Pack Reflections: Celebrating the Spring Class of 2024

Nearly 7,000 students turned their tassels at NC State University’s spring commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 4 at PNC Arena.

The College of Natural Resources conferred 376 degrees, including 324 undergraduate degrees, 43 master’s degrees and nine doctoral degrees.

More than half of the college’s graduates received their degrees with honors, including 87 summa cum laude, 59 magna cum laude and 57 cum laude.

Check out the stories highlighted below to learn more about some of the outstanding students from this year’s graduating class.

Julia Egler

Julia Egler graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in parks, recreation and tourism management from the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management.

Egler served as a member of the James Buzzard Leadership Development Program and the College of Natural Resources Ambassador Program.

She was recently hired by the City of Raleigh to serve as assistant director of the Lake Lynn Park and Community Center.

JT Chappell

John Thomas “JT” Chappell graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in sustainable materials and technology from the Department of Forest Biomaterials.

Chappell served as a laboratory technician with the Hodges Wood Products Laboratory for two years during his time at NC State.

Now that he’s graduated, Chappell plans to return to Hodges Wood Products Laboratory to serve as its temporary business director.

Shrusti Patel

Shrusti Patel graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in environmental technology and management from the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources.

Patel served as a member of the James Buzzard Leadership Development Program and interned with the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality.

She plans to pursue a graduate degree and field experience in hopes of studying the impacts of environmental and occupational contaminants on human health.

Cory Norris

Cory Norris graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in forest management from the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources.

Norris is a third-generation NC State student, following his father and grandfather. His family has been active in the forestry industry for decades through Tri-State Land and Timber, LLC.

He plans to apply to graduate school in hopes of earning a master’s degree in geographic information systems.

Laura Tomkins

Laura Tomkins graduated with a doctoral degree in geospatial analytics from the Center for Geospatial Analytics. She was advised by Sandra Yuter of the College of Sciences.

Tomkins’ dissertation focused on the relationships between weather radar-observed structures within winter storms and surface snow rates.

She was recently hired as a senior atmospheric scientist at Karen Clark and Company in Boston, Massachusetts.