Rausser College of Natural Resources Spring 2025 Commencement
The 2025 Rausser College of Natural Resources Commencement will take place on Sunday, May 18th, at 7pm at the Hearst Greek Theatre. The full campus graduation ceremony will be happening on Saturday, May 17th, 2025. Students are eligible to participate in either or both ceremonies.
The RCNR Commencement ceremony will include graduate and undergraduate students from the following departments: Agricultural & Resource Economics, Environmental Science, Policy & Management, Nutritional Sciences & Toxciology, and Plant & Microbial Biology.
The Energy & Resource Group will host a separate, intimate ceremony for their students on May 16th at 10am. It is by invitation only. Please reach out to ergdesk@berkeley.edu if you would like to attend or want more information.
Undergraduate majors included in the RCNR ceremony are:
- Conservation & Resource Studies
- Ecosystem Management & Forestry
- Environmental Economics & Policy
- Environmental Sciences
- Genetics & Plant Biology
- Microbial Biology
- Molecular Environmental Biology
- Nutrition & Metabolic Biology
- Nutritional Sciences - Physiology & Metabolism
- Nutritional Sciences - Toxicology
- Society & Environment
Graduate programs included in the RCNR ceremony are:
- Agricultural & Resource Economics, PhD
- Comparative Biochemistry, PhD
- Endocrinology, PhD
- Environmental Science, Policy & Management, PhD
- Metabolic Biology, PhD
- Microbiology, PhD
- Nutritional Sciences & Dietetics, MNSD
- Plant Biology, PhD
- Forestry, MF
- Rangeland & Wildlife Management, MS
The Energy and Resource Group will host a separate, intimate ceremony for their students on Friday, May 16th, at the Alumni House. It is by invitation only. Please reach out to ergdesk@berkeley.edu if you would like additional information.
All Rausser students who graduated or will graduate in the following semesters are invited to participate:
- Summer 2024
- Fall 2024
- Spring 2025
- Summer 2025
- Fall 2025
Students who participated in the Spring 2024 ceremony are not eligible to participate again in the Spring 2025 ceremony.
If you require an accommodation for effective communication (ASL, interpreting/CART captioning, alternative media, etc.) or informtation about campus mobility access features in order to fully participate in this event, please fill out the following Accommodation Request form by May 2, 2025.
Additional ceremony information can be found at the links below:
Keynote Speaker: Katharine Hayhoe
Katharine Hayhoe is an atmostpheric scientist whose research focuses on understanding what climate change means for people and the places where we live. She is the Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy and a Horn Distinguished Professor and Endowed Professor of Public Policy and Public Law in the Dept. of Political Science at Texas Tech University. She is the author of the book "Saving Us: A Climate Scientist's Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World," has given a TED talk with over 4 million views, and she also hosts the PBS digital series Global Weirding. Katharine has been named one of TIME'S 100 Most Influential People, the United Nations Champion of the Environment, and the World Evangelical Alliance's Climate Ambassador.
Student Speaker: Shreya Chaudhuri
Shreya Chaudhuri is a senior at UC Berkeley, double majoring in Environmental Science and Geography with minors in Global Poverty & Practice and Data Science. Passionate about Indigenous sovereignty, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and equitable climate solutions, she runs Project Planet, a 501c(3) nonprofit about decolonial environmental education, teaches the DeCal course Decolonizing Environmentalism, and leads the Decolonial Environmental Network at the Student Environmental Resource Center where she works as a Climate Action Fellow. Shreya's senior thesis research is on her family's ancestral tea farm in Assam, India—part of a sixth-generation legacy rooted in anti-colonial land reclamation and community organizing. Her work integrates research, policy, education, and advocacy, uplifting communities of color globally.
Department Citations and Award Winners
MAJOR CITATIONS: Awarded to the top graduating senior in each major.
Conservation and Resource Studies: Morgane Hanley
Ecosystem Management & Forestry: Nishita Dashpute
Environmental Economics Policy: Hannah Menth
Environmental Sciences: Alexandra Boren
Genetics & Plant Biology: Doogie Kim
Microbial Biology: Sabrina Hammond
Molecular Environmental Biology: Tony Kwok
Nutrition & Metabolic Biology: Noah Joon Huh
Nutitional Sciences - Physiology & Metabolism: Isabella Su
Nutritional Sciences - Toxicology: Alexander Tran
Society & Environment: Sadie Shoemaker
DEPARTMENT CITATIONS: Given in recognition of distinguished undergraduate work by the department
Agricultural & Resource Economics: Sadie Shoemaker
Environmental Science, Policy, & Management: Morgane Hanley
Nutritional Science & Toxicology: Isabella Su
Plant & Microbial Biology: Luyang Zhang
KENNETH L. BABCOCK PRIZE IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE: Awarded to outstanding graduating seniors in the field of Environmental Science
Nikita Bahadur
Neel Bajaria
Alexandra Boren
Charlie Kortleven
The Honors Melis Medal
Hannah Menth
Olivia O'Laughlin
Please direct any questions to commencement.rcnr@berkeley.edu.
Website Update: 4/24/2025