Celebrating GSO’s Spring 2026 graduates

May 13, 2026
The GSO Shirting Ceremony, a time-honored tradition.

University of Rhode Island Commencement Weekend will be held May 15–17, 2026 on the Kingston Campus

May 13, 2026

Congratulations to the Class of 2026! The Graduate School of Oceanography commencement ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 17, at 9 a.m. at the Ryan Center on the Kingston Campus. On Friday, on May 15 at 12:00 p.m., we will honor the degree recipients from the past year at the GSO Shirting Ceremony, a time-honored tradition, in Corless Auditorium on the URI Bay Campus.

Watch the live stream

2026 GSO graduates (and their major professors)

Headshot of Maggie Bernish

Grad Spotlight: Maggie Bernish

After years spent studying the physiology of phytoplankton at GSO, Maggie Bernish is graduating with her Ph.D. in oceanography

Read the spotlight

Doctor of Philosophy in Oceanography:

  • Margaret Bernish (Inomura)
  • Meng Gao (Inomura)
  • Asta Habtemichael (Lohmann)
  • Erin Jones (Rynearson)
  • Rachel Marshall (Collie)
  • Angelos Papandreaou (Ginis/Hara)
  • Josh Pi (McMahon)
  • Anna Schrecengost (Beinart)
  • Jarod Snook (Lohmann)
  • Melissa Woodward (Lohmann)

Master of Science in Oceanography:

  • Ainsley Fruhwirth (Kincaid)
  • Shelby Gibson (Palter)
  • Emily Hall (Peck)
  • Waheed Odubayo (Roman)
  • Jaque Rosa (Wang)
  • Pranav Sai (Ginis/Hara)
  • Katherine Thompson (Lewis)

Meet the Speaker: Asta Habtemichael

Graduating with his doctorate in oceanography, Asta was a member of GSO’s Lohmann Lab and a trainee in the STEEP Superfund Research Program, where he studied how persistent pollutants move through marine food webs.

Meet the graduation speaker

Master of Science in Oceanography:

  • Taylor Leitch (Peck)
  • Sarah Wilme (Peck)

Online Master of Oceanography:

  • Nicolas Baccari (Spivack)
  • Holly Boubouras
  • Thomas Crossley
  • Paul Hardersen
  • Gordon Hutcheon
  • Alexander Lopes (McConnell)
  • Emma Pilling
  • Lachlan Smith

Graduate Certifications (McConnell)

  • Carly Besh
  • Joshua Cooper
  • Elizabeth Grady
  • Jamie Jones
  • Justin Lehr
  • Matt Marino
  • Kerri Newman
  • Rachel Poisson
  • Matthew Shepherd
  • Chad Tokowicz