Sometimes I wonder if degrees in academia aren’t necessarily about the research, but are only conferred when you jump through the correct number of hoops in the right manner and at the right time.  This spring, the stars aligned and the MIT Corporation saw fit to grant me a degree that declares to all the world that I have a master’s in hoop-jumping Earth & Planetary Sciences from MIT.  Amazing!

About 1,500 people receive degrees from MIT at Commencement.  Here are some of the graduates sitting in Killian Court as more file in behind them.

There was even a brass band.

The trees in the courtyard are conscripted into holding up canvases. We were lucky to have a day in the mid-70s without rain.

After MIT President Susan Hockfield handed me my degree, we went to celebrate with the rest of the Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences department. Here, Dr. Linda Elkins-Tanton is flanked by Stephanie Brown and myself, her two master’s students this semester.

More photos are here. Many thanks to all who made this degree possible—I really appreciate your encouragement and help!