UH Hilo celebrates Spring Commencement May 17

The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo celebrates its 2025 Spring Commencement Saturday, May 17, beginning at 9 a.m. at Edith Kanaka`ole Stadium. The ceremony is limited to invited guests and not open to the public. The ceremony may be viewed via livestream at: https://www.youtube.com/live/f74Tr-Ov-7A.

Approximately 520 students have petitioned for degrees and/or certificates and for various post-graduate credentials representing the College of Arts and Sciences, Ka Haka `Ula O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language, College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resource Management, College of Natural and Health Sciences, College of Business and Economics, and Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy.

Dr. Rebecca Ostertag, UH Hilo professor of biology, provides the keynote address. A faculty member at UH Hilo since August 2001, she is also an active member in the University’s Tropical Conservation Biology and Environmental Science M.S. program.

Ostertag teaches a wide variety of biology courses for majors and non-majors, focusing on natural history, conservation, ecology, and biostatistics. She incorporates quantitative assessments, real-life problem solving, and field work into her courses.

“Studying biological science on Hawaiʻi Island offers students opportunities to see the diversity of tropical environments firsthand, and to learn about the many conservation conundrums of living in a place with special and unique biological and cultural diversity,” she said.

As a researcher, Ostertag has been involved in developing two major research initiatives: the Liko Nā Pilina restoration experiment and the Hawaiʻi Permanent Plot Network (HIPPNET). This work combines an understanding of how tree growth, death, and regeneration interact with how forest ecosystems function in terms of nutrient and water cycling—and to use that information to design forest restoration strategies. She also cares deeply about mentoring and has contributed to a variety of internship programs at UH Hilo and internationally to train students and model professionalism. She was recognized as a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America in 2021 and has been active as a Counselor in the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation.

Ostertag is the recipient of the 2005 University of Hawaiʻi Board of Regents Excellence in Teaching Award and the 2011 UH Hilo Award for Excellence in Scholarly/Creative Activities. She received her B.A. from Carleton College and a Ph.D. from the University of Florida.

Psychology major Gwynne Long serves as student speaker. Originally from New Jersey, she moved to Hilo in 2022 to pursue her education in a more connected and community-oriented setting.

During her time at UH Hilo, she has been actively involved in Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology, and the Every Voice Coalition, an advocacy group focused on campus safety and student empowerment. She also worked in child care, which fueled her passion for child psychology and to pursue a career as a child psychologist.

Long credits the supportive community at UH Hilo for helping her grow both academically and personally.

The ceremony will be recorded and available for viewing at: https://hilo.hawaii.edu/commencement/.