Outstanding Graduates 2021

Master of Arts, English 

Amrit Abbasi's scholarship is interdisciplinary, using both critical and creative work to examine the field of South Asian Studies. She is particularly fascinated by the radical voices of women and queer people amplified through collectivism and transnationalism, migration’s effect on cultural expectations and traditions, and the complex and fragmented identities of the diaspora of the United States. Amrit is also an award-winning instructor in WWU's English 101 program and serves as the Communications Coordinator for the English Graduate Association. She also serves as a Research Assistant for the University, developing resources to support BIPOC graduate students. When not drowning in work and/or creating unnecessary projects for herself to tackle, you can find Amrit with her loved ones, jumping from restaurant to restaurant, living out her foodie dreams. 

Master of Science, Computer Science

Anais Dawson is an energetic and passionate young student researcher, one of the pioneers who is utilizing virtual reality and wearable sensors to address challenges in the domain of assistive technology. Under the guidance of Professors Shameem Ahmed, Wesley Deneke, and Moushumi Sharmin, Anais led a small group of undergraduate students to develop InterViewR: a VR-based platform that provides training to autistic young adults to better prepare them for job interviews. Anais demonstrated remarkable leadership skills in supervising and training undergraduate students who previously had little awareness of the domains of Autism, Virtual Reality, and Human Computer Interaction. As a teaching assistant, Anais demonstrated excellence in mentoring students at all levels by providing thoughtful, detailed, and encouraging feedback to them and by creating an inclusive and accessible environment for all students. As a student researcher, Anais published her preliminary work in IEEE CompSAC 2020, presented her work in Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing 2020, and is currently in the process of submitting her graduate research work in ACM CSCW 2021 – these are testimony of outstanding accomplishments for a graduate student who is just starting her research career. Anais is an exceptional student, an outstanding researcher in the making, and a passionate computer scientist, all of which makes her a wonderful role model for young female CS students. 

Master of Arts, Environmental Studies

Edible Seaweeds of the Salish Sea: Contaminant Levels and Comparison with Common Foods

Jennifer Hahn is an author, scientist, teacher, culinary explorer, and wilderness guide. She has long made her living by sharing her love of the outdoors and began relying on wild harvesting to keep her pack and kayak light. She has written two books about finding wild edibles and teaches courses about sustainable wild food harvesting at Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies and the North Cascades Institute. This eventually led to her interest in the issue of potential contaminants in seaweed.  

The resulting research project was ambitious and daunting, and the results are impressive. Funded primarily by a grant from the SeaDoc Society and the Border Policy Institute, the project involved sampling seaweeds from dozens of sites around the Salish Sea. She put together and worked with a diverse team that included stakeholders (tribes and First Nations), experts from a diverse group of departments at WWU and UCD, state and federal agencies, and funders. The resulting project involved deep engagement with tribes and First Nations to gain support and approval for the project, and in turn, in-depth communications with these communities about the findings and implications for seaweed consumption. 

After sharing results with eighteen Salish Sea tribes and First Nations, Hahn will submit a scientific article with nine authors (including her committee members and colleagues from NOAA, WDFW, WDOH, UC Davis, and The SeaDoc Society) to Total Science of the Environment. Hahn is currently in process with sharing results. 
 
Jenny holds a BS and now an MA from WWU's College of the Environmental, Western Washington University, and a BA in writing and ecology from WWU's Fairhaven College, at which time she studied with Pulitzer-prize author Annie Dillard and worked at Audubon magazine. She later founded her own kayak and natural history company, and leads tours in Washington, Canada, Alaska, Baja Mexico, and the Galapagos. Her first book Spirited Waters: Soloing South through the Inside Passage won the Barbara Savage Miles from Nowhere award for adventure narrative writing in 2001. In 2003, on behalf of the Washington Commission for the Humanities Inquiring Mind lecture series, she traveled across Washington State speaking and serving up wild edibles for her lecture, "Feasting on Flotsam: Eating between Tides, Fields, and Forest as Cuisine, Culture, and Ecology." Currently she is an adjunct professor at Western Washington University's Fairhaven College teaching courses on northwest wild food. Her love of foraging inspired her latest titles with Mountaineers Books, Pacific Feast and Pacific Coast Foraging Guide. 

Master of Fine Arts, Creative Writing

Between Fight and Flight: Essays and Poems

Katie Higinbotham is a creative writer in WWU's MFA program. Though she most often works as an essayist, she is a gifted writer in other modes as well; her creative thesis is a complex blend of poetry and lyrical essays, reflecting on a range of political, personal, and environmental topics. Her essay "Looking for Neowise" will appear this summer in the Rappahannock Review. She has also excelled as the Nonfiction Editor for Bellingham Review, Western's acclaimed biannual literary magazine. She also works as Events Coordinator for the English Graduate Association. She is co-founder of the EGA Reading Series, where she organizes, publicizes and hosts everything from visiting author events to professional events to student readings. 

Master of Education, Educational Administration 

In his research and study, Joseph investigated the effects of a digital formative assessment platform on student performance, attitude, and willingness to request assistance on academic tasks. He wanted to determine the correlations between student performance, attitude, and willingness to request assistance to determine whether one necessitates the other in a hierarchical manner. His results indicated that when students are supported in using the online tool “IXL,” they showed more positive academic learning than students who were using traditional paper-based learning strategies. Looking at the challenges school administrators face in the current digital age, Joseph advocates for future leaders to develop a deeper understanding of digital tools for student learning, for training teachers to effectively use such tools, and for strategic planning to harness these new tools to support increased student learning. 

