Rausser College of Natural Resources Spring 2023 Commencement

The Rausser College of Natural Resources will host the Spring 2023 Commencement on Sunday, May 14th, at 9am at the Hearst Greek Theatre.  The Commencement ceremony will include graduate and undergraduate students from the following departments: Agricultural & Resource Economics, Environmental Science, Policy & Management, Nutritional Sciences & Toxciology, and Plant & Microbial Biology. 

Undergraduate majors include:

  • Conservation & Resource Studies
  • Ecosystem Management & Forestry
  • Environmental Economics & Policy
  • Environmental Sciences
  • Genetics & Plant Biology
  • Microbial Biology
  • Molecular Environmental Biology
  • Nutritional Sciences - Dietetics
  • Nutritional Sciences - Physiology & Metabolism
  • Nutritional Sciences - Toxicology
  • Society & Environment 

The Energy & Resource Group will host a separate, intimate ceremony for their students on Friday, May 12th, at the Alumni House.

All Rausser students who graduated or will graduate in the following semesters are invited to participate:

  • Summer 2022
  • Fall 2022
  • Spring 2023
  • Summer 2023
  • Fall 2023

Please review the links on the menu to the left for current ticketing and event information.

Komal Ahmad

2023 Commencement Speaker: Komal Ahmad

Komal Ahmad is globally recognized as an award-winning changemaker, humanitarian, and entrepreneur. She is innovatively Solving the World’s Dumbest Problem.

Komal realized as a young UC Berkeley student that “Hunger isn’t a scarcity problem; it’s a logistics problem.” This led to her founding Copia, a Y-Combinator-backed for-profit food redistribution and waste reduction technology company. Copia’s platform dramatically reduces food waste and ends hunger across North America. Copia will successfully divert over 6M pounds of food from landfills to feed over 7M people.

Komal’s leadership and vision have led Copia to become distinguished as 1 of the top 3 startups run by women in the U.S. and 1 of the top 8 startups graduating out of Y Combinator. This year, Fast Company also listed Copia as one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Companies working on social good.

Komal graduated Magna Cum Laude from UC Berkeley with degrees in International Health & Development and Global Poverty and Practice. She was chosen as the Social Entrepreneur of the Year, the University of California’s Global Food Changemaker, and an MIT SOLVER.

Komal has been named to the coveted Forbes 30 Under 30 twice, featured as one of the Most Powerful Women in the World by Entrepreneur Magazine, recognized as one of the Most Powerful & Impactful People in Business by Marie Claire, highlighted as one of the Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company, listed among the Top 50 Most Badass Women in the World by InStyle, and selected as a Toyota Mother of Invention. Komal was also honored with the prestigious Nelson Mandela Humanitarian Award.

Livestream of RCNR Commencement Ceremony

Livestreaming and recording will be available via YouTube.  

UC Berkeley Spring 2023 Ceremony

UC Berkeley will host an all-campus Spring Ceremony on Saturday, May 13th at 10:30am at the California Memorial Stadium.  For more information, please visit the Berkeley Commencement website.

Questions about Commencement

Current (3/10/23) registration, ticketing, and event information is available through the links in the menu on the left. Email notices will go out to the Rausser College community as it becomes available.  You may also email commencement.rcnr@berkeley.edu.