This month, KC Hysmith wore her late mother’s ring across the stage during her doctoral hooding ceremony — nearly 10 years after her mother died.

Two faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences have received The Graduate School’s Faculty Awards for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring: Gary Pielak in the department of chemistry and Kumi Silva in the department of communication.

What do you find at the bottom of the ocean? As a doctoral student in the department of earth, marine and environmental sciences, Chad Lloyd (MS ‘18; Ph.D. ‘23) traveled far off the coast to understand how bacteria breaks down organic matter in the ocean.

Following graduation, Ph.D. student Lucia Stavig plans to continue advocacy work and to uplift the efforts of Indigenous women and communities so they can heal. At Carolina, her adviser was Florence Babb in the department of anthropology in the College of Arts & Sciences. 

The Carolina community near and far can join in on the Doctoral Hooding and Commencement celebrations by livestreaming the ceremonies at commencement.unc.edu.