2020-2021 M.A. and Ph.D. Graduates

Kim England

Professor England Congratulates Ellie Cleasby, M.A.

"Congratulations Ellie! You showed a creative, theoretically innovative and well-organized approach towards your MA research. Ellie focused on alternative ways of doing and pursuing sustainability, and potential expansive futures for ‘sustainable’ and urban ‘sustainability.’ In a pair of linked papers, Ellie investigated the mobile tiny-house movement and critically assessed whether, at least for some, this practice is one path toward a more affordable, sustainably equitable and healthy future. The second paper compares narratives about the 2020 Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) with those of the nearby award-winning Bullitt Center and asks what counts as ‘sustainability’ and sustainability for whom? Ellie, I am impressed by the range and depth of the research in your MA project and your willingness to challenge yourself. Your dedication and passion are such a pleasure to see. I look forward to all you will achieve in the PhD program. Well done!"

Bo Zhao

Professor Zhao Congratulates Tyler McCrea, M.A.

"Tyler McCrea is humble, creative, and courageous. Not only does he demonstrate sophisticated skills in GIS and remote sensing, but he can also apply critical social theories to probe the social, political, and cultural implications of digital geographies behind the scenes. His innovative research on data centers provides evidence that organically integrates quantitative analysis and theoretical critique of the geographies of data centers. Throughout his M.A. program, I could sense his deep concerns about the fate of humanity in the developing digital era and his warm empathy with underrepresented communities. Moreover, it was very enjoyable to work with Tyler. He is good at listening, willing to take challenges, and extremely responsible. For one of the new courses I have developed, his assistance has greatly contributed to the lab designs and reading materials, making the course rewarding and successful. I was delighted to work and think with you during the past two years and cannot wait to hear about your future accomplishments!"

Mark Ellis

Professor Ellis Congratulates Mike Babb, Ph.D.

"Many congratulations Mike for writing an innovative dissertation addressing problems in a key source of US internal migration data and analyzing spatial trends in migration flows over the last few decades. Mike's dissertation uses annual Internal Revenue Service county-to-county migration data and these data are frequently suppressed when flows between counties are small in order to protect the confidentiality of tax-filers. Mike has created a very useful new procedure to estimate these missing flows that uses a combination of statistical adjustments, matrix completion techniques and linear programming methods. A good part of his dissertation lays out this procedure and carefully demonstrates the validity of the estimated flow data. It then transitions to using these completed county-to-county flow data to offer a myriad of new insights into the spatial structure of US internal migration change over the last few decades. As a whole, Mike's dissertation is a rich and wonderful combination of geographic data science married to the long running migration modeling research tradition within geography. Fixing the IRS missing flow data problem as Mike has done offers a lot of potential for other researchers to do interesting work on the spatial aspects of the now four decade long migration decline within the US. Many congratulations again Mike for producing a very fine and original contribution to US internal migration research."

Luke Bergmann

Professor Bergmann Congratulates Christopher Cox, Ph.D.

"Congratulations to Christopher! You have taught me much in these years, much of which I can only appreciate in retrospect. Your teachings have indeed been influential for many, and will no doubt continue to be so. Your research—which should never be separated entirely from your pedagogy, your rich engagements with the world, and your boundless curiosity—is moving and challenging to those who encounter it. May your work help many recognize and oppose the negative production of space and place while affirming the positive. This degree is richly deserved, even if it can only recognize a part of what you have accomplished and what you have—and will—offer the world. Congratulations, and thanks, again."

Vicky Lawson

Professor Lawson Congratulates Austin Crane, Ph.D.

Luke Bergmann

Professor Bergmann Congratulates Phillip Neel, Ph.D.

"Congratulations to Phil! It has been an honor to facilitate his journey here—a journey which has always been about so much, about so many peoples and places and ideas and processes. Phil’s dissertation research is expansive in every sense. It offers fresh yet textually- and materially- grounded formulations and responses to many of the largest questions concerning the past, present, and future of capitalism. His scholarship considers such issues from Seattle, China, Tanzania, and elsewhere. He writes for academics and publics, now and future. His commitment to a new world, and to intellectual activity as integral to deep political engagement, is inspiring. I am sure that many of us will encounter his work in the future, and I hope we make the time to engage it, feeling its challenges and its inspirations. Congratulations, and thanks, again."

Megan Ybarra

Professor Ybarra Congratulates Eddy Sandoval, Ph.D.

"Edgar Sandoval’s graduate research has engaged urgent questions that confront the discipline of geography and the (sub)urban U.S. – masculinity, anti-Blackness, and migrant communities. Eddy’s dissertation research engaged multiple methods – photovoice, archival research, and ethnography – to trace formations of Latinidad and place-making through the lens of suburban Chicago. The dissertation offers a unique contribution to ongoing academic debates about post-industrial urban geographies, economic development and environmental justice. Even more urgently, Eddy engages us in questions of how to talk about race, anti-Blackness and Latinidad in community organizing spaces. Eddy’s work demonstrates their commitment to be accountable both to community spaces and and academia, and the dissertation is an offering that demonstrates that engagement beyond academia results in research that is both rigorous and socially relevant. On a personal note, I have been honored to learn from Eddy as a colleague and a friend. Congratulations!"

Michael Brown

Professor Brown Congratulates Maggie Wilson, Ph.D.

Kam Wing Chan

Professor Chan Congratulates Xiaxia Yang, Ph.D.

"Xiaxia's doctoral research, in the form of 3 papers, is centrally on China’s demography, looking at internal migration and its high selectivity. The population of internal migrants in China is huge, about 375 million in 2020 (larger than the entire US population). Migrants play a critical role in China becoming the world’s factory. Xiaxia’s research demonstrates that China’s institutions and various policies have contributed to a highly age-selective migrant population stock. Migrant family dependents are largely excluded in the destination and this has generated a huge low-cost industrial labor force, making China decidedly competitive in the global economy. Xiaxia approached the topic by working through several sets of migration age data from Chinese censuses and (for comparisons) from India, USA and Japan, supplemented with a specific case study in Shanghai. Her work is interesting and broadly oriented with significant methodological contributions. She has developed a number of new indicators to measure the age selectivity of migration at different spatial scales to enable comparison different countries and locales.  

Congratulations to her again and the best luck for her career after UW."