MONTANA TECH ANNOUNCES 2024 EARLY IMPACT ALUMNI AWARDEES

Montana Technological University will present the 2024 Early Impact Alumni Awards at a luncheon on campus on Friday, May 3, 2024. The awardees are Shanara "Shanny" Spang Gion, Teresa McGrath, and Adhikeshavan "Adhi" Ravee. 

The Early Impact Alumni Award is given to Montana Technological University graduates who have already made a lasting impact on their community, Montana Tech, and their profession. This award celebrates alumni who have made an early impact after graduation and shown tremendous potential in their professional field. Awardees are great examples of how a world-class education from Montana Techy is limitless.

"I am tremendously excited to announce the honorees for this year's Early Impact Alumni Awards," noted Sean Ryan, director of alumni engagement. "The tremendous accomplishments of Shanny, Teresa, and Adhi blew away our committee. These incredible alumni are accomplishing so much early in their careers and serve as inspiration for current and future students. They are proof that you can make an immediate impact with a degree from Montana Tech."

Spang Gion is Northern Cheyenne, Crow, and also of German heritage. She was raised in Lame Deer, Montana, and is an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. She holds a bachelor’s degrees in Environmental Science from Montana State University and master’s degrees in Interdisciplinary Studies and Technical Communication from Montana Tech. Spang Gion put her education to use working for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe in water resources for 10 years before coming to the University of Idaho (UI), where she serves as a Visiting Tribal Scholar in the College of Natural Resources. 

While still enrolled at Tech and completing her thesis from home, she resumed her position as Water Resources Administrator for the Northern Cheyenne Tribe. There, she led the protection of tribal water rights and interests, administered the Tribe's Water Code, and interfaced with state and federal agencies to coordinate water management objectives.

In 2017, she developed the North Woman Land Trust, a non-profit organization "to rematriate indigenous relations with the natural world, lands, and knowledge to indigenous peoples." From 2018-2021, she served as the Executive Director of the non-profit Southeast Montana Area Revitalization Team (SMART), responsible for creating economic opportunities. She applied for and was accepted into the UI's Ph.D. program in Natural Resources—Water Geographies with research interests in critical and Indigenous water geographies. 

McGrath earned a bachelor's degree in Biology from Montana Tech in 2002. She worked in industry for Resodyn Corporation in Butte until returning to graduate school to pursue Metallurgical/Mineral Processing Engineering at Montana Tech, from which she graduated in 2010. After graduation, Teresa pursued a Ph.D. with the Gold Technology Group at Western Australia School of Mines (WASM), Curtin University in Perth. Teresa defended her dissertation four years later, which included receiving a patent for the Scout Carbon Meter. 

At the time of her nomination, she has had 35 journal and conference publications, with more in preparation. Dr. McGrath has been involved in research totaling nearly $13.3 million (AUD), primarily due to various P420 projects. Her research has involved different aspects of mineral processing and extractive metallurgy, including but not limited to gravity separation, leaching, and adsorption, as well as automation, sensors, gangue rejection, optimization, benchmarking, and technology transfer, particularly as they pertain to the gold industry. Dr. McGrath has achieved several other accolades, including IMPC 2024 Technical Program Organizer for Physical Separations, Keynote Speaker at AusIMM Mill Operators Conference 2021, Invited Presenter at Australian Technology Network 2015, Associate Editor for Mining, Minerals and Exploration Journal since 2018, and 2014 recipient of Curtin Innovation Award.

Ravee earned a master's in Petroleum Engineering from Montana Tech in 2015 and holds a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from a university in India. Adhi is the lead engineer for new technologies at EnviroKlean Product Development, an oil and gas chemical service provider. He is a seasoned water treatment professional who innovates oilfield-produced water technologies while improving cost efficiency and environmental sustainability. His research involves developing novel methods in produced water treatment technologies, which directly impacts expanding the recycling and reuse scope of the produced water for domestic oil and gas production in the United States. In 2022, Adhi was recognized as the Employee of the Year at Enviroklean Product Development and was awarded the South Texas Eagle Ford Excellence Award in 2015. 

Adhi is part of the New Mexico Produced Water Consortium and is an active member of the Produced Water Society and the Permian Basin Water Management Council. Adhi Ravee shares a passion for bringing innovation to produced water oilfield chemistry and is one of the industry's leaders in pioneering innovative technologies.