What is GradFest?
The ESPM Graduate Symposium, or GradFest, is an annual celebration of graduating students in the department. It serves as the main space for students across diverse topics to present their finishing research talks to the community. GradFest is open to the public and typically features a keynote guest speaker, remarks from the RCNR Dean and department leadership, and a closing reception, as well as other opportunities for showcasing graduate student research and accomplishments such as photo submissions, research posters, and more. Take a look through the GradFest archives below to see the the list of speakers, videos of research talks, and past awardees.
GradFest 2025
GradFest 2025 was held on Wednesday, May 7th in 311 Wellman Hall and via livestream.
Keynote speaker:
Student Speakers:
GradFest 2024
GradFest 2023
Gradfest 2022
Keynote speaker:
Dr. Rebecca Johnson, of the California Academy of Sciences:
Dr. Johnson is not only an accomplished scientist, but a fantastic science communicator and collaborator who works with communities to ask questions about biodiversity and work towards conservation goals.
Student Speakers:
Becca Brunner: PhD Advisors: Damian Elias & Claire Kremen (ESPM emeritus, Professor at University of British Columbia)
Joshua Earl Arnold: PhD Advisor: Dr. Miguel Altieri (ESPM emeritus)
Yutong Liang: PhD Advisor: Allen Goldstein
Chippie Kislik: PhD Advisor: Maggi Kelly
Robert Parks: PhD Advisors: Kathryn De Master, Jon Kosek (Geography)
Chelsea Andreozzi: PhD Advisor: Adina Merenlender
James LaChance: PhD Advisor: Kathryn De Master
Phoebe Parker-Shames: PhD Advisor: Justin Brashares
Sebastián Rubiano-Galvis: PhD Advisor: Nancy Peluso
Master of Forestry Graduating Student Speakers
Sabrina Chui: MF Advisor: Matthew Potts
Hudson Northrop: MF Advisors: Scott Stephens and John Battles
Environmental Science, Policy & Management PhD and MF Graduating Students
Wenjing Xu: PhD Advisors: Lynn Huntsinger & Arthur Middleton
Paige Stanley: PhD Advisor: Tim Bowles
Katie Low: MF Advisors: John Battles, Brandon Collins, and Scott Stephens
Brian Whyte: PhD Advisor: Neil Tsutsui
Please note: Due to the outage that affected all RCNR websites, former GradFest archive pages are no longer available and are in the process of being restored.