Graduate Student Organization (GSO)

who we are

All students working toward an M.S. or Ph.D. in the Marine, Estuarine and Environmental Science (MEES) graduate program are members of the Graduate Student Organization (GSO), as well as faculty and administration who chose to take part. 

You can reach your GSO representatives via email (mees-gso@umd.edu) or by submitting an anonymous comment. Please include your campus location in your email. Additionally, we have a MEES-community Slack channel. Please email us for a link to join! You can also find us on Twitter and Instagram @meesgso.

Current representatives (2026)

For any questions you may have, you can contact the GSO email or directly email your campus representative through the email listed below. You can also reference our student survival guide for important MEES wide and campus-specific information.

GSO President: Chelsea Fowler (cfowler@umces.edu)

GSO Vice President: Kyle Rufo (kyle.rufo@umces.edu)

UMBC: Ally Kido (akido1@umbc.edu)

UMCES-AL: Kyle Rufo (kyle.rufo@umces.edu)

UMCES-CBL: Jasmin Spruill (jspruill@umces.edu)

UMCES-HPL: Anji Cooper (acooper@umces.edu)

UMCES-IMET: Emily Jolly (ejolly@umces.edu), Ronita Sequeira (rsequeira@umces.edu)

UMES: Nylah Mcclain (nomcclain@umes.edu), Sara Silika (sosilika@umes.edu), Victory Akosubo (voakosubo@umes.edu), Adetutu Adebayo (anadebayo@umes.edu)

Purpose

Serve as the legitimate voice of the MEES student body, and direct student input on issues concerning the MEES program to the appropriate administrative levels; provide a forum for the exchange of ideas, concerns, and information among graduate students and between students and faculty with the hope of establishing a comfortable, productive academic environment. 

Goals

  1. Explore ways by which the MEES Program can become stronger and more cohesive as a program, through curriculum requirements, course offerings, and inter-campus relations.

  2. Improve communication among graduate students, faculty, and administration; become directly involved with the committees and groups affecting the MEES Program (i.e., the MEES Program committee, the UMCES graduate faculty committee, and the MEES program office).

  3. Offer skill development in areas that will benefit the academic and professional careers of graduate students.

  4. Provide an informal area where proposals, talks, and research ideas may be presented, discussed, and critiqued; discuss current research topics in diverse biological fields.

  5. Provide new student orientation and assist with planning the annual MEES Colloquium 

Activities

  • Organization and sponsorship of a skill development seminar/workshop series on various topics designed to help graduates further their professional careers

  • Organization and sponsorship of annual poster sessions and oral presentations where graduate students present their current research at the MEES Colloquium

  • Sponsorship of graduate student travel awards designed to help supplement registration and travel costs for graduate students to present their research at scientific meetings

  • Sponsorship of social events to increase camaraderie among graduate students 

MERCHANDISE

Check out our MEES-branded merchandise available for purchase on our merch website. We also offer to list custom merchandise for defenses and labs as a MEES student fundraiser.

SOCIAL MEDIA

You can find us on Instagram @meesgso!

Contact Us

You can reach your GSO representatives via email (mees-gso@umd.edu) or by submitting an anonymous comment. Additionally, we have a MEES-community Slack channel.

GSO CALENDAR

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