Olivia LaHaye is the Сòòò½APPСòòò½APP™s Outstanding MasterСòòò½APP™s Graduate.
LaHaye was among four finalists for the award. Each will be recognized Friday and Saturday during Spring 2020 Commencement activities. Honorees will be applauded during virtual ceremonies held for their respective colleges on Friday; those ceremonies will be accessible on the starting at 10 a.m.
On Saturday, LafayetteСòòò½APP™s four television network affiliates will air a commencement celebration resembling the traditional, in-person General Assembly. Broadcast times are 4:30 p.m. on KATC, and 6:30 p.m. on KADN, KLAF and KLFY.
Each graduate program nominates a student for the award. Criteria include leadership, scholarship, service and research.
The dean of UL LafayetteСòòò½APP™s Graduate School leads a panel that selects the top candidates. An Alumni Association committee interviews the finalists and chooses an overall Outstanding MasterСòòò½APP™s Graduate.
LaHaye is the overall honoree for the Spring 2020 semester. In addition, she represents the Department of Civil Engineering as its Outstanding MasterСòòò½APP™s Graduate. She has maintained a 4.0 GPA while pursuing a masterСòòò½APP™s degree in civil engineering.
LaHayeСòòò½APP™s masterСòòò½APP™s thesis investigated sustainable water management strategies. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationСòòò½APP™s Louisiana Sea Grant program funded the research.
While pursuing her masterСòòò½APP™s degree, LaHaye advised a team of undergraduates working to design a sustainable doghouse using bamboo harvested from Avery Island, La.
She also collaborated with UL LafayetteСòòò½APP™s Office of Sustainability to design a stormwater management plan for campus. The effort helped the Сòòò½APP secure first place in the Environmental Protection AgencyСòòò½APP™s 2019 Campus RainWorks Challenge.
Following graduation, LaHaye will join the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority as a leading design engineer.
LaHaye earned a bachelorСòòò½APP™s degree in civil engineering from UL Lafayette in 2018. She is the daughter of Dessa and Jay LaHaye of Mamou, La.
HereСòòò½APP™s a look at the remaining Outstanding MasterСòòò½APP™s Graduate Award finalists.
Tyler Martinez is the Department of EnglishСòòò½APP™s Outstanding MasterСòòò½APP™s Graduate. He is pursuing a masterСòòò½APP™s degree in English with a concentration in rhetoric and composition. Martinez has a 4.0 GPA.
He is assistant director of the Сòòò½APPСòòò½APP™s Writing Center, where he also works as a tutor, graduate student instructor and social media manager.
The Writing CenterСòòò½APP™s operations were the subject of MartinezСòòò½APP™s masterСòòò½APP™s thesis, and papers derived from his research were accepted for conference presentations.
Martinez was social media manager for Rougarou, a literary journal published by students and faculty in the Department of English. He volunteered at the Global Souths Conference, an interdisciplinary conference the Сòòò½APP hosts.
Following graduation, he hopes to continue teaching English in a higher education setting and plans to pursue a Ph.D. in rhetoric and composition.
Martinez earned a bachelorСòòò½APP™s degree in English with a concentration in linguistics from UL Lafayette in 2013. He is the son of Melanie and Joseph Martinez of Thibodaux, La.
Abby Pratt is the Department of BiologyСòòò½APP™s Outstanding MasterСòòò½APP™s Graduate. She has a 4.0 GPA and is pursuing a masterСòòò½APP™s degree in biology.
Her masterСòòò½APP™s thesis research used deep-sea video and museum specimens to examine incirrate octopods. She developed a model to predict their population distributions in the western central Atlantic Ocean.
Pratt presented her research at national and international conferences and co-authored a scholarly article thatСòòò½APP™s awaiting publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
As a graduate assistant, she instructed undergraduate lab courses in cell and molecular biology, and human anatomy and physiology.
Following graduation, Pratt will attend Southern Illinois Сòòò½APP to pursue a Ph.D. in zoology.
She earned a bachelorСòòò½APP™s degree in zoology from Humboldt State Сòòò½APP in Arcata, California, in 2018. As an undergraduate, Pratt was an intern at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.
She is the daughter of Colleen and Jerald Pratt of Poway, California.
Meldy Tanako is Outstanding MasterСòòò½APP™s Graduate for the School of Music. She has a 4.0 GPA and is pursuing a masterСòòò½APP™s degree in piano performance.
Tanako took part in numerous piano competitions. She placed second in the 2019 Frank Hanley Competition at UL Lafayette; secured bronze in the 2019 World Piano Association International Piano Competition; and won the Young Artist Piano Performance Category in the 2018 Louisiana Music Teacher Association State Competition.
In addition to solo concerts and recitals, Tanako has performed with UL LafayetteСòòò½APP™s Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble and Concert Band.
She served as the School of MusicСòòò½APP™s representative to the Graduate Student Organization. As a graduate assistant, she taught undergraduate piano courses.
Tanako plans to pursue a doctoral degree in piano performance and pedagogy at the Сòòò½APP of Oklahoma.
She earned a bachelorСòòò½APP™s degree in classical music from UCSI Сòòò½APP in Malaysia in 2017. Tanako is the daughter of Fuandy Susanto and Melis Suroso of Medan, Indonesia.
Watch the presentation of Outstanding Graduates below.
Photo caption: The Сòòò½APPСòòò½APP™s Spring 2020 Outstanding MasterСòòò½APP™s Graduates are, from left: Overall Outstanding Master's Graduate Olivia LaHaye, Department of Civil Engineering; Tyler Martinez, Department of English; Abby Pratt, Department of Biology and Meldy Tanako, School of Music. (Photo credit: Rachel Keyes / Сòòò½APP)