Six SSI graduates earn USC’s highest honors

Six USC SSI students were recognized at commencement with the university’s most prestigious awards: The Order of Troy, the Order of Arête, and the Order of the Laurel and the Palm.

As the Class of 2026 prepares to go out and change the world, USC Spatial Sciences Institute is proud to celebrate six graduates honored at this year’s commencement ceremony. The Order of Troy recognizes students who have made notable contributions to their communities and beyond; the Order of Arête honors graduate students who demonstrated leadership and service above and beyond the requirements of their degree; and the Order of the Laurel and the Palm, the university’s highest student honor, is reserved for those whose exceptional leadership has left a lasting impact on USC and the wider world.

Congratulations to all six recipients, and to the entire Class of 2026. We can’t wait to see what you do next.

Sora Nagata, Order of Troy
B.S. in Geodesign

Throughout her four years at USC, Sora has pursued a singular conviction: Spatial thinking, applied with empathy and purpose, can build more equitable and resilient communities. As a four-year volunteer and three-year leader with Trojan Shelter, Sora guided students experiencing housing insecurity through the full journey toward stability, learning that leadership is not about authority but about fostering belonging. That same human-centered philosophy powered three years of GIS work with the City of Santa Monica, where Sora developed public-facing StoryMaps, affordable housing web maps, and spatial materials for the City Council and emergency services, highlighting her ability to translate complex data for audiences responsible for high-stakes decisions.

Sora’s technical depth expanded through undergraduate research with Dr. Guoping Huang, conducting fieldwork in Winneba, Ghana. Within SSI, Sora also served as a Geodesign Ambassador, bridging students and faculty while organizing events to advance the field. Balancing international research, professional practice, and sustained volunteerism across four years, Sora graduates with a clear purpose. She plans to use Geodesign in service of vulnerable populations, and to help build landscapes that everyone can call home.

Kelly Kwok, Order of Arête
B.S. in Geodesign, M.S. in Geographic Information Science & Technology (GIST)

Kelly graduated in Fall 2025 with a Master’s in GIST and an undergraduate degree in Geodesign, bringing to both programs a sustained commitment to spatial work in service of community. As president of SCMappers, she partnered with USC’s facilities management team and sustainability office to advance campus sustainability initiatives, established a GIS workshop series teaching spatial analysis skills to participants of all levels, and organized an annual humanitarian mapathon in collaboration with universities across the region.

Alongside her leadership role, Kelly conducted research with Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, exploring the links between childhood respiratory illness and environmental conditions in underserved communities. The work was presented at both the Undergraduate Research Symposium and the Los Angeles Geospatial Summit, reflecting her ability to bridge rigorous spatial analysis with real-world public health impact. Across her time at SSI, Kelly demonstrated that Geodesign and GIS are best directed toward the communities that need them most.

Mariella Jorge, Order of Troy
B.S. in Geodesign

Mariella is a graduating senior in USC’s Geodesign program, whose research spans urban logistics, ecology, and community accessibility. She collaborated with a team of spatial sciences students on LA28 Mobility research and presented her findings at the 2026 Los Angeles Geospatial Summit. She also contributed remote sensing support to an interdisciplinary study on Española Giant Tortoise reintroduction to the Galápagos, presenting the work at the 2024 Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America. For her senior capstone, Mariella co-developed a 3D multi-level routing framework for a major LA sports venue, exploring how spatial automation can streamline large-scale event management.

Beyond her research, Mariella served as Outreach and Graphic Arts Coordinator for SCMappers, managing digital storytelling and inclusive GIS workshops that drew students from disciplines across USC and expanded awareness of open-source spatial tools. These experiences, bridging ecology, urban planning, and community engagement through geography, reflect a consistent belief in cartography’s power to translate complex data into public good. She carries this mission forward as an incoming Cartographic Design Intern at Esri’s Creative Lab, where she plans to pursue her research interests in walkable, connected communities and the geography of socioeconomic segregation in LA County.

Joey Newell, Order of Arête
M.S. in Spatial Economics and Data Analytics

Joey is a May 2026 graduate of USC’s Master of Science in Spatial Economics and Data Analytics, having previously earned his Bachelor of Science in Geodesign from the Spatial Sciences Institute. Alongside his studies, Joey was deeply committed to service across the USC community. As development coordinator for Camp Kesem USC, he led fundraising efforts supporting children affected by a parent’s cancer and served as a unit leader at the organization’s free week-long summer camp. He also played a founding role in the USC Campus Out of Darkness Walk through the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, building a space for mental health awareness and advocacy on campus, and further extended his charitable reach as philanthropy chair of Chi Phi fraternity.

Within SSI, Joey contributed as both a grader and undergraduate research assistant, supporting academic standards and advancing research on the intersection of water scarcity and urban growth in Costa Rica. His dual training in Geodesign and spatial economics has sharpened his ability to apply geospatial tools to real-world challenges at the intersection of sustainability and equity. Taken together, his academic work and years of sustained community involvement reflect a consistent commitment to using spatial thinking in meaningful service to others.

Ella Rae Peterchak, Order of Troy
B.S. in Global Geodesign, Minor in Natural Science

Ella Rae’s work at SSI was guided by a single throughline: improving the lives of children. Through the Undergraduate Research Associates Program, she studied how proximity to lead-contaminated Superfund sites influences childhood cognitive development and academic outcomes. This research deepened her understanding of how health is shaped by environment, hazard exposure, and housing stability as much as biology. That commitment to children extended into the classroom through USC’s SCout organization, where, as first-grade Experiment Manager, she planned weekly science experiments for over 200 students, designed themed booklets, and prepared fellow USC volunteers to lead them, bringing science to LAUSD classrooms years before the district’s official curriculum begins. She also served as the General Chemistry Learning Assistant at USC, guiding students through problem sets and helping them build confidence in applying complex concepts.

Outside academics, Ella Rae spent all four years as a member of USC Women’s Club Volleyball, serving as team captain, club president, and fundraising chair—and winning a national championship her freshman year. These experiences across research, teaching, and leadership reflect a consistent passion for combining education with community impact. After graduation, she will carry her Global Geodesign perspective abroad as a Fulbright English Teaching Assistant in Taiwan, continuing her commitment to supporting students and learning from new communities around the world.

Daniel Pons, Order of Troy
B.S. in Geodesign, Minor in Architecture, magna cum laude

While at SSI, Daniel consistently applied spatial thinking to environmental equity and urban ecology. As lead author on a project with the USC Urban Trees Initiative, he mapped surface temperature inequity across Los Angeles, documented the tree planting efforts of nonprofit North East Trees in Ramona Gardens, and conducted and translated video interviews with staff into Spanish, weaving climate research together with community advocacy. Independently, he developed a spatial modeling framework to assess green space value on USC’s campus, recording student usage patterns over months to identify underutilized areas. This is a prototype intended for broader application across campus planning in the future. He is currently collaborating with the SSI Open Research Group to model ecotourism across the state.

Beyond SSI, Daniel has brought his geospatial skills to the Investigative Desk at Annenberg Media, producing maps to enhance editorial content and using spatial processing to distill large datasets into statistics that tell a meaningful story. Across research, journalism, and independent inquiry, his work reflects a coherent vision: to use the spatial sciences as a tool for ecological restoration and to bring nature meaningfully back into urban life.