UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Geosciences student Halina Dingo represented the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences as the student marshal for Penn State's summer commencement. The ceremony was held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12, in the Bryce Jordan Center on the University Park campus.
Dingo, a native of Beaver, Pennsylvania, graduated with a 3.89 grade-point average. She also earned minors in geophysics and English and a certificate in geographic information science.
“When I learned that I was selected to represent the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences as the marshal, I was very proud to be recognized with this honor,” said Dingo. “I have grown so much these four years at Penn State, and truly believe I am a much smarter, braver and better person for it.”
During her college career, Dingo made the Dean’s List for eight semesters and participated in many extracurricular activities during her four years at Penn State.
“I had a science writing internship with Paul Kellerman, teaching professor of English in the College of the Liberal Arts, where I edited student articles for publication,” said Dingo. “I also was a communications intern at the Sustainability Institute where I wrote news articles and content for the web and marketing materials. I also was a student editor for Timothy Bralower, teaching professor of geosciences. I edited student essays on climate change that were included in the online book ‘Communities in Crisis: Student Voices on Climate Change.’ I also was a member of the Geosciences Club and the Penn State Outing Club,” said Dingo.
As an undergraduate researcher, Halina focused on modeling the post-seismic deformation of Japan after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. She also completed an internship with Earthscope, where she processed seismic data from a distributed acoustic sensing array at the Frontier Observatory for Research in Geothermal Energy to identify microseismicity from activities and local tectonics.
Dingo said her favorite memory at Penn State was traveling to the western United States as part of the Department of Geosciences’ Field Camp, an intensive outdoor course that applies classroom and laboratory training to solving geological problems in the field. It is the capstone experience for undergraduate geosciences majors.
“My favorite memory was going out West with Field Camp this summer,” said Dingo. “We traveled to Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Utah, and did geologic mapping in these gorgeous areas with very interesting rocks. It was definitely tough at times, but I learned so much and made so many friends.”
Dingo said being a part of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences was a great experience.
“It is a college full of interesting, adventurous, and smart students and faculty,” said Dingo. “The subjects are fascinating, and most people are in their fields because they are genuinely interested in their subject material. It’s a great environment.”
The daughter of Jenifer Cushman and Matthew Dingo, Halina will be pursuing a graduate degree in geophysics at the University of Colorado Boulder.
“Penn State has taught me so much and my adviser’s connections were so integral in my graduate school application process,” said Dingo. “My goal is to work in the public sector in disaster prediction and mitigation to help people all over the world deal with natural disasters.”