Last night, nine alumni of the Faculty of Science and the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering were identified for their achievements. The annual Reception of distinguished alumni of the Faculty of Science alumni whose contributions have complex the project of the Faculty and the University.
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These alumni have won the Faculty of Science and Mackay School Alumni of the Year awards, the College of Science and Mackay School Professional Achievement Awards, and the 2022 Young Alumni Awards. Acting Dean Katherine McCall and Mackay’s Director of Engineering and Earth Sciences Annie Huhta moderated and introduced the winners, of whom she commented. Below you will find information about the winners.
John King ’77 (Renewable Natural Resources, Wildlife Management), ’82 MS (Biology)
John King was born in Eastern Nevada in 1942 and is a proud lifelong Nevadan.
“And 35 years later, I became an equally proud Reno alumnus of the University of Nevada,” King said. “Obviously, it took me a while to make it, but until I was 30, when I became a freshman at the University, I still hadn’t selected the career path as a wildlife biologist that would occupy my next 50 years. “
In 1977, after earning his bachelor’s degree in control from the College of Agriculture’s Renewable Natural Resources Program, King accepted a position in the Nevada Department of Wildlife and began applying for a master’s degree in biology in the College of Science.
King’s master’s studies have helped the state refine and control the offspring of Lake Marlette’s cutthroat trout.
“Subsequent work with the state’s wildlife control company has continued to provide great private satisfaction, in the spaces of public interaction, protection and editing of wildlife habitat, and in many opportunities to see Nevada and its natural resources in tactics that otherwise would not have been possible,” said the King.
King has discovered tactics to remain concerned and give back to the University, especially his photography.
“Over the years, my interest in photography has allowed me to make a contribution to the systems by donating quality animal prints to their fundraising efforts,” he said. I need to organize, for example, the Nevada State Museum in Carson City, the Belmont Courthouse in Belmont, and even the biology branch of the University’s College of Science!”
In 2014, he and his wife donated $85 to an exhibition and auction held at the Davidson Center for Science and Mathematics. All copies were sold and all proceeds went to the biology department.
Patricia King ’73 (Biology), ’75 MS (Biology), ’80 PhD (Biology)
Patricia King attended college to earn her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees, all in biology. His love for Nevada and its activities is evident in his current studies and hobbies.
“While I am proud to be an alumnus of the University of Nevada, Reno, I am surprised that my alma mater considers me ‘distinguished,’ unless it refers to my age!”
During his doctoral studies, he investigated the Little Valley snowfactory under the supervision of professors Edgar Kleiner and Fritz Went.
“At the time, the importance of mycorrhizae had been poorly studied,” King said. “I hope my paints have contributed to a greater role in nutrient cycling. “
King participated in Earthwatch programs, conducting box studies on the flora and fauna of the Great Basin. The data he collected provided baseline data for time scholars to compare with each other. He also conducted box investigations to investigate the capability of radar data in the distribution of Space Shuttle Challenger’s plant network as it flew over parts of Nevada.
King is a proud member of the Explorers Club, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Xi, the UC Davis Shields Society and the Nevada Legacy Society. He is also a member of the Whittell Forest Advisory Committee. The committee oversees and makes recommendations about the University. box station, Little Valley, where he completed his PhD.
“Currently, I dedicate my time to volunteering with the Lahontan Audubon Society (student field trips) and the Nevada State Museum in Carson City, where I expand natural systems for scholars and share my love for our glorious state,” King said. I’m not at home in Washoe Valley, you can place me in the desert writing cowboy poetry, taking pictures and enjoying solitude in our cabin in Smoky Valley. “
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kings hosted an annual biology alumni reunion at their home. They hope to resume meetings next year to renew friendships, be informed about the Department’s progress since they’ve been there, and note tactics in which alumni who wish to do so can make them more concerned about the University.
William Greenslade ’65 (geological engineering)
William Greenslade earned his bachelor’s degree in geological engineering, but did not expect to attend Mackay’s School of Engineering and Earth Sciences, formerly the Mackay School of Mines, even as he began his studies.
Greenslade attended El Camino Junior College in Torrance, California.
“There I benefited from a very passionate geology professor, Bernard Pipkin, who sparked my interest in earth science,” Greenslade said. He enrolled at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, the tuition made him unable to continue his studies there.
