On Thursday, June 13, SEFS came together to celebrate and recognize the accomplishments of the graduating class of 2025. We opened up the ceremony with remarks from SEFS Director, Dan Brown, who acknowledged that the graduating class of 2025 is equipped with the knowledge, skills and passion needed to tackle the complex challenges posed by climate change, biodiversity loss and human demand for natural goods and services. Like very few cohorts before them, the graduating class of 2025 faced challenges in learning, having completed some part of their college or graduate degrees in the midst of a global pandemic and added to that are recent disinvestments in science over the last few months. To say that this is a group who can persevere is an understatement – the SEFS class of 2025 is indeed an impressive group!

Following Director Brown, we heard from the Dean of the College of the Environment, Maya Tolstoy who left the graduating class with hopeful words for the future. We also heard from student speaker Katie Breen who graduated with her PhD and undergraduate Charles Mackie Henry whose speech got the crowd laughing countless times. Congratulations Katie and Charles! It was great to hear from you and have you represent the graduating class of 2025.

This year’s commencement speaker was J. Cameron Crump. Crump graduated from UW’s College of Forest Resources in 1997 with a BS in Forest Management and she now works at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources as its Forest Resources Division Manager. Crump’s message reminded SEFS graduates to embrace uncertainty, to continue to hunt for and learn new skills and that all experience is relevant even if you find yourself meandering off your chosen career path.

After the ceremony graduates and their friends and family came together for light refreshments outside of Kane Hall. A huge congratulations to the class of 2025! We can’t wait to see what you do next.