It is with deep sadness we share that Dr. Sarah Praskievicz, an associate professor in UNC Greensboro’s Department of Geography, Environment, and Sustainability (GES), died on Aug. 11, 2025, at her home in Greensboro, following a valiant 15-month battle with cancer. Praskievicz taught and conducted research in the areas of hydrology, fluvial geomorphology, and water resources. She was a consummate geographer, having visited all seven continents in her short 39 years. More importantly, she was a consummate human being and colleague, with a generous spirit, contagious (and loud!) laugh, and joie de vivre (joy of living) that brightened any room or outdoor space she entered.
Praskievicz joined UNCG in 2018 after serving as an assistant professor at the University of Alabama. She had a formidable record of scholarship for someone at her career stage, with ~40 peer-reviewed journal articles published in leading journals of her field. Much of her work was grant-supported through the National Science Foundation and other agencies. As family and friends noted, Praskievicz had a vision, devised a plan, and remained singularly focused on completion of her varied projects. As she wrapped up 13 months of chemotherapy and radiation treatments in May with what she thought was a positive prognosis, she could be found back in her office, resuming her work, re-connecting with collaborators, compiling her dossier for promotion to full professor, and ensuring one of her Ph.D. students successfully defended his dissertation before starting a new position.
Praskievicz was born in Southbridge, Mass., and raised until her teenage years in Blue Hill, Maine, a stone’s throw from Acadia National Park. Her love of science was nurtured by many, especially her 6th grade science teacher Ms. Hudson, who had the kids dissect a moose, enlisted Sarah to be caretaker for the small stable of lab animals during summer months, and generally encouraged her outdoor explorations.
Her father Paul’s work took the family (mother Larrilee and brother Adam) to Portland, Oregon. She spent her teenage years in the shadow of Mt. Hood, where her fondness for the freedom wilderness offers was honed and refined. Bored by the lack of challenge in high school, she earned her GED at age 16 and completed her associates degree at Mt. Hood Community College before enrolling in Southern Oregon University in Ashland, where she received her B.S. in Environmental Studies in 2006. She would go on to earn an M.S. in Geography from Portland State (2009), and a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of Oregon (2014).
At Oregon, she was an integral part of the “River Rats,” a group of water-centered geographers, mostly women scientists, which provided a professional network, friend group, and mutual aid cohort that endures. She was also active in the River Field Studies Network and held leadership roles in the Southeastern Division of the American Association of Geographers (AAG), and the Water Resources Specialty Group of the AAG.
Praskievicz was happiest outdoors. She could be seen walking the two miles each way to and from campus along Spring Garden St., or hoisting her arms up in her trademark triumphal pose when she reached the highest point on any given trail. Atop Humphreys Peak, she would proudly recount, she was the highest person in Arizona on that day. (Puns were among her strong suits). Most of all, she was happiest in the rivers and streams she made her professional calling, from North Buffalo Creek in Greensboro, to the coastal plains of Alabama and North Carolina, to the Great Smoky Mountains, to the San Juan and many other great Western rivers, to the headwaters of the Ganges. She had waders and was willing to travel, often accompanied by student researchers and other collaborators.
Her grit and fortitude were awe-inspiring: at her last AAG meeting in Honolulu, she climbed to the top of Diamond Head while in excruciating pain caused by what would turn out to be the tumor that had already fractured her pelvis. Prior to her illness, she had hiked many of the world’s most daunting trails, including Mount Kilimanjaro and the Kalalau Trail on the Napali Coast, Kauai, Hawaii.
In addition to her A.A., B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees, she received certifications as a Wilderness First Responder and in Swift Water Rescue. Beyond the great outdoors and travel, her hobbies included playing the ukelele, reading and watching sci-fi, listening to show tunes and the Indigo Girls, and playing trivia.
Dr. Praskievicz, cherished colleague and friend, devoted mentor and educator, and passionate advocate for Planet Earth, will be dearly missed.
The Department of Geography, Environment, and Sustainability invites students, colleagues, and friends to submit remembrances of Dr. Sarah Praskievicz below: