UAF colleges honor 2024-2025 top students

Schools and colleges at the ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ have named their outstanding students for the 2024-2025 academic years. Students are selected for a variety of accomplishments, including exceptional academic achievement, leadership, contributions to their field or community. Following is a list of those students:

College of Engineering and Mines

• Petroleum engineering: Harrison Riggs
• Mining engineering: Elizabed Angel
• Mechanical engineering: Vance Underwood
• Computer science: Andrew Mattson
• Civil engineering: Darya Kholodova
• Geological engineering: Noah Goltz
• Electrical engineering: Seth Waln
• Computer engineering: Jack Kendall
• Center for Teaching and Learning outstanding dissertation: Gwen Holdmann, "At the Crossroads of Technology, Policy, and Society: Energy Transitions in Rural ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ"
• Center for Teaching and Learning outstanding thesis: Kaarle Strailey "Developing a Proof-of-Concept Non-Scalable Active Vacuum Insulated Building Envelope Prototype"

College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences

• Dean’s Recognition Award – outstanding graduate student: Josianne Haag
• Dean’s Recognition Award – outstanding undergraduate student: Linnaea Doerner
• Outstanding freshman: Sam Cheng
• Outstanding sophomore: Rachel Cox
• Outstanding junior: Rory Claussen
• Outstanding senior: Tony Blade
• Center for Teaching and Learning outstanding dissertation: Matt Cheng, "Addressing Non-Stationary Fishery Dynamics and Demographic Complexity in Integrated Stock Assessment Models"
• Center for Teaching and Learning outstanding thesis:  Emily Reynolds, "Sea Otter Interactions with Mariculture Oyster Farms"

College of Indigenous Studies

• Kuskokwim Campus outstanding student: Ida Shannon Qak’vaq David of Bethel
• Tribal governance outstanding student: Darlene Pete

College of Liberal Arts

CLA award winners can be viewed on the UAF news website.

• Center for Teaching and Learning outstanding dissertation: Varpu Lotvonene, "'Ballad of the Laablaaqs:' The Relational Worlds of Sámi Reindeer Herders in ÐÓ°ÉÔ­°æ"
• Center for Teaching and Learning outstanding thesis: Joseph Ransdell-Green, "Collective Action in Marine Mammal Co-Management: Relationships as Tools of Cooperation"

College of Natural Science and Mathematics

• Biological sciences: Michelle Ramirez
• Chemistry and biochemistry: Sydney Wade
• Geosciences: Xochitl Munoz
• Mathematics: Torin Hooge
• Natural resources and environment: Teddy Krauss
• Physics: Vivian Palmer
• Statistics: Rosie Fordham
• Wildlife biology and conservation: Monica Casner

Outstanding teaching assistant and course assistant award recipients:

• Physics: Keshab Pokharel
• Biology: Dakota Keller
• Chemistry and biochemistry: Daniel Fabrizio (TA), Iva Thomason (CA)

Chemistry and biochemistry departmental award recipients:

• Freshman award: Ainsley Sauer
• Graduate in biochemistry: Ali Moazezi Ghavihelm
• Graduate in environmental chemistry: Tianlang Zhao
• Undergraduate in biochemistry: Gabriel Gray
• Undergraduate in environmental chemistry: Iva Thomason

American Chemical Society award winners:

• Undergraduate in physical chemistry: Hannah Hausmann
• Undergraduate in organic chemistry: Klara Gengler
• Undergraduate in inorganic chemistry: Owen White
• Undergraduate in analytical chemistry: Mackenzie Hawkins
• Undergraduate in environmental chemistry: Ryan Owens

School of Education

• Elementary education: Libby Gionet, Alice Tulik, Caylann Thomason
• Outstanding clinical mental health counseling graduate: Quincy Fuller
• Outstanding school counseling graduate: Kaitlin Brown
• Outstanding school counseling certificate graduate: Yaa Sakyi
• Secondary education: Kayanna Healy and Aron Cronsberry 
• Special education: Hope Jennings, Payton Baker, Holly Makowsky

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