University of Rhode Island Commencement Weekend held May 15–17, 2026 on the Kingston Campus
May 18, 2026
Congratulations to the Class of 2026! The Graduate School of Oceanography commencement ceremony took 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 honored the degree and certificate recipients from the past year at the GSO Shirting Ceremony, a time-honored tradition, in Corless Auditorium on the URI Bay Campus.
2026 GSO graduates (and their major professors)
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)
Master of 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 Certificates (McConnell):
- Carly Besh
- Joshua Cooper
- Elizabeth Grady
- Jamie Jones
- Justin Lehr
- Matt Marino
- Kerri Newman
- Rachel Poisson
- Matthew Shepherd
- Chad Tokowicz
