2026 Awards, Honors and Achievements

On June 11, 2026, the Department of Geography celebrated over 170 B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. recipients at our annual Convocation Ceremony! Professor Gretchen Sneegas, from the Undergraduate Program Committee, and Professor Bo Zhao, Graduate Program Director, announced the following honorees who received awards from the department:

Graduate Awards & Recognitions

Undergraduate Awards & Recognitions

Each year, graduating seniors have the opportunity to nominate an instructor for the Award for Faculty Excellence in Teaching. The recipient of this year’s award is Professor Bo Zhao. Geography majors shared their appreciation for Professor Zhao with their nominations:

• Bo Zhao provided lot of resources during my time this year in both GEOG 328 and GEOG 458 was Web Based Geography applications along with teaching us skills that go beyond just GIS curriculum that helped me improve my skills for my own projects.
• Professor Zhao always encouraged us to speak up and apply our knowledge to the classroom and topics we would interact with during projects and readings which really accelerated and helped my learning.
• Bo Zhao indirectly influenced me to become a geographer through his projects that he showed the class in GEOG 360. It was my first quarter at UW and since then I have been hooked on GIS.
• Doctor Zhao has always shown excitement when teaching us the different ways to make geography digital. He also introduced us to a variety of applications and tools that demonstrated how technology can be used in geography in practical and innovative ways. It is obvious that the class content is something he genuinely enjoys teaching, and that enthusiasm made the course more engaging. In addition, he engaged with students and asked thoughtful questions during each presentation, which made the class feel interactive and encouraging.
• Professor Zhao’s encouragement in discussions during class further drew out my interests in all the class topics. Breaking down different web GIS examples in class together gave me a hand in learning the thought process of a geographer, taking ethics and real experiences of people into the foreground.
• Professor Bo Zhao created a very organized and engaging classroom environment that encouraged students to be active and present in class. I appreciated how structured and well-managed his classes were, especially through presentations and discussions that made participation feel comfortable and meaningful. He was always encouraging, approachable, and supportive, which made the learning environment feel welcoming and motivating.
• I joined his HGIS lab and developed the Alynna IOS app with his team. During this process, I really learned a lot. Not only the software development skills, but the whole new aspect towards geography for me-the Humanistic Geography and humanistic GIS. Also, he gave me a lot of advice and help on my career plan and academic development.
• Professor Bo Zhao taught one of the most memorable classes during my time at UW: GEOG 360: GIS and Mapping. His class went beyond the technical aspects of GIS and touched on important topics regarding housing and urban inequality. Professor Zhao’s passion for the subject matter helped to inspire my own interest in the field of geography.
• Professor Bo Zhao encouraged my learning by providing detailed explanations that made complex technical concepts easy to understand. He is an incredibly supportive and patient mentor who truly takes the time to understand his students' goals. Under his guidance, I felt empowered to bridge the gap between data engineering and impactful visual storytelling, using tools like Mapbox GL JS to solve real-world urban challenges.
• Professor Zhao's class environment allowed me to improve my programming skills and demonstrate through intriguing class projects. Gave me good experience working on group programming projects.
• He encouraged me to think beyond technical skills and consider how geospatial technologies can address real-world challenges. His teaching helped me build a strong foundation in GeoAI and guidance me to develop projects. His support made a meaningful difference in my learning experience.
• Professor Bo Zhao stimulated and encouraged my learning by making geography and technology feel exciting and practical. His teaching inspired me to become interested in building web applications and exploring how web technologies can be used in geography and mapping. Through his classes, I learned a lot about GIS, web mapping, and problem-solving, and he always encouraged creativity and independent thinking. Professor Bo Zhao’s enthusiasm and supportive teaching style made me more confident in applying what I learned to real-world projects.

The 28th Annual Geography Undergraduate Research Symposium remains live on the Department of Geography website and features the award winners noted above as well as many other impressive projects in the online Symposium Gallery.