On Wednesday, Oct. 21, alumni, donors, faculty, staff and leadership from the College of Science gathered to acknowledge and celebrate achievements at The Alpine. The event was emceed by Paul McFarlane, director of the Fleischmann Planetarium and Science Center, with closing remarks from College of Science Dean Louisa Hope-Weeks.
This year’s alumni awardees, who graduated as long ago as half a century, represent a community of alumni from a diverse range of disciplines, from seismology to behavior analysis. Despite these differences, they share one thing in common: each applies what they’ve learned at UNR to better understand and improve the world.
That work wouldn’t be possible, however, without the generous support of donors. To celebrate its 20th year, the College began honoring individuals and organizations whose philanthropy has made a powerful impact.
This year’s Extraordinary Individual Impact Award goes to Roger Simon. Simon is establishing the Roger Simon Scholarship Endowment to support the academic journeys of students seeking degrees in the College of Science, College of Engineering and the Orvis School of Nursing. The scholarship endowment fund is established to aid hardworking students from low-income backgrounds, with an emphasis on first-generation students.
The George W. Gillemot Foundation is honored as the 2026 Extraordinary Corporate Impact Awardee. The Foundation supported a major overhaul to the beloved Fleischmann Planetarium and Science Center, enabling it to once again be a pioneer amongst planetariums by investing in new technologies that will take visitors to new frontiers. Beyond giving to the College of Science, the George W. Gillemot Foundation has made donations across campus to meaningfully support programs to advance interest in aviation and aerospace engineering.
This year, the College of Science has selected seven alumni to honor. The Distinguished Alumni will also be celebrated at the Nevada Alumni Association Awards Reception the following night.
The Samuel Abraham Goudsmit Medal, the College of Science Distinguished Alumna, is Elizabeth Austin ’91 M.S. (atmospheric physics), ’94 Ph.D. (physics). Austin has found a niche in atmospheric sciences as a forensic meteorologist, working or consulting on over 1,500 cases. She is also an expert in aviation meteorology, mountain weather, cloud and ice physics and more. She is the CEO and Founder of Weather Extreme Ltd., which provides weather and climate consulting services. Austin has been recognized as a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society, with the Henry T. Harrison Award for Outstanding Contributions by a Consulting Meteorologist and as a Fulbright Senior Specialist in France. Austin has served as the Chief Scientist of the Perlan Project, the Chair of the Board of the Certified Consulting Meteorologists and as President of the Association of Certified Meteorologists. She has also written a book titled “Treading on Thin Air” about the impacts of weather on our daily lives.
The Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering Distinguished Alumnus, who receives the John William Mackay Medal, is Joe Kurtak ’73 (geology), ’75 M.S. (geology). Another author, Kurtak wrote “Mine in the Sky: The History of California’s Pine Creek Tungsten Mine and the People Who Were Part of It” about the Pine Creek Mine in the Eastern Sierra where he grew up. After a summer job in Alaska, Kurtak decided he would return and worked as a field geologist there for 40 years. He worked for the federal government conducting mineral assessments and, upon his retirement, has worked as a consultant. Kurtak has also supported the education of young people on mining in Alaska, bringing students from the University of Alaska, Anchorage on field trips and presenting to student groups.
The College of Science’s Professional Achievement Awardee is Erick Luerken ’09 M.S. (mathematics), ’25 Ph.D. (statistics and data science). Luerken is the director of data science at StubHub, where he works on generative AI, causal machine learning and experimentation. He’s held the role since 2024, and has worked in analytics and data science at multiple entertainment companies including Disney ABC Television Group, the Walt Disney Company, Warner Media and Warner Bros. Discovery. Luerken completed his doctoral degree while working full time, taking classes remotely and working on his dissertation, which used statistical models to describe the size and probability of events like financial market crashes and heatwaves.
The Mackay School’s Professional Achievement Awardee is Robert Abbott ’95 (physics), ’01 Ph.D. (geophysics). Abbott is a Distinguished Member of the Technical Staff at Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque. Abbott still finds himself in Nevada, where he studies seismic monitoring, explosion source physics and geophysical characterization of the Nevada National Security Site to support nuclear monitoring efforts. He also employs environmental seismology to study permafrost degradation and sea ice changes. Abbott has used novel techniques with fiber optic cables to learn about explosions and natural events like icequakes and earthquakes.
Finally, the College’s Young Alumni of the Year feature three alums.
First is Melissa Nosik ’10 M.A. (psychology), ’13 Ph.D. (psychology), an expert in credentialing and strengthening organizations. Nosik previously served as a behavior analyst consultant for Washoe County School District. She has trained behavior analysts domestically and internationally and previously served as Deputy Chief Executive Officer for the Behavior Analyst Certification Board, where she spent nearly a decade guiding growth in the discipline. She currently works as the CEO of the Competency & Credentialing Institute, an organization that certifies nurses, and serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute of Credentialing Excellence.
Dr. Isabella Houston-Reiter ’16 (biology) provides compassionate end-of-life care for pets with Forever Companion. Dr. Houston-Reiter earned her doctorate of veterinary medicine from UC Davis’s School of Veterinary Medicine, after which she spent five years working in emergency pet medicine. Her experiences as an undergraduate teaching assistant for biology courses led to a passion for teaching, which she has utilized in her career as a veterinarian to communicate complex and difficult topics to pet owners, enabling them to make informed decisions about their pet’s care.
The most recent graduate of the young alumni is Wander-Alexis Valderrama ’17 (metallurgical engineering), ’20 M.S. (metallurgical engineering). Valderrama grew up in Panama and came to the U.S. speaking primarily Spanish. He participated in UNR's Intensive English Language Center, which he credits with his ability to succeed academically. He worked as a teaching assistant in the Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering before taking on an internship at Freeport-McMoRan. That internship has led to fulltime employment with the company, where he now works in Phoenix as a metallurgist. Along with giving back to the community as treasurer of the Gila Valley SME Section, where he raises money to support student scholarships, Valderamma has served as a liaison between UNR and Freeport, facilitating growth for both the industry and the Mackay School.
The College of Science congratulates the awardees and thanks them for representing the College in meaningful ways.
