School year in review, special congratulations to the Class of 2025, and spotlight on outstanding members of the College

College of Sciences 2025 grads pose for a photo during Commencement

Another fantastic year in the books!

This year has been jam-packed with advances in STEM research and teaching at San Diego State University, from construction starting on our new life sciences building, to SDSU being named an R1 institution, dazzling over 20,000 K-12 kids and families with our science at Petco Park’s science and engineering festival, and establishing a new cybersecurity center.

I am always in awe of the efforts by our faculty and staff — from Laura-Isobel McCall’s group investigating a new theory on why treatments fail to cure a range of diseases, to Daniel Reinholz promoting equity in STEM education, Donatella Zona working with students and local Indigenous partners to measure climate change in the Alaskan tundra, Aaron Blashill developing the first identity-affirming eating disorder treatment for LGBTQIA+ patients, Jillian Maloney’s crew spending 12 days at sea studying offshore hazards to coastal communities, Antonio Palacios using math to study intricate networks such as the brain, Linda Abarbanell, Rafael Almeida, and Forest Rohwer conducting diverse projects around the globe, and David Lipson, Pablo Bryant and Jamie Bourdon protecting threatened species and Indigenous traditions alike through conservation, research and partnerships with local tribes at the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve.

The work of our students is just as inspiring. This includes Yesenia Rodriguez Reyes tackling a biological mystery involving bacteria and headless nematodes, Jia Gapuz striving to use computer science to develop health solutions and Trevor Mugoya applying bioinformatics to study factors affecting plant growth patterns.

College of Sciences alumni continue to make significant contributions in the world, such as Court Turner who returned to campus to teach a new course that guides STEM students beyond traditional careers, Carlo Quintanilla advocating for science policies at the NIH, Tracy Beach who partnered with Professor Cristal Zuniga to inspire local fifth graders to pursue STEM careers, and Peter Phillips who works to promote fellow athletes with disabilities and improve healthcare.

Below are further highlights from our College of Sciences community.

Commencement Recap

At Commencement, some of our phenomenal 2025 graduates were highlighted: Rodney Speight Jr. (Physics/Math), Miriam Garcia (Biology), Alyssa Gomez (Chemistry) and Diego Leon (Psychology), as well as doctoral students Nino Shatirishvili (Chemistry) and Ana Shalamberidze (Chemistry).

Check out photos from this year’s Commencement.

Outstanding Faculty and Staff

Every year, each department highlights one faculty and one staff member for their valuable contributions to their department, to the Sciences student body and to the College as a whole. Below are the awardees.

Outstanding Staff

College of Sciences Diversity & Inclusion Committee
Jennifer Schneider

Departments of Astronomy
Dennis Pornan

Department of Biology
Bryan Ngo

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Omar Ortiz 

Department of Computer Science
Sophia Nunez

Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Heather Webb

Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Emily Olmsted

Department of Physics
Gerardo Mendoza Cruz

Department of Psychology
Lynsey Miller

Outstanding Graduates 

Each year, one outstanding graduate from the College of Sciences, in addition to one student from each department in the College, is selected in recognition of their stellar academic accomplishments throughout their undergraduate and graduate level journeys. Below are the awardees, with undergrads’ Most Influential Faculty member who mentored them during their time at SDSU.

Graduate Level

Department of Astronomy
Nissia Indradjaja

Department of Biology
Cecilia Gallo

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Sergio Renteria

Department of Computer Science
Vidas Sileikis

Earth & Environmental Sciences Program
Vanessa Herrera

Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Shoshana Krishel

Department of Physics
Nicholas Schottle

Department of Psychology
Ilse Fleischer

Homeland Security Program
Omar Montano

Regulatory Affairs Program
Pontaah Arbtan

Retiring Faculty

To close, I want to offer thanks to faculty retiring this school year for their remarkable service not only to SDSU and the College, but to their individual fields and the world of STEM generally.

Usha Sinha
Professor, Department of Physics

Marie Roch
Professor, Department of Computer Science

Kate Hattrup
Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology

Congratulations to the Class of 2025 and to all of our faculty, staff and students on an incredible year!

Jeffrey Roberts

Dean, SDSU College of Sciences