Master of Business Administration

Master of Science, Mathematics

Halley joined the master’s program in mathematics at Western after completing her bachelor’s degree at Whitman College. She excelled in all her classes and was awarded the department’s Greene award for achieving the highest academic performance among the graduate students. During her time at Western, Halley was funded as a teaching assistant. She taught her own section of a pre-calculus class each quarter and was recognized by another Greene award for being one of the two most outstanding instructors. For her master’s project, Halley studied the “Asymptotic behavior of Markov Chain Monte Carlo and Reversible Jumps” under the advisement of Dr. Ramadha Piyadi Gamage. Her presentation to her project committee, and her performance during the following oral examination were unanimously given the highest rating. As well as these impressive achievements, Halley has been a joy to have in the department, always willing to help out whenever asked. She now heads off to UT Austin for the summer where she will work with the Dana Center for the summer. We wish her the very best and look forward to hearing of her future successes.

Master of Professional Accounting 

Truc Nguyen is a gracious student who has a servant’s heart, always willing to do what it takes, and more, to be excellent. She has been a significant addition to our MPAC program and has earned a great deal of respect from our faculty. Truc is a quick learner, deep thinker, smart inquirer, and a great presenter. If you pointed towards a mountain and asked Truc to climb it, she would ask if there was a taller one. She always goes that extra mile or puts forth just that little bit extra to take things from good to great. I’ve even had to ask her to back off a topic, a time or two and not to do so much. She typically smiles and says okay, but then asks, “If I was going to do it, what would you suggest?” 

Master of Science, Kinesiology - Exercise Science

The Effects of Hip Position on Scapular Kinematics and Muscle Activation in the Oblique Sling: A Simulated Study

Sarah earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, both in kinesiology, right here at Western. Her initial research interest was on the effects of including exercise in the care plans of individuals on the Autism spectrum. As someone on the spectrum herself, Sarah saw an aspect of healthy living that was almost entirely unexplored in the population. Her research interests shifted after chancing upon an article that she found for a research seminar class about mechanotransduction through fascia. This led her to her thesis and current research area on the effects of changing the position of the hip on the muscular activation and scapular kinematics of the contralateral shoulder via force transduction through fascia.

Sarah is an incredibly hardworking individual who fulfilled many roles as a student. She was a private tutor for multiple classes, a peer mentor for multiple quarters, a teaching assistant for several classes, and a graduate lab manager. Her love for her course work was reflected not only in her grades, but in the way that she led other students and assisted them in their own quests for knowledge and understanding.

She currently works as an adjunct professor for WWU teaching classes such as exercise physiology, measurement and evaluation in kinesiology, and nutrition. She also works as a lab technician for the health and human development department where she assists with the biology labs, kinesiology labs, as well as the human cadaver labs. Aside from her current work and research, Sarah is preparing for a PhD in exercise physiology so that she can meet her ultimate career goal of both teaching at the collegiate level and conducting further research.

Master of Arts, Speech-Language Pathology 

Cammy is an extremely bright, thoughtful, and mature student clinician who easily stands out as a leader in our graduate program. Cammy has excelled in academic experiences and in direct clinical services. In addition, she has made significant contributions to research by serving as a research assistant in Dr. Moore’s lab. She is an extremely hard worker who goes above and beyond. Our department is happy to recognize her strong skill set and her dedication to professional learning. 

Master of Science, Geology

Using Multispectral Imagery to Interrogate Deposition, Alteration, and Weathering Across Curiosity Rover’s Traverse in Gale Crater, Mars

Tina finished her MS in Summer 2020, and she's now in her first year of a PhD program in the Division of Geology and Planetary Sciences at Caltech. While at WWU, she worked on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover mission, and helped calibrate the Mastcam-Z cameras for the new Perseverance Mars rover mission. In the Geology department, Tina was a fantastic peer mentor and did a significant amount of service and outreach, including writing guest blogs for The Planetary Society, participating in local K-12 events, and giving webinar presentations during COVID. In her two summers at WWU, she worked on her thesis research while also working as a park ranger at Mt. Rainier (she was the park's "Dark Ranger," in charge of astronomy programs!).

Master of Science, Chemistry  

Plasmonic-based hybrid nanomaterial: from synthesis to application

Maggie Wang demonstrated excellence in both teaching and research. She was a teaching assistant for both general and analytical chemistry courses and created a welcoming and inclusive environment for her students. She was an author on four peer-reviewed papers stemming from her thesis work and started other research projects that will be taken up by future students. In addition to publishing, Maggie presented her research at two national meetings of the American Chemical Society. She is continuing her education at University of Texas Southwestern. 

Master of Science, Environmental Science

Can arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi protect Rubus idaeus from the effects of soil-borne disease and parasitic nematodes?

Erika exceeded expectations in every aspect of graduate school. As a researcher she was thoughtful and creative. Importantly, she had a work ethic that enabled her to act on her ideas and complete an ambitious research agenda. She was also a beloved teaching assistant. Erika often went beyond expectations and found new ways to support student learning. As a result, students often commented on how much they appreciated her support in the class feedback forms. As a student, Erika was inquisitive and hard-working, generous with her time, and elevated learning for all her colleagues. Finally, Erika did a great job bridging concepts from ecology to applications in raspberry farming. She presented her work at a local conference for small fruits growers, and she did an excellent job of translating her research into useful information for this audience.