“Like many unfortunate occasions in life, this turned out to be one of the most productive things that has happened to me when I discovered the Mackay School of Mines at the University of Nevada at Reno,” Greenslade said.
Greenslade discovered at Mackay School the burgeoning box of hydrogeology and an “exceptional” to teach it.
“I have great memories of E. R. Larson, Joseph Lintz, Lon McGirk, David Slemmons and Dean Vernon Scheid; a young student couldn’t have asked for better organization of the faculty,” Greenslade said.
He earned a master’s degree in hydrogeology with George Maxey at the Desert Research Institute, who was his thesis advisor and mentor.
After graduating, Greenslade had a very successful career in the consulting industry. He was able to work for a foreign company, in 15 foreign countries and work in the United States. He continues to work as a hydrogeology representative and actively participates in professional activities. .
Greenslade appointed through the governor the Arizona Technical Registration Board for engineers, architects, surveyors, geologists and assayers as a geology member, and also served as chairman of the board. He served as president of the Arizona Chapter of the American Institute of Professional Geologists (AIPG) for 3 separate terms and most recently serves as Chapter Treasurer. He won the AIPG Section National Leadership Award in 2021 and received the Arizona Hydrologic Society Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.
“I’m a car guy and when I’m not working, you can find me in the garage restoring extravagant Italian Alfa Romeo cars,” Greenslade said. “My wife Terry and I love and care for our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. “
Thomas Howell ’68 PhD (Chemistry)
Thomas Howell was born in Honolulu, Hawaii and moved with his circle of relatives to the Bay Area in 1949. He earned his undergraduate degree in San Jose State and attended the University of Nevada, Reno in 1964 when Cyrus Guss began a new PhD. D. . program in chemistry. Howell’s thesis advisor, Garry Fickes, and Howell finished their graduate studies in biological physical chemistry in 1968.
“While in college, I met my wife Ann (’63 Bachelor of Science in Chemistry), a sixth-generation Nevada, and we moved to the Philadelphia domain in 1968,” Howell said.
He began his professional career there for Rohm and Haas and worked there for 35 years as a researcher and manager in the fiberboxes, monomers and ion exchange. During his career, Howell held six patents on the ion exchange box. After passing the U. S. Patent Attorneys exam, you can take the exam. In the U. S. , Howell spent the last 12 years at Rohm and Hass as a patent liaison for commercial spaces (biocides, automotive additives, plastics, detergents, and non-public care products).
“While in the East, Ann and I took our first trip to Africa in 1978 with the Philadelphia Zoo, and we were hooked,” Howell said. “Over the years, we have traveled to Africa nine more times (eight countries), most recently to Tanzania in 2014, photographing and enjoying the wildlife and birds of East and Southern Africa.
After retiring in 2002, Howell and his family returned to Reno.
“I am an avid baseball fan and have visited over forty-five Major League Baseball fields over the years. I was pleased to see Reno get a AAA team in 2009,” he said. I’ve been playing ever since. “
Howell joined the workforce to patent for a few years for a local attorney, preparing and pursuing patent programs for gaming machines, gaming systems, advanced automotive engine design, biofuel synthesis, and corrosion inhibition formulations.
He and his wife remain worried about college, where they attend Discover Science conferences. They also established an annual scholarship fund for undergraduate chemistry students in 2013.
Nancy Houghton ’75 (Geology)
“The kaleidoscope of landscapes that dominated my young people led me to expand a constant interest in the formation of the earth and the minerals that make up the earth’s crust and deeper,” said Nancy Houghton. He graduated from the University in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in geology. “The first landscapes I encountered were the hills carved through glaciers, valleys with abundant lakes and pine forests in the lush lands of Michigan. “
Nancy’s interest in rocks began at an early age. He saw igneous and metamorphic rocks when his circle of relatives moved to Southern California and noticed how the sandstone contrasted sharply with the desert terrain when his circle of relatives moved back to Las Vegas.
Houghton began his undergraduate studies as a journalism major, but took Jim Firby’s 101 geology course to meet his clinical requirements. Excursions to the Sierra Nevada and the Truckee River fascinated her and she changed her specialty to study geology. He worked long hours in many other laboratories, especially the optics laboratory.
