The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s second annual Commencement ceremony was held on Friday, May 1, at the Maryland Inn in Annapolis and featured Dr. Holly A. Bamford ’02, Acting Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Management for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, as keynote speaker. She told graduates to "take the leap" toward challenges that will come.
This year, 19 students received joint degrees from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) and the University of Maryland College Park (UMD). In 2013, the Maryland General Assembly granted UMCES the authority to award M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in marine and environmental sciences jointly with UMD. Every year, nearly 100 graduate students study and work alongside UMCES scientists and faculty members through the Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences (MEES) Program, a nationally eminent interdisciplinary graduate program.
“From UMCES’ earliest days conducting research on the Chesapeake Bay’s oysters and crabs 90 years ago, we have been preparing the next generation of environmental experts,” said UMCES President Don Boesch. “We train graduate students shoulder-to-shoulder with their faculty mentor—in our laboratories and out in the field—from day one of their studies. We are extremely proud to see them take the next step to make an impact on our world.”
The commencement ceremony featured alumna Dr. Holly A. Bamford delivering the keynote address. Bamford is the Acting Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Management in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). She earned both her M.S. (1998) and Ph.D. (2002) in the Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences program while a student at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.
Other speakers included: President Donald Boesch, Director of the Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences program Kennedy Paynter, Vice President for Education Edward Houde, University System of Maryland Vice-Chancellor for Academic Affairs Joann Boughman, and Professor and Chesapeake Biological Laboratory Director Thomas Miller.
For a list of 2014-2015 graduates, view the program.
