Class Notes

1950s

Merle Hagbo, 1957 Liberal Studies Elementary Education, made his biggest mark as a prep football player and went on to quarterback the Humboldt State team during the mid-1950s. He graduated from HSU, where he met his wife, Georgia, in 1957. They were married for 63 years before he passed away in 2020. Clover Park School District has assembled a committee that is considering a request to name the Clover Park High School baseball field after this long-time educator and coach. During his career, he received the Outstanding Official Award for District 8 in 1998 from the National Federation of Interscholastic Officials Association.

1960s

Dennis Ray Kogl, 1962 Fisheries Biology, received his Master of Science in Fisheries Biology from the University of Alaska in 1965. He worked at various jobs with the state in Sport Fish Division in Fairbanks, Alaska, got married, and gravitated to the Denali National Park area, where he started a family and worked seasonally with the National Park Service. After many years, Dennis left the dog driving business and worked full-time with NPS running its Water and Wastewater Systems. He retired in 2004 and stayed in the area.

Sanford "Sandy" Wilbur, 1963 Wildlife, just published his second novel, Vic and Greg: A Wildlife Refuge Romance. Set in southern Idaho in 1965-1966, he describes it as one-quarter birds and wildlife refuges, one-quarter sex, and one-half social commentary. Print copies aren't available yet, but a free full-length PDF can be had by sending a request to symbios@condortales.com.

Harry "Corky" Bartley, 1966 History, always says it's never too late to have fun. After a career of teaching high school drafting classes, then computer-aided design training for engineers, and then computer-aided engineering training and support (28 years at Tektronix), Corky retired. Now, after 10 years of retirement and at 80 years of age, he will be acting in his first play. He has a small role, George Sillers, in "Inherit the Wind" at Mask & Mirror in Tigard, Oregon. His only previous acting experience was as a drill sergeant in the U.S. Army 1968-1970.

Tom Eley, 1969 Wildlife, is retired from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Now he is the biologist and cartographer for the Anchorage Waterways Council.

1970s

Jay Earl Peterson, 1972 Psychology, has been retired for 20 years now and is loving it. He spends most of his time reading and hopes to get more active again once his hips heal and his spinal injuries get better. For the most part, he's been touring the country on his Gold Wing motorcycle and enjoying his time with his grandchildren.

Richard Sayre, 1974 Biological Sciences, is a co-founder and chief scientific officer for Mercury Bio Inc. (mercurybio.com) based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Mercury Bio Inc. focuses on the targeted delivery of therapeutic RNAs and small molecular weight drugs to human cells to address various viral and genetic diseases. Sayre recently introduced Mercury Bio's platform drug delivery technology to the pharmaceutical industry at Boston's third mRNA-Based Therapeutics Summit.

Jean Ross Zedekar, 1974 Nursing, retired from hospital nursing after 47 years in 2021. She started her nursing career at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, California, and retired from St. John Medical Center in Longview, Washington. She and her husband, Steve, raised two daughters, and are now happy grandparents to four grandchildren with another on the way. They love to boat, travel, scuba dive, and play pickleball. Jean looks forward to a reunion with her fellow nursing classmates for their 50-year graduation celebration.

Rick Tholen, 1976 Forestry & Wildland Resources, continued to work seasonally for the Shasta Trinity National Forest until he was hired permanently with the Forest Service in Potlatch, Idaho, after graduating. From there he went to work for the BLM in Medford, Oregon, and later transferred to Missoula, Montana, and then to Boise, Idaho, where he worked for the Washington Office and then at the National Interagency Fire Center. In Boise, he earned a master's degree. He retired with 34 years of federal service in 2010. He still lives in Eagle, Idaho, and stays active by hiking, backpacking, biking, and golfing.

