2026 Honorees and Scholars

Honorary Degree Recipient

Basil Seggos

Basil Seggos is widely known for his extensive experience creating and implementing groundbreaking policy focused on energy, climate and environment in both federal and state contexts. He has deep knowledge on how to successfully deliver multidisciplinary projects, advise corporate strategy, and analyze law and regulatory policy.

Basil works on renewable energy and environmental issues, complex project siting and permitting, environmental compliance, remediation and redevelopment of contaminated land, government and stakeholder relations, and crisis management. His practice also includes climate change resiliency and adaptation, greenhouse gas emissions reductions, environmental sustainability and environmental corporate social responsibility.

Basil previously served as the longest-tenured Commissioner of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, from 2015 through 2024. As chief of an agency of over 3,300 professionals, he positioned New York State as a global leader on climate and the environment.

In this capacity, he oversaw programs and policy that included protecting and restoring New York State’s air, lands, and waters and combatting climate change through fostering the clean energy economy. Basil’s experience included overseeing the continued rebuilding of the state’s water infrastructure and devising and implementing statewide climate resiliency defenses.

Basil was instrumental in the passage of New York's nation-leading climate change law, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, and served as the co-chair of its implementing body, the Climate Action Council. He also devised and was responsible for the $5.5 billion Clean Water Infrastructure Act, oversaw the nation’s largest Clean Water/Drinking Water revolving loan program, and spearheaded the reauthorization of the State's Superfund law, reforms of the Brownfield Tax Credit program and numerous Environmental Justice and Indian Nations Affairs programs. As co-chair of the State's Drinking Water Quality Council, Basil oversaw the establishment of the nation’s most protective water quality standards for emerging contaminants such as PFOA/PFOS and 1,4-dioxane. He also devised and launched the implementation of the state’s $4.2 billion Clean Water Clean Air Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act.

Basil led the response and recovery to numerous natural and human-induced disasters and crises. He helped lead the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. He took several periods of leave to deliver humanitarian aid and ambulances in wartorn Ukraine. While in state service, Basil served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Student Speaker

Isabella Uzcategui
Cazenovia, New York
Paper Engineering with a management minor

Isabella Uzcategui earned the Nicholas Edward DeCandia Memorial Scholarship, selected by peers and faculty. This honor recognizes students who exemplify integrity, respect for others, and a commitment to personal achievement and the well-being of others.

While at ESF, Uzcategui has worked as a tutor at the Academic Success Center and completed two internships with Irving Tissue in Macon, Georgia, and a co-op with Packaging Corporation of America in Jackson, Alabama.

After graduation, she will return to Jackson to work as a paper production engineer. She is grateful for all ESF has given her and looks forward to sharing her experiences and celebrating the remarkable ESF community at commencement.

Class Marshals

Bailey Cunha-Bustamante 
Santa Rosa, California
Biochemistry 

Bailey Cunha-Bustamante was the recipient of the 2026 President’s Award for Student Excellence and devoted significant service to ESF as vice president of the Mighty Oak Student Assembly, chemistry department senator, wellness ambassador, chemistry teaching assistant and tutor, secretary of Alchemist’s Society, orientation leader, and co-founder of the Pre-Health Club. Cunha-Bustamante has maintained a high GPA and has landed on either President’s or Dean’s lists every semester. Cunha-Bustamante is consistently willing to help others. She exemplifies what makes ESF a special environment for innumerable students, and will be remembered here for her contributions to the ESF community. After graduation, Cunha-Bustamante  will move to Roosevelt Island in Manhattan to study for the MCAT and work as a phlebotomist.

Leila Kaufman 
Battery Park City, Manhattan, New York 
Conservation Biology and Environmental Education and Interpretation with recreation resource and protected area management and environmental literature and rhetoric minors

Leila Kaufman apprenticed for three years in the Roosevelt Wild Life Collections, and dedicated themself to promoting the academic success of her peers. Kaufman is known on campus as Mighty Oaks Student Assembly’s chief student experience officer, orientation leader, and teaching assistant for environmental physics, general ecology, and general biology lab.

They served as media coordinator and co-revitalizer of the Pre-Vet Club, treasurer of Jewish Acorns, vice president of the Sexuality and Gender Alliance and co-creator of the SAGA Community Closet, volunteer coordinator for ESF’s Alpha Xi Sigma Honors Society, secretary of Herpetology Club, and organizer of ESF’s annual Clown Day. They embody the ESF ethos as a Student Ambassador and Young Naturalist employee for K-12 Outreach programs. After graduation, Kaufman will return to Manhattan to pursue a career in museum education and contribute to nature programming in their community. 

SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Student Excellence Recipients

This award is the highest honor bestowed upon students by the State University of New York.

Gabrielle “Gabby” Augustin-Orcel
Brooklyn, New York
Environmental Studies Major with environmental writing and and rhetoric minor

Gabrielle “Gabby” Augustin-Orcel served on the New York City public schools Youth Leadership Council and hosted the NYC Department of Education Youth Climate Summit. She contributed to the nonprofit From Soil to Boil, based in St. Lucia.

At ESF, Augustin-Orcel participated in the Louis Stokes Minority Participation (LSAMP) program, conducting research on how increased access to fresh fruits and vegetables in St. Lucia supports improved community health outcomes. She co-wrote a grant for the St. Lucia National Conservation Fund to expand nonprofit operations.

She worked as an environmental justice and food research assistant, developing initiatives to bring healthier food options to campus. She studied abroad on Crete, Greece, where she collaborated on a municipal plan involving the Kastelli International Airport. She earned the SUNY Global Learning for All scholarship and served as the equity, diversity, and inclusion chair for Alpha Omega Epsilon. Augustin-Orcel intends to take a gap year before pursuing a master's degree in environmental sustainability and policy.

Raymond Bailey
Coram, New York
Conservation Biology with recreation resource and protected area management, water resources, and marine science minors

During Raymond Bailey’s time at ESF he participated in more than nine clubs or organizations and volunteered on and off campus. He restarted the ESF Entomology Club in 2023 and was vice president of the ESF chapter of the American Fisheries Society (AFS).

He organized the inaugural ESF AFS Chapter Conference, held on campus in December, raising $3,800 in sponsorships and attracting more than 130 attendees. He was an orientation leader, student ambassador, undergraduate teaching assistant, and chief financial officer for the Mighty Oaks Student Assembly from 2023–25.

Norman R. McConney Jr. Award Recipient

Roberto Ortiz Guarneros
Mount Vernon, New York
Landscape Architecture

Roberto Ortiz Guarneros (Or-teez Gwar-nair-ohs) is a landscape architecture student and participant in ESF’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP). After growing up working in his family’s landscaping business, Ortiz Guarneros came to ESF with the goal of expanding his reach. While completing his degree and taking classes that sharpened his design skills and knowledge of plants and materials, he made important connections on and off campus. On-campus, Ortiz

Guarneros was the vice president of the MANNRS club and was active in EOP, tutoring other landscape architecture students. During summers, Ortiz Guarneros worked in Syracuse mowing city parks and interned with local design-build company Green Scapes. He also participated in a three-month small business development program at the INSPYRE Innovation Hub in Syracuse. Ortiz Guarneros is excited to build upon the skills and connections he has made through his own business, Arbol Design Scapes in Westchester County.

Coordinator of Graduation Activites

Tim Phelps
Clifton Park, New York
Paper Engineering with a sustainable construction minor

Tim Phelps has been active in with several on-campus organizations, including the Bob Marshall Club, the Student Government Association, and the Mighty Oaks Student Assembly. Through these organizations, Phelps served the campus community by leading weekly Food Recovery Network runs and coordinating trail maintenance projects with the Bob Marshall Club. Phelps has been a commissioner of the Finance Board for Syracuse University and ESF for three years, where he has provided support for over 100 clubs and organizations overseeing the allocation of more than $3 million annually. He consistently made the President's and Dean's lists for academic excellence. Phelps looks forward to continuing his work in product sustainability at the Carrier Corporation as part of the Engineering Leadership Program.

Department Scholars

Chemical Engineering

Isabella Uzcategui
Cazenovia, New York
Paper Engineering with a management minor

Chemistry

Abigail Geschwindt
Reading, Pennsylvania
Environmental Chemistry

Abigail Geschwindt is an undergraduate researcher specializing in marine chemistry, with a focus on photochemical carbon monoxide production in seawater. She built a strong foundation through laboratory and field-based-research examining the behavior and transformation of dissolved organic matter in seawater. Her work investigated photochemical carbon monoxide production, linking changes in organic matter composition to underlying chemical processes using spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques.

As an Honors student, she completed a thesis on relationships between carbon monoxide photoproduction and optical properties in natural waters. Geschwindt participated in a 19-day oceanographic research cruise aboard the R/V Endeavor collecting seawater samples and conducting photochemical experiments. She also served as a general chemistry teaching assistant, orientation leader, and Honors Society officer.