He met fellow student Guillermo Houghton from Honduras. They were friends and fell in love and got married. Their two daughters, Diana and Samantha, and granddaughter Josephine, have been the delight of their lives together.
Houghton discovered his perfect, long-term career in mineralogy and identity techniques in David “Burt” Slemmons’ optical mineralogy class. After graduating, Nancy and Guillermo moved to Honduras where Nancy worked for the Directorate of Mines and Hydrocarbons for some years. The Houghtons returned to the United States and moved to Texas, where Nancy worked in the oil industry for the rest of her career and earned her master’s degree in geology from Southern Methodist University. He studied rocks from all over the world, although many of his projects were discovered in Latin America, and lived part-time in Mexico. Nancy also worked for a short time as editor of the Pacific Bulletin of the SEPM. She has been accepted as a certified petroleum geologist through the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG). During his career, he has written articles on photographic techniques, the scanning electron microscope, and a popular petrographic microscope. He also provided the thin-segment canopy photograph for Litton Industries’ 1986 annual shareholder report.
Nancy longed to return to the mountains and moved to Colorado, where she worked for several years before retiring. He lives there with his dog, Ginger, and enjoys walks and hikes in the Rocky Mountains. He also started making artisanal bread in a Dutch oven.
Cyndy Soto ’16 MA (Psychology), ’21 Ph. D. (Psychology)
Cyndy G. Soto-Lopez grew up in Surprise, Arizona and developed a volunteer interest in psychology in high school. She attended Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2010.
Soto pursued his hobby of psychology by studying in the doctoral program in clinical psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he earned his Master’s Degree in Psychology in 2016 and earned his Ph. D. in 2021 from the College of Science. Her studies and clinical education have largely focused on identifying unique desires and offering evidence-based mental facilities to Latinx and other underserved populations.
Since graduating, Soto-López has completed her postgraduate education at La Clínica V. I. V. A. and the SOAR First Episode of Psychosis (FEP) of the Faculty of Medicine and was hired as a psychologist. At La Clinica VIVA, a netpaintings-based culturally specific outpatient clinic committed to helping Latinx and other cultural minorities who have experienced interpersonal violence through evidence-based, culturally sensitive behavioral fitness facilities, she provides clinical facilities in English and Spanish. At SOAR First Episode Psychosis, Soto-Lopez provides clinical facilities in English and Spanish to a clientele comprised primarily of children, adolescents, and adults facing a first episode of psychosis and their families. In either clinic, Soto-Lopez continues the jobs she began at the University as a graduate student with Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology Lorraine Benuto, educating and supervising underrepresented graduate interns who provide services. culturally appropriate for ethnic minority guests. She also leads a monthly gathering organization with other netpainting providers who work with Spanish-speaking clients with whom they engage in meaningful discussions on unique issues of offering facilities to minority populations. In her spare time, Soto-López enjoys spending time with her family, camping, cooking and taking short walks with her dog.
Elizabeth Everest ’19 (Biology)
Elizabeth Everest earned her bachelor’s degree in biology in 2019 and is lately pursuing her master’s degree in biology at the University. During his university studies, Everest became interested in aquatic conservation.
Everest spent the summer after graduation conducting invasive species studies in Lake Tahoe at a booth at the University’s Global Water Center, led by Sudeep Chandra.
“During the winter of 2019, I fulfilled one of my dreams by choosing a PADI-qualified dive instructor,” Everest said. The diving skills you have learned will be convenient in the coming years of your research. He returned to Tahoe in 2020 to monitor cutting-edge technologies to help control the expansion of invasive plants in Sierra Jewel.
In 2020, Everest accepted the U. S. Fulbright student program. The U. S. Department of Health and Prevention is working in the U. S. to conduct fish conservation studies in Cambodia with the Wonders of the Mekong project. After delaying his travels for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Everest traveled to Cambodia and spent a year studying the Mekong and Tonle Sap systems. His paintings there contributed to the discovery of the world’s largest freshwater fish, a giant Mekong stingray weighing 661 pounds. He returned to the United States and college in June to begin his master’s degree.