Patricia (Patty) Brown, 1977 Natural Resources, retired twice, but you might not know it from how busy she still is. Her first career was as a park ranger for California State Parks in the redwoods and the desert, the National Park Service in Alaska at Katmai and Lake Clark, then on the Kenai Wildlife Refuge, ending in 1995. She then decided to pursue a less itinerant life as a middle school science teacher in Alaska. Currently, she volunteers on the ambulance crew and does humanitarian work in winter at the U.S.-Mexico border. She was recently elected to the local planning commission in Haines.

Lisa Chase (Moran), 1977 Liberal Studies Elementary Education, passed away on October 11, 2021. She and her husband, Craig Chase ('77, Fisheries), joined the Peace Corps after graduation and spent time serving in Chile. She moved to Colorado in 1985 with her family where she had a 25-year career with Jefferson County Public Schools as a kindergarten and first-grade teacher. Loved by her students and fellow educators, her greatest passion was teaching children. After retiring in 2015, she continued to follow her dream as a volunteer with The Audubon Society of Denver.

Marilyn Taylor, 1977 Mathematics, named HSU Women of the year, in 1976, passed away on March 15, 2023, in Spokane, Washington. Marilyn, and her 99 Humboldt State teammates, broke the old record of a 100-mile Relay Race, with the time of 12:26:13 (1976). Marilyn set the PA-AAU record for a One-Hour Run on the track (1977) and holds the Avenue of the Giants Women's Marathon record, 2:45:40 (1984), which stands today. Despite her many winning races, Taylor felt the highlight of her track career was running in the historic First Olympic Women's Marathon Trials on May 12, 1984, in Olympia, Washington.

Rick Williams, 1977 Wildlife, retired in 2022 after a 45-year career as a wildlife biologist that began with waterfowl research for CDFG and USFWS, including a memorable stint chasing then-endangered Aleutian Canada Geese across their California wintering grounds. From 1980-2022, he worked as a terrestrial biologist and program manager in the private sector, primarily focused on water and energy projects in California and other western states. He credits the late Humboldt professors, Drs. Stan (Doc) Harris and Charles F. (Chuck) Yocum for guiding him into career-long service with The Wildlife Society-Western Section, including terms as president and representative to the TWS National Council.

Rita Carman, 1978 Forestry & Wildland Resources, worked for the USGS Water Resources in Carson City, Nevada, from 1979 to 1998 as a hydrologist. She then went on to Nevada State from 1998 to 2016. She has been happily retired since 2016, is involved in the community, and has been a member of the Carson City Kiwanis since 1991. Living the good life!

Joel D. Eis 1978 M.F.A. Theatre, just published his fifth book, Standin' in a Hard Rain, the Making of a Revolutionary Life, with World BEYOND War Press in Charlottesville, Virginia (Available on Amazon.com). It's the life of a radial theater activist (with an FBI file thick as a small city phonebook) from early teens through the current time. Says Eis, "The atmosphere in the theater program at HSU in the '70s was a real engine. Risk-taking among a bunch of outlaws who knew their art. Professors with the wisdom to give good advice then get out of your way." Edgy, unbeatable.

Marianne Lancaster, 1979 Biological Sciences, retired and took another job serving as the nature education manager for The Nature Education Foundation at the Santa Rosa Plateau in Riverside County, which supports education programs on the 10,000-acre reserve known as the Santa Rosa Plateau after 30-plus years of serving as a high school biology teacher in Humboldt County and Riverside County. Emphasis has been on helping high school students become citizen scientists by participating in data collection for the National Phenology Network, which collects data on the seasonal changes in plants and animals with the changing climate.

1980s

John Alves, 1980 Wildlife, has retired after a 35-year career as a Colorado Parks and Wildlife fisheries biologist. He managed sport fisheries and native fish, including Rio Grande cutthroat trout. He served as an officer with the Colorado/Wyoming chapter of the American Fisheries Society. He plans to spend more time with his daughter and grandsons, go fishing, and travel to Alaska.

Edward (Ed) Busch, 1980 Fisheries Biology, retired from Michigan State University.

