Bigelow Laboratory President Deborah Bronk (MEES Ph.D. '92) to speak
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) will hold its annual graduate Commencement ceremony on May 24 at its Horn Point Laboratory campus in Cambridge, Maryland. It will feature the conferral of master's and doctorate degrees, distinguished speakers and university awards, and keynote speaker Dr. Deborah Bronk (MEES Ph.D. '92), oceanographer and President and CEO of the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Maine.
“We are thrilled to be able to host commencement in person for the first time in two years,” said University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science President Peter Goodwin. “We are fortunate to be able to recognize an accomplished group of graduates who have a unique connection to their faculty mentors and the UMCES community at a time when their skills are most needed in the world.”
UMCES is a preeminent environmental research and educational institution that leads the way toward better management of Maryland’s natural resources and the protection and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay from a network of laboratories across the state. As an environmental research and graduate institution, UMCES holds a unique and important place among the University System of Maryland’s 12 institutions, leading a nationally ranked graduate program in marine and environmental science and providing unbiased science to assist Maryland policymakers as its mission.
Every year, more than 80 graduate students study and work alongside UMCES scientists and faculty members through the Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences (MEES) graduate program, a nationally eminent interdisciplinary graduate program. Students go on to become environmental leaders in both the public and private sectors, research, and environmental advocacy.
This year’s commencement speaker is Dr. Deborah Bronk (MEES Ph.D. '92), President and CEO of the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences in Maine. She has conducted more than 50 research cruises and field studies in freshwater and marine environments that stretch from pole to pole during her three decades of experience as an oceanographer. In 2020, she was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and recognized for her substantial research advances on the marine nitrogen cycle and for leadership in the ocean science research community. She is president-elect for The Oceanography Society beginning in 2023. She earned her Ph.D. from the Marine Estuarine and Environmental Sciences (MEES) graduate program at UMCES’ Horn Point Laboratory campus.
The ceremony includes recognition for the President's Award for Excellence in Application of Science, the President’s Award for Outstanding Research Support, the UMCES Student Service Award, Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award, and UMCES Staff Award.
