ES Commencement Celebration and Awards Presentation

Our Yearly Celebration of ES's Graduating Class of Scholars!

At the conclusion of each academic year the Environmental Studies Program enjoys hosting a celebratory reception and awards presentation in honor of the year's graduating Environmental Studies seniors. If you are graduating this year we invite you, your family and friends to join us.  During the reception a number of Environmental Studies faculty say a few words as well as present the Environmental Studies Program's senior awards to students who've demonstrated outstanding academic performance and service. Recipients of these awards will be announced in late May and email invitations for the event will be sent out to all ES and HYDRO seniors who have declared candidacy for any quarter during the current calendar year by early May.  So be sure to 'save the date' now and please find below more information about the current year's celebration.

The 2024 Environmental Studies Graduation Celebration and Awards Ceremony will be held in-person on Friday, June 14th from 3:30-5pm. It will be located in the Michael J. Connell Courtyard in Bren Hall.  All graduating seniors and their family and friends are welcome to attend. If you have any questions about this event please email esprogram@es.ucsb.edu

RSVP is requested, but not required, to attend:  If one plans to attend, a RSVP with the total number of guests in your party sent to esprogram@es.ucsb.edu by Tuesday, June 11th, would be appreciated as it helps ES estimate overall attendance and plan accordingly. Please also include in your email RSVP any special mobility needs. However, a RSVP is not required to attend the event  One is always welcome to just show up as we want to include as many of this year's graduates and their family and friends as possible.   

Light refreshments will be available.  We anticipate most students and family will be anxious to head off for a celebratory dinner that evening, so we will just be providing light refreshments during the event to prevent anyone from getting low blood sugar levels before dinner.

Parking for the event: The closest public parking lot/structure to Bren Hall is Parking Structure 10 (see map here). Please note that Lot 1 (directly behind Bren Hall) is restricted for faculty and staff. Parking on campus is limited and will be heavily impacted. For complimentary parking on Friday, please print and display this parking pass on your windshield. No parking fees are collected during Commencement weekend.

Dress/Attire:  This event is designed to be casual/comfortable. There is no need to wear one's commencement cap and gown unless you want to - best to keep them fresh for UCSB's official Commencement Ceremony over the weekend.  But as award winners will be coming up onto a small stage to receive their certificate, and photos likely taken by family members, one might want to consider wearing 'nice' clothes.  ;-)

UCSB COVID-19 policies can be found here: The ES Commencement and Awards Ceremony will be held completely outside in the Bren Hall Courtyard. Masks are no longer required but individuals should use information about the current COVID-19 community levels to guide which prevention behaviors to use and when (at all times or at specific times) based on their own risk for severe illness and that of members of their household, their risk tolerance, and setting-specific factors.

Click on the map to enlarge it.

Environmental Studies Community Award Recipients

View Previous Commencement Programs:

• 2023 ES Commencement Event Program
• 2022 ES Commencement Event Program