A huge Wolfpack congratulations to our 381 new graduates! 🎓🎉 Your hard work, resilience and passion have led you to this incredible milestone, and we’re honored to celebrate all you’ve accomplished. #NCState26 @NCState

📸: Relive some of today’s commencement and reception memories.

Meet this spring’s college graduate commencement speaker: Ana Cubas-Baez. 👋 🎓

A soon-to-be #NCState26 alumna, Ana is graduating with a Ph.D. in forestry and environmental resources. She enrolled at NC State as a Fulbright Scholar in 2020 to earn her master’s degree in natural resources.

In 2024, Ana was named a member of the Kiets Climate Leaders Program (@kietsclimateleadersprogram), and she also completed an international research internship with the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry and the Rights and Resources Initiative.

As part of her dissertation, Ana`s work has focused on forest governance, conservation and climate change, from studying how rural households in the Peruvian Amazon experience forest-based climate change mitigation initiatives to examining private forest landowner decision-making in the southern United States.

After graduation, Ana plans to continue building a career focused on forests, conservation, sustainable natural resource management and climate policy after graduation.

"I grew up surrounded by forests, and from an early age, I felt a strong connection to nature and a deep desire to protect the natural world. That connection is what first led me to study forestry engineering.

During my undergraduate studies and later, while working for an environmental nongovernmental organization, I began to see that many forestry challenges were more than technical matters. They were also about people, policies and complex socio-environmental dynamics. That experience inspired me to ask deeper questions about who benefits from conservation initiatives, who participates in decision-making and why decisions about forests differ across contexts." -@cubasanita

🔗 Read more about Ana at the link in our bio.

Meet this spring’s college undergraduate commencement speaker: sport management major Isis Stamm.

A soon-to-be #NCState 26 alumna, Isis is turning her passion for sports into a career in athletics. During her journey at NC State, she worked as a recruiting intern for NC State Football (@packathletics), supporting recruiting operations, coordinating visits and assisting with event execution. She also served as a club lacrosse operations assistant, gaining experience in team logistics.

Outside of NC State Athletics, Isis has been an active member of the Women in Sport Club (@womeninsportncsu), and she also worked as a student marketeer with Red Bull.

After graduation, Stamm plans to continue working in her current role with NC State Football’s recruiting department, further developing her experience in collegiate athletics while pursuing future opportunities in football operations.

“One of the most meaningful aspects of my academic experience has been courses that focused on the operations and management side of sports. These classes allowed me to connect what I was learning in the classroom to my hands-on experiences in athletics.
Being able to apply real-world scenarios to coursework helped reinforce my understanding and gave me confidence in my ability to succeed in the industry. It also helped me better understand the strategic and business side of sports beyond what is visible on the surface.” —@isstamm

🔗 Read more about Isis at the link in our bio.