Graduate student Stephanie Grothe remembered

January 15, 2015

We lost a great young physicist earlier this week.

PHAS graduate student Stephanie Grothe passed away in a climbing accident on Sunday, January 11th.

Stephanie was described by students and colleagues as always being helpful and extremely friendly. She was a month away from defending her thesis, and her TA appointment for the new year was just processed. She had been working with her supervisor Dr. Sarah Burke for the past few years.

“This is extremely cliché, but you really cannot identify what she would rather have been doing when she died than being out there,” Grothe’s colleague, PHAS Research Associate James Day said. “She loved the mountains. Whenever we asked her what she was up to on the weekends, she was heading to the mountains."

Stephanie will be remembered for her great personality, friendly smile, and her love for the BC mountains. Our deepest condolences go out to Stephanie’s family and friends.

*There will be a public memorial service for Stephanie Grothe, Neil Mackenzie, and Elena Cernicka at 6pm on Thursday, January 22. This event will be hosted by the UBC Varsity Outdoor Club. Please note that the VOC memorial venue location has been changed to the Old Auditorium (6344 Memorial Road). More details can be found here. The BC Flag (Main Mall and Agronomy Road) will be lowered on the same day in remembrance of Stephanie. For more information about the flag lowering, visit the UBC Ceremonies website.