“I plan to examine fisheries control and conservation in Cambodia, following the studies of my Fulbright year,” Everest said. “It is an honor to be identified as a 2022 Graduate of the Year by the university, which has opened the door to so many opportunities to learn, grow and venture. “
Marco Velotta ’06 (Geography),’08 MS (Spatial Planning)
Marco Velotta obtained his bachelor’s degree in geography and his master’s degree in spatial planning from the University. He came to the University of Las Vegas, where he is now a board-certified planner, most recently overseeing the development of long-term plans in the City of Las Vegas.
“Everything I’ve learned from my time at the University of Nevada, Reno, I’ve been able to put into practice professionally, and I’m fortunate to be able to do it myself to improve and sustain our network and our state. “Velota said.
The biggest achievement so far in his career, he said, has been crafting and overseeing the adoption of the City of Las Vegas’ 2050 Master Plan, the city’s 30-year global vision for the future. The plan addresses a variety of issues, whether short-term and long-term, adding zoning, affordable housing, water, transportation, parks and recreation, economic progress and public safety. He worked extensively with the city administration, the plan drawing commission, Mayor Goodman and the City Council to expand the plan and despite the pandemic, he said was rewarding. He is now busy implementing various parts of this plan, in collaboration with City departments and network members.
“I’m a big supporter of the University’s land concession mission,” Velotta said. “I continue to paint professionally with schools and schools at the university, adding Cooperative Extension, Mackay School of Earth Science and Engineering, College of Science, College of Engineering and the College of Business. “He participated in focused groups at the University on topics similar to sustainability and painted in educational sessions and in convention and program planning. “The most productive is to make a contribution to the scholarship budget for existing and long-term students. I am also an avid supporter of Wolf Pack athletics and attend games when groups stop in Southern Nevada for the normal season or Mountain West tournament.
When not working, Velotta enjoys spending time with her circle of family and traveling.
“I especially travel all the way to Tahoe, but I also love going to hidden gems like our stunning and varied state parks like Valley of Fire, Spring Valley, Cathedral Gorge, Cave Lake and exclusive places like Mt. Charleston and Mountains Rubis. I play soccer, golf, exercise, and hiking, but when I’m not doing any of that, a couch with a book, Netflix or HBO is fine too.
Christopher Kratt ’05 MS (Geology)
After growing up in New Hampshire, Christopher Kratt served four years in the Marine Corps, spent four summers as a guide for Shasta Mountain and acted as a ski patrolman in explosive avalanches. Without knowing it, those reports would shape their interest in the future. all the life of paintings in the geosciences.
In 2002, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, where he earned formal education in remote sensing, geology, and geographic data systems (GIS). Groundwater exploration corporation in the northeastern United States.
He moved to Reno in 2003 to pursue a master’s degree in geology with Wendy Calvin. Here, he focused on geothermal exploration employing remote sensing symbol research techniques. Immediately after graduating in 2005, he joined the Desert Research Institute to paint about projects pursuing geothermal exploration. He published the discovery of several hidden geothermal systems in Nevada employing remote sensing, GIS, and near-surface temperature mapping techniques with Mark Coolbaugh. The United States, Alaska, Honduras and Jordan while applying for Zonge International, a Reno-based geophysical facilities contractor. In 2017, Kratt joined the University’s Center for Transformative Environmental Monitoring Programs as a lab coordinator and began teaching implemented geophysics alongside John Louie.
Beyond winter, Kratt is part of a small scientific team participating in the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration in the Antarctic Deep Field. Just a few weeks ago, he returned from a hydrogeothermal studies assignment in the Philippines. Kratt lately enjoys offering internships in job opportunities and mentoring for top students in school, undergraduate and graduate school. Outside of his professional pursuits, Kratt enjoys being physically ready for the next clinical box deployment through mountain running, mountain biking, scuba diving and various ski modes.
Last night, the winners of the University Prize of the Faculty of Sciences were also recognized. Tonight, the Nevada Alumni Association and Distinguished Alumni Awards will be presented to 4 students from the College of Science, including, for their remarkable achievements, Dr. Erik Beever. 99. (EECB), Tim Crowley ’92 B. S. (Geography) and Stephanie Hansen ’99 B. S. (Philosophy and Physics), ’03 Ph. D. (Physics). Dana Bennett will earn a University Service Award.
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