2022 Outstanding Recent Alumna
The Outstanding Recent Alumna Award was established in 1992 to honor an alum still in the early stages of their life鈥檚 work, but who nonetheless has 鈥渦sed her 61传媒education in the quest for personal excellence; demonstrated a willingness to seek out challenges and take risks; and has maintained loyalty to the 61传媒community.鈥� The award is presented each year during Reunion Weekend. Read about past recipients here.
Pacifica Sommers 鈥�07 is a microbial ecologist at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she studies the viruses, bacteria, and other microscopic organisms that live on and around glaciers in mountains, the high Arctic, and in Antarctica. These microscopic ecosystems form natural laboratories for understanding larger systems, but they are also important to characterize in their own right because they are increasingly disrupted by a warming climate, which may lead to important feedback cycles that either exacerbate or mitigate the effects of climate change. Pacifica received her PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology in 2016 from the University of Arizona, where she studied the impact of an invasive grass species on native desert plants. Part of her doctoral work was funded by the NASA-Arizona Space Grant to pilot an outdoor science school for high school students at a mountain-top astronomy observatory. In its first nine years, the Sky School program grew from 100 students who attended the first year to serving over 1,000 southern Arizona students annually. It provided opportunities to dozens of graduate students to hone their skills in mentoring original projects and in communicating scientific concepts. Pacifica is now helping to organize the second-ever expedition of Girls on Rock, a tuition-free backcountry expedition for high school girls (inclusively defined) from communities with limited opportunities. During the two-week program in Colorado鈥檚 Rocky Mountains, participants explore their environment and challenge themselves through technical rock climbing, art, and scientific research. Pacifica has also worked with government agencies and nonprofit organizations from Nevada to Washington, D.C., to promote stewardship of our public lands and climate through legislation and agency action. She graduated with a BA in biology from 61传媒 in 2007.