UH Hilo 2025 Spring Commencement scheduled for May 17; ecologist to keynote, psychology major is student speaker
UH Hilo Professor of Biology Becky Ostertag is keynote; psychology major Gwynne Long is student speaker.
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo will celebrate 2025 Spring Commencement Saturday, May 17, beginning at 9:00 a.m. at Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium. (Update: Video of full event at right.)
The ceremony is limited to invited guests and not open to the public. The event will be livestreamed and also recorded for later viewing on the commencement website (and video posted here at right).
Approximately 520 students have petitioned for degrees and/or certificates and for various post-graduate credentials.
The students represent the College of Agriculture, Forestry, and Natural Resource Management; College of Arts and Sciences; College of Business and Economics; College of Natural and Health Sciences; Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy; and Ka Haka ʻUla O Keʻelikōlani College of Hawaiian Language.
Keynote speaker: Professor of Biology Rebecca Ostertag
UH Hilo Professor of Biology Rebecca Ostertag will deliver the keynote address.
Professor Ostertag, who arrived at UH Hilo in 2001, is a tropical forest ecologist; her research focuses on understanding the structure and function of Hawaiian lowland wet forests. She teaches a variety of courses, to both undergraduate and graduate students, in ecology, natural history, conservation, biostatistics, and theory and methods, among others.
“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 says.
Many of her students participate in her field work and research. She heads two major research initiatives: the Liko Nā Pilina restoration experiment and the Hawaiʻi Permanent Plot Network. 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.
About her keynote address, Ostertag says it’s an honor to be chosen.
“I do not want to do a traditional graduation speech where I talk about my pathway and the obstacles I have overcome,” she says. “Instead, I (will) share observations I have made from teaching UH Hilo students for over 20 years. These observations come as four vignettes. The central messages are embrace lifelong learning; value different perspectives; mālama the ‘āina (care for the land); and nourish your ʻohana. For each of these I will share a small story.”
Professor Ostertag 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 also is key developer of several educational programs, including the tropical conservation biology and environmental science graduate program in which she teaches and is a thesis advisor.
Within the UH System, Ostertag was awarded the UH Board of Regents Excellence in Teaching Medal in 2005 and the UH Hilo Chancellor’s Award for Scholarly/Creative Activities in 2011.
In 2021, she was recognized as a Fellow of the Ecological Society of America and has been active as a Counselor in the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation.
In 2023, she was recognized in global rankings by Research.com as a top scientist in the field of environmental science. She was ranked No. 1,684 in the U.S. and No. 4,678 in the world with a D-index of 35; 7,754 citations; and 81 publications.
Professor Ostertag received her bachelor of arts in biology, with honors, from Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota, and her doctor of philosophy in botany from the University of Florida, Gainesville.
Student Speaker: Psychology major Gwynne Long
Psychology major Gwynne Long is the 2025 Spring Commencement student speaker. Originally from New Jersey, Long moved to Hilo in 2022 to pursue her education in a more connected and community-oriented setting.
“I’m passionate about helping children and adolescents navigate challenges, build resilience, and thrive,” says Long on her LinkedIn page. She works in child care off campus, which fueled her passion for child psychology and to pursue a career as a child psychologist. “I want to focus on providing compassionate care and practical support for kids and their families.”
Long credits the supportive community at UH Hilo for helping her grow both academically and personally. She is currently working at the campus’s Aging and Social Cognition Laboratory, and 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.
Jennifer Turner, assistant professor of psychology and director of the Aging and Social Cognition Lab where Long works, has taught her in several classes over the years.
“I’m so happy she was accepted for this honor (as student speaker), and I’m so proud of her and her achievements,” says Turner. “Gwynne is a very engaged and thoughtful student, and I’ve been so very impressed by her growth. I’m going to miss her insight, perspective, and positive attitude.”
Turner says she remembers when Long took a class on developmental psychology during Turner’s first semester at UH Hilo in fall of 2022.
“She was still getting the hang of college and figuring out what she wanted to do in the future,” says Turner. “Then, in spring 2023, she took (my class on) psychology of aging, and it was amazing to see her come into her own with her application of psychology to her ‘Interview an Older Adult’ paper, as well as see her conquer her fear of statistics in the fall of 2023 — she started the semester with intimidation, but ended the semester with an A.”
This academic year, Long was a member of the first class to take a new course on death and dying where she did a report on the Trobrianders of Papau New Guinea.
“It was obvious that she learned a lot in that class and was able to apply the material broadly,” says Turner. “Thus, when she reached out about joining the lab for this spring semester because she aspires to apply for graduate school and wanted to have the strongest application as well as experience with research, there was no doubt that she would be a fantastic addition to the lab.”
“She’s been a wonderful, conscientious assistant and a real pleasure to work with, both with writing and other laboratory tasks,” adds Turner. “I know that no matter what she chooses to do in the future that she’ll be successful.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional information on keynote address.
Story by Susan Enright, public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