Cynthia Chaney, 1980 Social Work, loved her two years at Humboldt, where she made a lifetime friend and teased her about being a "Humboldt Honey." Cynthia graduated with a bachelor's degree in Social Work and went on to get a master's in Social Work from the University of Hawaii in 1993. She lived in Hawaii for 25 years and never wanted to leave. In 2013, Chaney moved to Arizona to care for her elderly mother. She would love to catch up with her former classmates.

Virginia Howard Mullan, 1980 Anthropology and 2006 M.A. Social Science - Environment & Community, decided to put more time into her writing after teaching middle school, all subjects, at Bridgeville Elementary for 31 years. In the last few years, the North Coast Journal, Senior News, The Sun, The Times-Standard, and The Eel River Valley DAR Newsletter have included her work in their publications. Virginia published a book entitled What Remains: the People and Places of California's Expositions about California World's Fairs in 2021.

Craig Sides, 1980 Communication, was invited to be a guest on the "Bold Leadership Stories Show." Among all the guests, he, by far, has had the most views. He is the owner of Temecula Valley Solar. He thanked Humboldt State on his Facebook page.

Greg Williams, 1980 Environmental Resources Engineering, is the former co-owner of a Humboldt County solar design and build company. His son is also a Humboldt graduate. Greg and his family migrated to the western Washington area where Greg is a senior solar design consultant, NABCEP certified, and an active pilot flying aerobatics and shares his aviation skills with the next generation. Currently, Greg is working on a team building an electric motor glider for pilot training. He was recently awarded the FAA 50-year Master Pilot award., was named chief development officer of Giving Docs, a revolutionary online platform that is democratizing the estate planning process and making it easier for individuals who want to make an impact by leaving a gift to charity in their will. Bristol is a 2001 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center and has spent the last decade helping nonprofits fund their missions through planned giving.

Mara Cole (Moore), 1982 History, serves on the board for Pass The Word Ministries in Monterey, California. The organization's purpose is to provide for the needs of our underserved and unsheltered individuals and families in the community. She is now also a consultant for Hands Up Foundation in Monterey County. She has a leadership role in the Calvary Chapel Fellowship and was an Oral English Professor in 2019 in Tai’an China to 400 nursing students. Cole is a member of a gospel choir, has been married 38 years, and is the mother of two children and grandmother of two.

Harris Fogel, 1982 Art, is a staff writer and photographer for Copper Magazine in Boulder, Colorado. Fogel has authored a monograph called "The Wonder Years 1988–1991, Photographs by Harris Fogel," published in 2017 and revised in 2024, and "Helmut Remiorz, Color 1969–1974, Photographs by Helmut Remiorz,” released January 2023. He presented a lecture on the exhibition "About Who? Andy Warhol" at the Passagen Linköping Art Gallery in Sweden in March 2024. Additionally, he is the publisher of Mac Edition Radio and participated in "Plutonium & Silver–The Atomic Photographers Guild (APG)/Imaging The Nuclear Condition" in Vancouver, Canada, in April 2024.

Henry Mulak, 1984 Journalism, is developing a branded media company following 40 years of reporting, including for the "Big Three" broadcasting networks in the United States. The Ah! Channel focuses on artificial intelligence. This comes on the heels of some six years studying computer science and business in Stanford University's Continuing Studies program. Henry was ahead of the curve when OpenAI released ChatGPT in November of 2022, quickly joining a startup in the development of digital personas. "The potential for growth here is tremendous," Mulak says, noting that business models in everything from media to healthcare are changing rapidly.

Donald Cresse, 1985 Economics, has retired from the LA Department of Water and Power after more than 27 years. He worked as an energy conservation rep and then as a supervisor in recycled water. Cresse says that Drs. Ruprecht and Jewett were instrumental in his education and is thankful for their guidance. Also, Dr. Lehman taught him "appropriate technology." Cresse says if not for Humboldt and these great professors, he would not be happily retired.