Environmental Biology

Katherine “Kate” Van Der Vliet
Huntington, Vermont
Environmental Biology

Kate Van Der Vliet is an avid botanist with a passion for identifying mosses, trees, lichens, and fungi. She assisted in the development of a lichen inventory of the Cranberry Lake Biological Station, researched Usnea lichens at the New York State Museum, and participated in the annual Tuckerman and Crum lichen and moss identification workshop. She contributed to three publications on the effects of diet on asthma at the University of Vermont and researched nematodes as a biocontrol agent at Cornell University.

Van Der Vliet was a member of the Timber Sports team, competing in the Jack and Jill and Women’s divisions. Her team won the 2025 and 2026 Northeast Collegiate Woodsmen’s Conclave, and she is an Academic All-American athlete.

She enjoys contra and West Coast Swing dancing. After graduation, she will return to Cranberry Lake as the student wellness manager.

Environmental Resources Engineering

Lucien Sadykov
Brooklyn, New York
Environmental Resources Engineering with a mathematics minor

Lucien Sadykov completed internships with the New York State Department of Transportation and Arcadis, applying coursework-based expertise in GIS, hydrology, stormwater management, and remediation. He contributed to environmental engineering as an assistant in Dr. Yaqi You's EMR Lab, supporting a literature review and gaining hands-on research experience.

On campus, Sadykov served four years as head assistant in the chemical stockroom, training students and supporting daily operations. As three-term president of Jewish Acorns, he led the organization's transformation from a Special Interest Group to a Registered Student Organization. Sadykov passed the Fundamentals of Engineering exam and will join STV's New York City office as an environmental engineering intern before pursuing a master’s degree. In August, he will begin an M.S. in civil engineering at Lehigh University. He is concentrating on catastrophe modeling and disaster resilience, with an interest in urban flood resilience.

Environmental Science

Vignesh Karnik
Spring, Texas
Environmental Health

Vignesh Karnik is an emerging scholar at the intersection of environmental health, neuroscience, and infectious disease. In 2025, he received a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship at SUNY Upstate Medical University, investigating the toxic effects of PM2.5 on pulmonary injury and inflammation. His independent research on autonomic dysregulation in post-polio syndrome patients was accepted to the International SLEEP Conference 2026, and his work on neuroinflammatory sequelae following COVID infection was submitted for publication in “Viruses.”

As president of the Environmental Health Club and a three-year teaching assistant for the environmental health orientation course, Karnik demonstrated sustained leadership and commitment to undergraduate education. This summer, he will matriculate into the Doctor of Medicine program at SUNY Upstate Medical University, with a commitment to equity-centered clinical practice.

Environmental Studies

Jillian Scocca
Lido Beach, New York
Environmental Education and Interpretation with environmental writing and rhetoric, and recreation resource and protected area management minors.

Jillian Scocca is graduating as an environmental educator and will begin a six-month position at Acadia National Park with Friends of Acadia. At ESF, Scocca was a four-year member of the Student Environmental Education Coalition and the Bob Marshall Club, serving most recently as president and vice president for either club; respectively. As a member of these organizations, Scocca was able to engage with members of the ESF and Syracuse communities, co-leading hiking trips in the Adirondacks and lessons at the YWCA and local libraries. This year, Scocca worked as the Young Naturalist social media intern and the MOSA Earth Week coordinator. She is grateful to all the amazing students, faculty, and staff she worked with and learned from while at ESF.

Landscape Architecture

Grace Takas
Hamburg, New York
Landscape Architecture with a food studies minor

Grace Takas spent a semester studying abroad in Denmark for her honors thesis, focusing on the impact of food systems on the landscape and community, an area she hopes to continue working in. She is working toward play-based community engagement certifications to integrate participatory design into her work. Takas served as the event coordinator and vice president of ESF’s LAND|scape club, pushing the club to host more events beyond the campus community. She connected with firms and alumni for workshops, and got the club to volunteer in the Syracuse community. She is a member of the Sigma Lambda Alpha, the landscape architect honor society. While at ESF, she worked with the Buffalo and Syracuse departments of transportation as well as JKLA in Western New York. She has accepted a position at Appel Osborn Landscape Architects.

Sustainable Resources Management

Ethan Bono
Brooklyn, New York
Natural Resources Management

Ethan Bono attended ESF under the Presidential and 1911 scholarships. While at ESF, Bono was devoted to his studies, focusing on forestry and GIS, and achieved a GPA of 3.99. Bono worked extensively with the American Chestnut Research & Restoration Project as a research assistant. In this role, he expanded his understanding of plant pathology and physiology beyond what was offered in his program.

Bono spent his summers working for several organizations in New York City, including the City Parks Foundation, the Davey Tree Expert Company, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, performing a variety of community engagement and forestry duties. He is employed as a consulting arborist with a small company in New York City.