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    See also my essay for the GIS community in a time of crisis for science entitled A Different Kind of Uncertainty .

Graduation Ceremony Keynote Address to CEOAS Graduates and Families

by Dawn Wright, June 13, 2025

CONGRATULATIONS CEOAS GRADUATES!!! And as the Dean said, you totally DESERVE this celebration!! No doubt, we continue to live in a truly strange, bewildering, challenging, and weird time, when the foundations of science, public health, higher education and more feel under siege. So, first and foremost, my hope for each and every one of you, and your families, is that you continue to be well, that you're able to take things day by day, and that you are surrounded by love, with others to lean on.

To be sure, this moment in time has a LOT to teach us, and way beyond Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences. The dismantling of our federal government, the attacks on science, the racism, hate and reality denial that persist, are holding up mirrors to who America really is, if we choose to look. But to that end, I've been thinking a lot about KINDNESS.

In fact, I will never forget this one time when I was a graduate student in the early '90s, on the campus of UCSB: mid-morning classes were changing, and the crazy traffic on their "interstate freeway system" of bike paths that UCSB is well known for was in FULL SWING. There was a student on crutches standing at one of the busiest parts of the bike path. She waited patiently until she THOUGHT there was enough of a gap in the traffic and then gingerly set out with her crutches. Several of us watched in horror as a student on HIS bike seemed to come out of nowhere and knock her FLAT on her back across the width of the bike path. It was a total hit and run -- he never looked back to see what he had done, and he was going too fast for any of us to catch him. (sounds DOGE-ly familiar). But I will also never forget how another group of students quickly rushed to her aid, in the face of more oncoming traffic, and helped her to cross to the other side.

If that wasn't a metaphor for life, especially as we know it TODAY, I don't know what is.

And so my SECOND hope for EACH of you new CEOAS graduates is that YOU, in addition to your obvious academic brilliance, will continue to practice KINDNESS. Indeed, as scientists and resource managers we know and structure our lives around scientific TRUTH. We are shaped by an enduring faith in the power of evidence and facts. In many parts of this country we still hear the chorus, "Listen to the scientists." But at the same time, our current struggles, including against racism, misogyny and all forms of "otherism" are holding up that mirror to some hard hearts, and tribalism seems to be taking hold harder than ever. We are facing the unhappy reality that the willful suppression or dismissal of facts may be one of the biggest barriers to a more sustainable world. As Harvard's class of 2020 heard from their commencement speaker Martin Baron, then executive editor of The Washington Post (and this was 2020 mind you): "Facts and truth are matters of life and death. Misinformation, disinformation, delusions and deceit can kill."

As such, we are called ... YOU are called ... to turn your science into action, be that in response to science under siege, or systemic racism, or to a biosphere that is dangerously hot and out of balance. And we are ever reminded that this is ultimately a human problem, requiring us to lead with our hearts, as well as our scientific minds. So again there is the KINDNESS, a kindness that does not put others down, that is not TRIBAL, and does NOT separate or segregate. It's a kindness that lifts others up.

I really like what Bernice King said about her father, Martin Luther King, Jr., which I think also applies to us. Like Dr. King, we cannot be a savior, but we can find solutions. We're not THE light but we can be a SINGLE light, driven by love. We're not THE Truth, but we can help reveal truth and speak that truth to power.

As OSU's own Jane Lubchenco has said, "think like a scientist, but talk like a storyteller." And KNOW where your audience is coming from, be they commercial fishermen, ranchers, local school boards, or even your colleagues in other fields who are arbiters of truth too, and who we need to work with in order to build a more sustainable world. We do need... The American journalist and speechwriter Michael Gerson went even further, pointing out that scientists, including environmental scientists and managers, are reminders of a MORAL universe where responsibility is accepted, where a commitment to the common good can be ASSUMED... AND where truth matters. As you graduate you are entering professions that are tragically under heavy political attack, but please know that you are needed now more than ever. Because the TRUTH MATTERS! Don't give up, don't give in, and know that you are not alone.

One of the best science communicators and people on the planet, Liz Neeley of Liminal (and her weekly newsletter Meeting the Moment is a true lifeline for scientists), also wrote in The Atlantic: "it has never been so important to get people to pay attention to hard truths, and perhaps it has never been as difficult to do that as it is right now. The key is to confront the most brutal facts of reality unflinchingly, while maintaining an unwavering hope for the future." And we must not lose faith in the end of the story ...for people, and for the planet. YOU brave graduates of CEOAS can help us get there.

So once again, CONGRATULATIONS! And go forth in the spirit of kindness, actionable HOPE, and truth. You have totally GOT this!!!

Dawn Wright holds a courtesy faculty appointment as Professor of Geography and Oceanography in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences (CEOAS) at Oregon State University. Her research interests include seafloor mapping and tectonics, ocean conservation, environmental informatics, and ethics in information technology. She is an elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences, the US National Academy of Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Dawn is also very much into road cycling, the Indiana Fever, apricot green tea gummy bears, 18th-century pirates, her dog Riley, and SpongeBob Squarepants. Follow her on Bluesky @deepseadawn and on LinkedIn @deepseadawn.

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