Ingrid Hart, 1985 Journalism, is reprinting her "Are You A Humboldt Honey?" poster from 1983 for the first time in 40 years to commemorate this milestone. Visit thehumboldthoney.com. To sweeten this feel-good project, she is donating 25% of the net profits to the North Coast Environmental Center in Arcata. She no longer lives in Humboldt but claims her memories of redwoods, rivers, and the ocean remain with her. She says attending Humboldt in her early 20s shaped the person she is today and that it was a high-vibration place to learn.

Stephen Oram "SeaCowboy," 1985 Environmental Resources Engineering, obtained his final civil engineering degree from Oregon State University in 1985 after four solid years of Environmental Engineering at Humboldt. He worked in Washington at the Bremerton Shipyard for five years, at a consulting firm in Portland, Oregon, for some ten years, at the Rosenburg Oregon Department of Transportation for a few years, and then at the City of Springfield, Oregon, for a few years. He then moved to Australia, Canberra, Cairns, Brisbane, and now Perth. Oram is now retired and surfs every day in Western Australia.

Kristin Coker, 1989 Communication, worked as an admissions counselor for Heald Business College after graduating. She traveled to San Francisco East Bay high schools and spoke of the importance of staying in school and striving for a higher education. Kristin also worked for a nonprofit organization called Contra Costa ARC, where she was an HR recruiter. The agency was developed to employ and educate adults with developmental disabilities. Coker says her degree was the best choice, as it opened many doors to many job market opportunities.

Terry M. Culton, 1989 Psychology, has been working as a winemaker in California for over 30 years. Culton recently moved to Oregon to take the position of director of winemaking and vineyards at Willamette Valley Vineyards in Turner, Oregon.

1990s

Chris Manning, 1990 Journalism, says attending Humboldt State University was one of the greatest decisions of his life! He has since gone on to have an award-winning and successful career in music performing, production, sound engineering, and sound for film. He works at Skywalker Sound in Marin County on sound for major blockbuster movies. Chris intends to return to Cal Poly Humboldt to help him finish a creative historical novel he has been working on for seven years.

Ira Goldstein, 1991 Geography, has been a watchmaker for 30 years in Idaho and loves his career, although he says he will always be a geographer at heart. He resides in Boise, Idaho. with his wife, Barbara, (whom he met at Humboldt). He owns Timekeeper Watch Repair & Sales in Eagle, Idaho.

Ken Russo, 1993 Fisheries Biology, moved to the Sacramento area and worked in the aquaculture industry for 18 years, raising white sturgeon for meat and caviar production after graduating. In 2011 he switched gears and went to work as a transportation biologist for Caltrans District 3. Ken is currently a senior resources biologist working with staff on delivering projects, permitting, and addressing wildlife connectivity impacts and remediation. Russo has also been married for 25 years to Tani Russo (Rutherford, Humboldt ‘92) and has one awesome son who just graduated from Chico State!

Sandra L. Neumann, 1995 Psychology and 1997 M.A. Psychology, was recently awarded the University of Wisconsin system's P.B. Poorman Award for Outstanding Achievement on Behalf of LGBTQ+ People. She is currently an associate professor of psychology at UW Stevens Point–Marshfield campus.

Marie (Laurey) McHaffie, 1996 History, never thought she would be living in Arkansas, but there she is in a truly beautiful state. Marie teaches English, journalism, yearbook, and theatre in a small rural school. She earned her M.A. in English in 2017 and is entering her 19th year of teaching. She's studying art, too, and loves it! She carries a piece of Humboldt with her in her heart. Marie appreciates all the trees and waterfalls out there. She hopes she can get back to campus for a visit someday.

Nathan Delgado, 1997 Recreation Administration, returned to school at 40 and received a B.S. in geology and an M.S. in geology and geomorphology from the University of Nevada, Reno. He worked researching post-wildfire debris flows, flash floods, and landslides before joining a large international consulting firm. Delgado is now a geomorphologist conducting surveys and research documenting the impacts of hydroelectric projects on rivers and aquatic wildlife.

