EERI is pleased to announce that the 2026 Younger Member Award recipients are Nancy Ingabire Abayo (M.EERI 2019) and Renmin Pretell (M.EERI 2018).
The EERI Younger Member Award recognizes early-career members of the Institute who have made outstanding contributions to the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute and the pursuit of its objectives in the early stages of their career—especially contributions that have improved opportunities for and increased the impact of younger members within the Institute.
Nancy Ingabire Abayo is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Her expertise lies in geotechnical earthquake engineering. She holds a dual degree in civil engineering and geology from Bucknell University, as well as a master's degree (2022) and a Ph.D. (2024) in civil engineering from North Carolina State University. At North Carolina State, she also earned graduate certificates in engineering education and geographic information systems and technology. Her doctoral research advanced the prediction of liquefaction-induced lateral spreading by integrating geomorphic variables. Additionally, she contributed to the NSF GEER Virtual Reconnaissance Team following the 2021 Nippes, Haiti, earthquake. She also specializes in integrating large spatial datasets with geologic processes and in developing innovative laboratory testing programs.
Nancy has an extensive record of service at EERI, including serving as vice president of the NC State University Student chapter and as Executive Secretary of the Student Leadership Council (SLC). She is currently on the EERI Younger Members Committee. She also previously served as SLC’s Outreach Co-Chair and SESI Co-Chair and supported EERI through K–12 outreach, seismic design competition judging, and 12NCEE service as a special events organizer, reviewer, and session moderator. She was also the recipient of the 2018 EERI Undergraduate Student Paper Award. Nancy’s leadership and academic contributions have earned multiple recognitions. She is committed to student and community engagement, to which end she co-founded Sci-Touche to expand hands-on STEM education in Rwanda and East Africa.
Renmin Pretell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR). His research aims to advance the performance of infrastructure by integrating data, simulations, and analytics, with emphasis on geotechnical earthquake engineering problems. Before joining UNR, Renmin was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles; and a consulting engineer with Golder Associates. He holds a PhD and a MS from the University of California, Davis; and a BS from the National University of Engineering (UNI) in Peru.
Renmin has made sustained contributions to EERI. While pursuing his graduate degrees, Renmin served as co-chair for the EERI Student Chapter at UC Davis. Through his involvement with the Youngers Member Committee (YMC), he has supported the organization of multiple EERI initiatives, including the YMC Webinar Series, Meet the Leaders events, workshops, and technical sessions at Annual Meetings and as well as the 12th National Conference on Earthquake Engineering. In 2023, he was recognized as an Earthquake Spectra Outstanding Reviewer and currently serves as YMC co-chair.
