2026 Graduation Program

Distinguished Alum Speaker: Dr. Brian Butler

Brian Butler received his Master of Science (1985) in Geological Sciences from the University of Washington ESS (formerly Geological Sciences) department. His Masters Thesis covered the Tops of Epithermal Veins, Platoro Caldera, San Juan Mtns, CO. Economic geology, surface and underground mapping, core logging, sampling, and geochemistry. He obtained a BS in Geology from Oregon State University in 1975, along with a Masters of Institute Marine Studies in 1982. His career over the past 50-some years has included 6 years as a Surface Line Officer in the US Navy (Pacific Fleet), experiences as a field and exploration geologist for Union Mines and Shell Mining, 32 years at Landau Associates as a Principal Geologist, and the past decade or so as the owner of Butler Geoscience, LLC, in Shoreline, WA.

Brian is currently a member of our departmental Advisory Board.

Honored Graduate Student Co-Speakers: Tamara Aránguiz-Rago, Ph.D. & Autum Downey, Ph.D.

Tamara Aránguiz-Rago is a tectonic geomorphologist graduating with a Ph.D. in Earth and Space Sciences. Originally from Santiago, Chile, Tamara joined UW as a Fulbright Fellow in Fall 2020 to pursue a doctorate under the guidance of Alison Duvall and Brendan Crowell. Her research explores how faults, climate, and erosion interact to shape tectonically active landscapes. Before joining UW, Tamara completed a B.S. in Geology at the University of Chile and a conservatory program in Improvisational Theater and Comedy.

Autum Downey is an aqueous geochemist graduating with a Ph.D. in Earth and Space Sciences and Astrobiology. Originally from Morgantown, West Virginia, she joined the University of Washington in the summer of 2021 to pursue a doctorate under the guidance of Dr. Drew Gorman-Lewis. Her doctoral research explores the exchange of nutrients and metals between microbial cells and their environment, revealing the chemical processes that help sustain life under extreme conditions. Before joining the University of Washington, Autum received her B.S. and M.S. in Geology from West Virginia University. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, continuing her work on microbe-mineral interactions.

Undergraduate Student Speaker: Deven Loska

Deven Loska is a graduating senior undergraduate in the Earth and Space Sciences (Physics Option). During her time at UW, she has worked on research projects on the geochemistry of subducted and metamorphosed seafloor basalts, as well as underwater tsunamis in glacial fjords. Additionally, she is passionate about outreach and has taken part in the Rockin’ Out program in ESS, as well as geohazard education at Neah Bay High School. Outside of research and academia, Deven enjoys hiking, painting, and swimming.

Program Events and Speakers

Chair’s Welcome: Professor David Schmidt, Chair, Earth and Space Sciences

Distinguished Alum Speaker: Dr. Brian Butler, MS, Class of 1985, ESS Advisory Board Member

Honored Graduate Student Co-Speakers: Tamara Aránguiz-Rago, PhD and Autum Downey, PhD

Conferral of Graduate Degrees: Associate Professor Knut Christianson, ESS Graduate Program Chair

Honored Undergraduate Student Speaker: Deven Loska, BS

Conferral of Undergraduate Degrees: Associate Professor Alison Duvall, ESS Undergraduate Program Chair

Doctor of Philosophy

• Anna Ledeczi, David A. Johnston Prize for Research Excellence
  • Geophysical and geological perspectives on accretionary wedge evolution, splay faulting, and megathrust earthquake processes at the Cascadia subduction zone
• Autum Downey
  • Molecular and thermodynamic controls on cell envelope reactivity of a deep-sea hyperthermophilic methanogen: Solute-specific mechanisms governing archaeal envelope chemistry and nutrient acquisition
• Jason Ott, David A. Johnston Prize for Research Excellence
  • Subduction Zone Blues: Laboratory and Field Constraints on the Rheology and Deformation Mechanisms of Mafic Blueschist at the Subduction Interface
• Jensen DeGrande, Washington NASA Space Grant Award
  • Understanding Earthquake Source Processes in Real-Time with Seismogeodetic  Techniques for Applications in Early Warning
• John-Morgan Manos
  • High-resolution geophysical observations and modeling of the cryosphere using distributed optical fiber sensing
• Kimberly Sinclair, Washington NASA Space Grant Award, OpenMinds NextGen Leader Fellow
  • Understanding the Geochemical Context for the Origin of Life in Surface Lakes on Early Earth and Mars
• Madeleine Lucas, Washington Sea Grant Coastal Resilience Fellow, 2023 Homecoming Scholar
  • Geophysical and geomorphological signatures of accretionary wedge faulting at the Cascadia subduction zone
• Paul Morgan
  • Landslide legacies: The cascading impacts of landslides on hazards and landscape evolution
• Peter Lindquist
  • Dehydration and deformation: The sources and impacts of metamorphic fluids from oceanic crust in subduction zone forearcs
• Ping-Chun Lin, ACM SIGSPATIAL 2025 Best Short Paper Runner-Up
  • Developing Reliable Machine Learning Methods for Earth Observation and Landscape Change
• Tamara Aránguiz-Rago, David A. Johnston Prize for Research Excellence, Barksdale Distinguished Service Award, Fulbright Doctoral Fellow, PCC Graubard Fellowship, Dr. Jody Bourgeois Endowed Fellowship
  • The Role of Climate and Erosion in Shaping Strike-Slip Fault Landscapes: Insights from the Extreme Hyperarid Atacama Desert
• Trent Thomas, David A. Johnston Prize for Research Excellence
  • The Maintenance and Restoration of Habitable Conditions on Terrestrial Planets: from Snowball Earth to TRAPPIST-1
• Yiyu Ni, David A. Johnston Prize for Research Excellence
  • Scaling Up Data-Driven Earthquake Monitoring

