Alumni

Recent Alumni News

Student holding #HireHuskies sign at UW Career Fair

Creating Community Among Geography Alums: Introducing the Alum Ambassador Committee

Like current students, geography alums often find themselves trying to explain to friends and family just what exactly is this subject they have spent so much time studying? One common response is a quote from Professor Michael Brown's social science research design class, a core requirement for all students in the geography major: "the why of the where." Describing the discipline to those outside it, especially employers, can feel fraught as students and alums navigate their… Read more
Mike Mamic stands in front of a desert landscape at Arches National Park

Alum Profile: Collaboration, Brainstorming and Exchanging Ideas as a GIS Analyst

Since graduating from UW with a B.A. in Geography and History in 2005, Mike Mamic has followed a relatively straightforward path in the GIS career field. First, he began as a GIS Intern with the City of Puyallup. After that, Mike worked as a GIS Technician for Wahkiakum County, Washington, for two years before moving to Bend, Oregon. From 2008 to 2018, Mike served as the Chief GIS Cadastral Cartographer for Jefferson County, Oregon. Now, for the past six years, Mike has been working as a… Read more
Iain Hay

Congratulations to Ph.D. Alum Iain Hay, Recipient of the 2024 Laureat d’honneur from the International Geographical Union!

The Department of Geography is pleased to recognize Ph.D. graduate Iain Hay's 2024 Laureat d’honneur, awarded by the International Geographical Union (IGU). This international recognition for “service to the discipline at the international, national and local scales” is a tremendous honor. The award – which is arguably one of the most esteemed in international geography – will be presented in Dublin, Ireland, on Friday, August 30. Having graduated… Read more
Portrait Photo of Eddie Bayya

Alum Profile: Building a Legal Career Inspired by Urban Geography and Pursuit of Social Justice

As a "self-described introvert," alum Eddie Bayya has navigated from the Department of Geography to a burgeoning career in the legal field. While pursuing a Paralegal Certificate at Highline College, Eddie currently works as an intern for the Law Office of Jenny Cochrane in Kirkland, WA, and a filing clerk with Cascade Guardianship Services in Everett, WA. Eddie notes that these roles allow them to "engage in geographical concepts and notions of gender as they work on different immigration and… Read more
Portrait Photo of Geography Alum Sue Nevler

Alum Profile: From Cape Cod to the Pacific Northwest and Beyond

Like so many future geographers, UW geography alum Sue Colburn Nevler fondly recalls spinning a globe as a child, though she was looking for her father's ports of call from his work with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution global research fleet. As a sea captain, Sue's dad brought her along to help at the Bermuda Biological Station and on the flight over she read about the UW Department of Geography. "In Bermuda, it was a thrill to sail out into the Sargasso Sea, marveling at the mass of… Read more
Richard Morrill holding a map while speaking to a class

Remembering Geography Professor Emeritus Richard L. Morrill

Professor Emeritus Richard L. Morrill passed away on Thursday, March 28, 2024. He had been ill for several years and passed away with his wife and best friend at his bedside. Dick was born in Los Angeles, California, in 1935. He received his B.A. in Geography from Dartmouth College in 1955. He moved to the University of Washington in Seattle that year to pursue a Master’s degree under Edward Ullman. Ullman was about to undertake fieldwork in Italy, however, so he moved to work with William… Read more
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Kam Wing Chan and Xiaxia Yang’s Commentary on China’s Urban Youth is Published in Caixin Weekly

Geography Professor and CSDE Affiliate Dr. Kam Wing Chan and Ph.D. Alum Dr. Xiaxia Yang (postdoc at King’s College, London) have recently published a commentary in Caixin Weekly, a major economics weekly in China. The title of their commentary is "The Secret of Chinese… Read more
Portrait Photography of Isaac Rivera, Ph.D.

Meet Isaac Rivera, One of the 2023 College of Arts and Sciences Graduate Medalists

The UW College of Arts & Sciences is pleased to announce three Graduate Medalists for 2023. The Graduate Medal honors exceptional graduate students who completed their doctoral degrees this year, with medalists selected on the basis of nomination letters from faculty... Isaac Javier Rivera Graduate Medalist in the Social Sciences PhD, Geography Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, Isaac Rivera says his dissertation is the product of years of collective dreaming and collective organizing in… Read more
Portrait Photograph of Geog Alum Stanley Toops

Remembering Geography Ph.D. Alum Stanley Toops

Thank you very much to David Prytherch, Professor of Geography at Miami University, for contributing this article. With heavy hearts we mourn our dear friend and colleague Stanley Toops, who passed away yesterday of a failing heart. We're proud Stan called Miami home for 32 years, but he was a man of the world -- a quintessential geographer -- whose curiosity knew no bounds. He visited so many places and touched so many people through his teaching, research, mentorship, and friendship… Read more
Geography Alum Thai Nguyen sits on the right, with Shoreline resident Patti Shah Karam seated on the left.

How to fix the mental health workforce? WA has an underutilized resource: peer counselors

Patti Shah Karam wasn’t in a healthy head space. It was the day before Thanksgiving and big holidays are hard for her, as she’s mostly estranged from her family. But [UW Geography B.A. Alum] Thai Nguyen, a 31-year-old peer mental health counselor who was at Shah Karam’s Shoreline apartment for their weekly meeting, helped pull her out of bed and out of a funk… Read more
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