Dafna Golden, 1997 Geography, is fulfilling a long-time dream and moving to Israel with her husband and two boys after a successful 23-year career as a geography professor at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California. She credits her education in Geography at Humboldt with preparing her to become a teacher and advises many of her students to consider Cal Poly Humboldt themselves. She completed her master's degree at CSULA with an emphasis on Geographic Information Systems and has created a successful GIS program at Mt. Sac. She hopes to apply her GIS expertise in Israel to help manage the natural resources there.

Kyle Chang, 1997 Natural Resources, retired from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife as a lieutenant supervisor for San Bernardino and Riverside Counties after almost 24 years with the department.

Billy Lamar Miles, 1999 Liberal Studies Elementary Education, recently celebrated 10 years as a quizmaster for King Trivia Inc. Not everyone can say they love their job, but he does.

2000s

Myshelle Charlon, 2000 Biological Sciences, is now living in the Bay Area with her family. She is working to develop effective, tolerable, and durable treatments to help patients with cancer thrive.

Jerre Winder Maurer, 2001 Single Subject Credential (Biology) and 2002 Biology, just finished her 20th year teaching science for the Bret Harte Union High School District in Angels Camp, California, and continues to love it! She teaches biology and anatomy/physiology. She is also the science department chair and the recycling coordinator. She says it has been a great place to work all these years with wonderful staff and students! The credential program ensured she was prepared to teach! Thank you, Humboldt!

Joel Heng Hartse, 2007 English, is a senior lecturer at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada. His latest book is A Very Brief Guide to Reading & Writing in University.

Garrett Edward Spears, 2007 Journalism, has retired from independent professional wrestling after eight years of traveling throughout California, Oregon, and Mexico. He is now an associate producer for the television show "Horror Hotel." It promotes classic and independent movies within the genres of horror and science fiction. It is shown on Retro TV, The Action Channel, and The Monster Channel. He has also started dabbling in acting and is thinking about getting back into traveling entertainment.

Dan Troxel, 2007 Fisheries Biology and 2010 M.S. Natural Resources (Fisheries Biology), is an environmental scientist for the California Department of Fish & Wildlife based in Arcata, California, working in the Klamath and Trinity Rivers Program. In the face of Klamath basin dam removal efforts, adaptability is key, but generally speaking, he is responsible for recreational fishery surveys and quota management. He is the lead coordinator for mid-Klamath spawning grounds surveys and is the Salmon Report Card lead, amongst other things. Troxel appreciates hiring Cal Poly Humboldt students to give them early career opportunities in fisheries and fieldwork.

2010s

Mark Castro, 2010 Anthropology, is a co-director of the Cultural Resources Facility at Cal Poly Humboldt and has been with the organization for five years. Castro has a holistic work experience through his time with multiple agencies including the BLM working on museum collections and archaeological field surveys, the Eldorado National Forest as a field technician, and the Northwest Information Center (Sonoma State University). He received his master's degree in Cultural Resources Management at Sonoma State, is a board member of the Humboldt County Historical Society, and is the co-lead for the Pride (LGBTQ+) Taskforce for Coalition for Diversity in California Archaeology.

Tara Darlene Smith’s, 2010 English, memoir essay collection, Sunflowers in Iraq: True Stories of Surviving & Thriving, was published. Further information is available on her website at www.taradarlenesmith.com.

Frankie Baker, 2011 Critical Race, Gender & Sexuality Studies, opened a New York-style bakery serving the Humboldt community up until selling it in 2022. The skills, community, and support they gained while earning their degree—combined with life experience and being an entrepreneur—have brought Baker to their next journey/career in the mental health/social work field. They now work as a youth prevention specialist in school-based wellness centers at various school sites within Humboldt County. They will forever be grateful to the CRGS program for providing them with a solid foundation as they continue serving their community.

