nicol – BA, Geography
• Nolan Niedermeyer – BS, Cartography/GIS
• Austin Novak – BS, Cartography/GIS & Geography
• Caleigh Parsons – BA, Geography
• Katie Porubcan – BA, Conservation Biology, Environmental Studies & Geography 
• Hans Purisch – BA, Geography (Honors)
• Maggie Raedeke – BA, Landscape Architecture & Geography
• Natalie Redding – BA, Geography
• Sihan Ren – BS, Cartography/GIS & Computer Sciences
• Brice Richardson – BS, Geography & Sociology
• Audra Sarver – BS, Agricultural & Applied Economics & Geography
• Nikko Siegfried – BS, Cartography/GIS & Geography
• Alyssa Smet – BS, Conservation Biology & Geography
• Drew Smith – BA, Cartography/GIS
• Noah Sticha – BA, Cartography/GIS & Geography
• Max Swift – BS, Geography
• Sam Thut – BA, Geography
• Johnny Vallo – BA, English, Environmental Studies & Geography
• Tien Vo – BS, Environmental Studies & Geography
• Lukas Wellenstein – BS, Cartography/GIS
• Junxian Xu – BA, Geography & History
• Madeline Zwergel – BA, Environmental Studies & Geography

GIS Professional Programs Graduates

This spring we are celebrating 50 graduates for this academic year and over 200 graduates since the program launched in 2016! This academic year we have 7 graduates from the GIS Fundamentals Capstone, 5 graduates from the Advanced GIS Capstone, 20 graduates from the Cartography and GIS MS: Online GIS Development Option, and 18 graduates from the Cartography and GIS MS: Accelerated/Non-thesis Option. We were delighted that many of these graduates and their families were able to join us in acknowledging the hard work and dedication required to achieve mastery technical skills in Cartography, GIS, geovisualization, geospatial analysis, and web map programming.

2023 GISPP MS and Capstone Graduates

In Geog 778, Practicum in GIS Development, the goal is for MS students to draw upon geospatial concepts and skills obtained throughout their time in the program to conceive, design, and implement map- and GIS-based projects with real-world applications. As part of the project development process, students connect with academic and professional mentors, draft detailed project plans, record an elevator pitch, create digital mockups, and conduct user testing exercises. Final deliverables include a project demonstration video, executive report and abstract, and digital portfolio showcasing the students’ mapmaking and GIS achievements. All to say, these final projects reflect a culmination of advanced cartographic design and GIS development skills that inform a wide range of place-based problems! 

• Mike Adduci, Cartography and GIS MS: GIS Development Option
• Jimmy Alani, GIS Fundamentals Capstone
• Trever Bruhn, Cartography and GIS MS: GIS Development Option
• Cherie Bryant, Cartography and GIS MS: GIS Development Option
• Luke Chamberlain, Cartography and GIS MS: Accelerated/ Nonthesis Option
• Kuang-Cheng Cheng, Cartography and GIS MS: Accelerated/ Nonthesis Option
• Aileen Clarke, Cartography and GIS MS: Accelerated/ Nonthesis Option
• Jiaqi Guo, Cartography and GIS MS: GIS Development Option
• Michael Hasinoff, Cartography and GIS MS: GIS Development Option
• Gerald Heston, Advanced GIS Capstone
• Mingrui Huang, Cartography and GIS MS: Accelerated/ Nonthesis Option
• Mallory Johnson, Cartography and GIS MS: Accelerated/ Nonthesis Option
• Lauren Martucci, Cartography and GIS MS: Accelerated/ Nonthesis Option
• Aspen Neville, Cartography and GIS MS: GIS Development Option
• Jospeh Rosnow, Cartography and GIS MS: Accelerated/ Nonthesis Option
• Nimita Shery, Cartography and GIS MS: GIS Development Option
• Jeffrey Thompson, GIS Fundamentals Capstone
• Nyla Thursday, Cartography and GIS MS: Accelerated/ Nonthesis Option
• Sam Wiepking, GIS Fundamentals Capstone
• Lauren Yingling, GIS Fundamentals Capstone

 

As for awards, this year Luke Chamberlain, a student in our Cartography and GIS MS: Accelerated/Non-thesis Option, won first place in the Petchenik map competition with his project titled “Madison, Wisconsin Sustainability”. Sid Ramavajjala, also a student in our Cartography and GIS MS: Accelerated/Non-thesis Option, won second place in the Petchenik map competition with his project titled “Understanding Mars: The Goldilocks Planet”. Congratulations, Luke and Sid!

Master’s and Doctoral Degree Graduates

This year we were excited to celebrate the graduation of 13 students in our research-based Master’s programs in Geography and Cartography/GIS and our doctoral program in Geography. Five Maser’s students and eight doctoral students successfully completed (or are this summer completing) their MS theses and doctoral dissertations, with research that reflects the wide breadth of the discipline.

• Katie Braun: Multi-Scale Remote Sensing Reveals Spatial Heterogeneity in Ice-Wedge Degradation Stage (MS thesis)
• Vignesh Ramachandran: Working Class Immigrant Organizing in the Wake of the War on Terror (MS thesis)
• Jake Steinberg: Making A1 Maps: News Cartographers’ Perspectives on Ethical Visual Storytelling (MS thesis)
• Nick Underwood: Mapping Guatemala-US Migration: A Case Study in Critical Visual Storytelling (MS thesis)
• Samto Wongso: Spatiotemporal Analysis of Mixed-Use Planning and Patterns in Milwaukee, St. Louis & Tampa (MS thesis)
• Emily Judith Diaz Vallejo: Land-Use Change Influences Microbial and Biogeochemical Dynamics in Soils of the Tropics (PhD dissertation)
• Yuhao Kang: Understanding Human Perception of Place with Geospatial Data Science (PhD dissertation)
• Chase Kasmerchak: Disturbance-Mediated Shifts in Ecosystem Function and Implications for Biogeochemical Cycling in Forested Systems (PhD dissertation)
• Erin Kitchell: Livestock Mobility: Claim-making, Territorialization, and Institutional Politics in Central and Eastern Senegal (PhD dissertation)
• Xinyi Liu: Knowledge Discovery via Fusing Individual Travel Trajectories and Geographic Context (PhD dissertation)
• Jinmeng Rao: Trajectory Privacy Protection with Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (PhD dissertation)
• Ruth Trumble: Between Spectacles: Biopower, Preparedness, and Uneven Development in Serbia (PhD dissertation)
• Allen Xiao: Becoming a Lagosian? An Ethnography of Urban Identification in Gowon Estate (PhD dissertation)

We are excited to continue working with several of our Master’s students as they pursue doctoral degrees in the department, and congratulate our graduates who are entering new careers across the country and the globe – from teaching and tenure-track faculty positions at universities in the US and abroad, to research scientist positions in university and government research labs and the technology industry, and to positions in data journalism and in nonprofit environmental and social justice advocacy organizations.

The following graduate student award winners were recognized during the celebration for their achievements:

• Alicia Iverson – Clarence W. Olmstead Award for Outstanding Citizenship
• Kela Caldwell – Clarence W. Olmstead Award for Outstanding Teaching
• Hannah Kass – Clarence W. Olmstead Award for Outstanding Publication
• Taylor McDowell – Leopold Geomorphology Graduate Research Award
• Laura Lawler – Whitbeck Graduate Dissertator Fellowship
• Zhe Yu Lee – Whitbeck Graduate Dissertator Fellowship
• Chelsea Nestel – Whitbeck Graduate Dissertator Fellowship

Congratulations to all of our graduates – we are proud of your many accomplishments and look forward to hearing about what comes next!