Alumni Advisory Board Spring Meeting

Join us for the School of Earth, Environment, and Sustainability Alumni Advisory Board Spring Meeting on April 10, 2026, held online via Zoom. This is a great opportunity to reconnect, hear updates from SEES, and share your ideas for the future of our community. All alumni are warmly invited to attend!

For more information, please email clas-sees@uiowa.edu.

Alumni board officers

Portrait of Melissa Evans

Melissa Evans

Alumni Board Chair

Petrophysicist at Battelle Carbon Services

Portrait of Meg Raatz

Meg Raatz

Alumni Board Chair-Elect

Environmental Geologist

Portrait of Benjamin Howard

Benjamin Howard

Alumni Board Secretary

Geologist at Matador Resources

This is a picture of Lee Phillips

Lee Phillips

Past Alumni Board Chair

Special Assistant to the Provost - University of Louisville

Alumni board members

Term: 2023-2026

Portrait of Melissa Evans

Melissa Evans

2nd term

Petrophysicist at Battelle Carbon Services

This is a picture of Noah W. Stern

Noah W. Stern

2nd term

Senior Scientist at AmebaGone

Term: 2024-2027

Portrait of Mike Burkart

Mike Burkart

Retired Hydrogeologist and Research Leader

This is a picture of Jim Eagan

Jim Eagan

2nd term

Retired Petroleum Geologist and Consultant

Portrait of Benjamin Howard

Ben Howard

Geologist at Matador Resources

This is a picture of Amy Sullivan

Amy Sullivan

Former Petroleum Geologist for Mobil, ExxonMobil, and Royal Dutch Shell

This is a picture of Aaron Suzuki

Aaron Suzuki

2nd term

Founder and CEO of SmartDeploy

Term: 2025-2028

Matt Burreson SEES Alumni

Matt Burreson

Chief Geophysicist at Occidental Oil and Gas (Oxy)

Portrait of Katie Goff

Katie Goff

Environmental Scientist, Eocene Environmental Group

This is a picture of Brian Hartman

Brian Hartman

2nd term

Ridge Geoscience LLC Founder and Principal Geologist

This is a picture of Luan Heywood

Luan Heywood

2nd term

Research Associate at International Ocean Discovery Program

Bill Raatz

Bill Raatz

Fellow - Geosciences - Occidental Petroleum (Oxy)

Portrait of Meg Raatz

Meg Raatz

Environmental Geologist

This is a picture of Eric Small

Eric Small

Physical Scientist and Clean Water Act Inspector at the United States Environmental Protection Agency

Erik Smith Alumni SEES

Erik Smith

Senior Engineering Associate, Lower Colorado River Authority (Texas)

Asa Strong SEES Board Member

Asa Strong

Platform Group Product Manager at Planet

This is a picture of Tim Stroope

Tim Stroope

2nd term

Hydrogeologist at U.S. Forest Service

Alumni board committees

Fundraising Committee

The Fundraising Committee will assist and participate in development and campaigns to raise funds to enhance SEES research, teaching, and outreach.

  • Committee Chair: Noah Stern
  • Committee Members: Bill Raatz, Eric Small, Aaron Suzuki
     

Mentoring Committee

The Mentoring Committee will maintain and provide mentoring services to SEES students and alumni on professional and educational opportunities

  • Committee Chair: Aaron Suzuki
  • Committee Members: Katie Goff, Erik Smith, Noah Stern, Tim Stroope, Amy Sullivan
     

Alumni Outreach Committee

The Alumni Outreach Committee will organize and maintain systems for regular communication among all SEES alumni, faculty and students. This committee will assist in the selection of the Distinguished Alumni, assist the faculty liaison with all fall on-campus meetings and conduct periodic surveys and open forums to obtain feedback from alumni on SEES initiatives. The Distinguished Alumni Award shall include an invitation for the recipient to present a talk during the SEES Friday seminar.

  • Committee Chair: Brian Hartman
  • Committee Members: Mike Burkart, Jim Eagan, Luan Heywood, Meg Raatz, Erik Smith, Tim Stroope, Amy Sullivan, Aaron Suzuki
     

Nominating Committee

The Nominating Committee will maintain a search for new Board Members to ensure maintenance of its minimum membership count. The committee will maintain a spreadsheet of members’ terms and will verify that board members will/will not continue for their second term. The committee will provide updates to the Board, Faculty Liaison and SEES DEO on upcoming vacancies. 

  • Committee Chair: Amy Sullivan
  • Committee Members: Katie Goff, Luan Heywood
     

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee will consist of the Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary, and three Executive officers representing each of the majors (EES, GSS, and EPPL).

This committee will maintain communications among the Board Chair, SEES DEO, Faculty Liaison, and SEES faculty, to understand and communicate current events. They will engage the Alumni Outreach Chair to help plan the fall on-campus meetings, and wil help ensure the three SEES majors (EES, GES and EPPL) have a voice at Board meetings by encouraging students and alumni to attend meetings and voice ideas and concerns.

  • EES Officer: Bill Raatz
  • GSS Officer: Asa Strong
  • EPPL Officer: Eric Smith