Master of Science

• Bering Tse, Kenneth Robbins Endowment, John A. Black Award, QRC Research Award
  • Sediment record of paleotsunami inundation at Lagoon Creek, CA. Deposit chronology and inland extent

ESS Bachelor of Arts

• Miranda Janson-Gain
  • Minor in Climate Science
• Nate Nolan
• Van Waters

ESS Bachelor of Science

*Indicates Departmental Honors

• Alexa Lavinder*, Baccalaureate Honors – Cum Laude
• Alyssa Iverson*, AGU Travel Fund, Mary Gates Research Scholarship, Steven H. Evans Geological Sciences Fund, Wilbert R. Danner Endowed Fund, Geology UG Field Support Fund, Julian D. and Marajane Barksdale Endowed    Fund in Earth and Space Sciences, Afton Woolley Crooks and James William Crooks Scholarship Fund in Geological Sciences
  • Undergraduate Research: Linking Submarine Channel Morphology to Tectonic Processes at the Cascadia Subduction Zone
• Calun Kanze
• Carson James Wilson
• Charles Fleming*, Baccalaureate Honors – Cum Laude
• Chloe E Anderson, Livingston-Wernecke Award, ESS Gala Rising Rockstar Award
  • Undergraduate Research: Petrology of Mt. Si & Disaster Dialogue: Interpreting Volcanic Hazards at Craters of The Moon
• Dahlia Gietka*, Mary Gates Leadership Scholar, Mary Gates Research Scholar, Livingston-Wernecke Scholar
• Deven Loska*
  • Undergraduate Research: Strontium Isotope Ratios as a Proxy for Fluid-Rock Interactions in the Protolith of the Catalina Schist Metabasalts
• Emmanuel Larsen
  • Minor in Leadership
• Erin Davis*
  • Minors in Applied Mathematics and Data Science
  • Undergraduate Research: Developing a Reproducible Python-Based Workflow in ArcGIS to Identify River Sections Flowing Along the San Andreas Fault
• Filip Novak*, Baccalaureate Honors – Cum Laude, Mary Gates Research Scholarship, Julian D. and Marajane Barksdale Endowed Fund and Geology Undergraduate Field and Research Fund, College of the Environment Meeting and Travel Award, “Rising Rockstar” – Best Undergraduate Talk, “The Money Figure” -Schematic Contest First Place
  • Minor in Paleobiology
  • Undergraduate Research: From outcrop to point cloud: A three-dimensional  technique for the remote analysis of terrestrial and extraterrestrial sedimentary structures
• Gabbi Carlos
  • Minor in Physics
• Hailey Smith
• Jesus Rangel
• Julia Nie
• Laila Rabaa
  • Minor in Applied Physics       
• Lauren Yoson
  • Minor in Spanish
• Lesly Silva*, Mary Gates Research Scholarship, Afton Woolley Crooks & James William Crooks Endowed Scholarship in Geological Sciences, Identity, Belonging and Inquiry in Science (IBIS) Research Grant, Best Poster Presentation Award, Earth and Space Sciences Research Gala
  • Minor in Data Science
• Luis Bedolla-Cruz
• Maria Holnicka-Szulc*, Julian D. and Marajane Barksdale Endowed Fund and the Geology Undergraduate Field and Research Fund
  • Minors in Comparative Religions and Data Science
  • Undergraduate Research: Tracing Slab Contributions Beneath the Central Cascades Using Magnesium Isotopes
• Matthew Hayes*
• Mick Jordan
• Mikhail Cabacungan
• Molly Kaufold*
  • Minor in Physics
  • Undergraduate Research: Seasonal Glacier Calving Variability from Passive Seismic Monitoring
• Nathan Wolford
• Nia-Lael Wangia, Boren Scholarship
• Nicolas Chang*
• Nikolas Saathoff
• Nissa Stupakoff*, ESS Research Gala: Rising Rockstar (Best Undergraduate Presentation – Runner Up)
  • Minor in Architecture
  • Undergraduate Research: Taphonomic Controls on the Fossil Record of a High-Latitude Vertebrate Paleoecosystem (Lower-Middle Triassic Fremouw Formation, Antarctica)
• Oli Facq
  • Minor in American Indian Studies
• Regan Thomas
  • Minor in Informatics
• Saul Hernandez
• Shoham Barak*, College Honors
  • Minors in Paleobiology and Computer Science & Software Engineering
• Sofia Suhinin
• Sophia Robillard*, Undergraduate Service Award, Woolley Crooks Scholarship, Best Undergraduate Poster ESS Gala
  • Minor in Data Science
  • Undergraduate Research: Formation Process and Environments of Miocene Lacustrine Carbonates on the Colorado Plateau
• Sophie Widloe*
• Tianyi Ao

Minor in Earth and Space Sciences

• Shannon Jones
  • Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering

Class of 2026 Alum Profiles

Land Acknowledgement

The Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations. Our acknowledgement of the tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations comes from consultation and guidance by the Governor’s Office of Indian Affairs and Federal regulations and policies. In this phrasing, we are adhering to tribal sovereignty.

ESS Statement on Inclusive Excellence

The University of Washington, College of the Environment, and the Department of Earth and Space Sciences (ESS) are committed to promoting respect for the rights and privileges of all, understanding and appreciating human differences and the constructive expression of ideas. Providing a welcoming learning environment and reducing barriers to participation in our field have long been an explicit part of our department mission.