Jess Whatcott, 2011 M.A. Social Science - Environment & Community, became a tenure-track professor in women's, gender, and sexuality studies at San Diego State University after completing a Ph.D. at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Whatcott's first academic book about California's history of eugenics and confining disabled people in state institutions will be published by Duke University Press in August 2024.

Samuel R. Harper, 2014 Fisheries Biology, became a user experience designer at Infinity Ward, having worked on popular video game titles such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. He is earning a master's degree in Human Factors from Bentley University. Harper has also taught UX courses at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Central Florida. Harper currently resides in Austin, Texas.

Stephanie Rosier, 2014 Psychology, worked as a senior advocate at Humboldt Domestic Violence Services for two years and as a shelter coordinator at YWCA Glendale after graduating from Humboldt. She then worked as an early recovery specialist at Aegis Treatment Centers in Ventura, California, and two years ago, she moved to Missoula, Montana, where she worked as a county mental health coordinator. She loves the nature-focused culture of Montana but misses the redwoods! Humboldt State University provided her with many experiences and tools that have helped her build her career and give back to the community, and she will always be grateful.

Mary Colleen "MC" Hannon, 2015 Biology and Zoology, successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation at Texas A&M University at Galveston with a study describing the reproductive biology of a local polychaete worm (Family Nereididae) on March 8, 2023. She has accepted a postdoc position at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., where she will continue her research looking into polychaete vision in the open water column. During her time at Humboldt State, she was the captain of the Women's Ultimate Disc club and worked at the University Center Information Desk.

Ashley (Perez) Mezeske, 2015 Environmental Studies, moved her family from Humboldt to rural Michigan in August of 2023. While living in Humboldt, Mezeske worked briefly in the nonprofit sector, helping to provide resources for various aspects of childcare for a local organization. She has been a stay-at-home mother since she had her first child in 2018. She plans to open up her own business with an interdisciplinary environmental lens this coming year. She says the concept of a “third place” and the loss we have of them in society has become very interesting to her lately. She loves Humboldt!

Robin Rader, 2015 Environmental Studies, is unsure when her last update was, but she had a baby two and a half years ago! She's been a stay-at-home mom ever since and is taking drone courses to get a commercial license for flying one. She's not exactly sure what she'll do with that, but she can be flexible with it and continue raising her son. Robin loves being a mom. She says it’s so awesome watching her son grow and learn. They garden, and he loves it. They hike, cook, and learn together.

Javier Rojas, 2016 Journalism, accepted a dream job as a media relations specialist at Cal State Northridge after taking on various reporter roles in Southern California. Rojas has been working toward the transition from daily reporting to a communication position in higher education since graduating from Humboldt State. While his love for writing never wavered, he's excited to return to a role in the CSU system where he can highlight the work of students.

Shiloh (Green) Soto, 2016 Environmental Studies, earned her M.A. in Interdisciplinary Humanities at UC Merced, where she will also graduate with her Ph.D. in Spring 2024. Soto's graduate work is housed in the Department of History & Critical Race and Ethnic Studies and analyzes a public history project she directed about the San Joaquin Valley's City of Livingston. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Soto and her spouse decided to move back to Humboldt with their child, and she found exciting work on campus in Cal Poly Humboldt's College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences as the college graduate programs & recruitment coordinator.

Christian Vierra, 2016 Politics, is the associate director of Government Relations for the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health System. Previously, he has served in various roles at the American Heart Association and the California State Assembly.

Emily Frances Klee, 2017 Environmental Resources Engineering, went off to grad school and got a master's in Mechanical Engineering. She then moved to Huntsville, Alabama, and worked at NASA in the Environmental Control and Life Support System branch. After two years of loving her job, but hating the area, she decided to move to Fort Collins, Colorado. She is now an operations manager at a local nonprofit food rescue, Vindeket Foods.

Kaelie Peña, 2017 Rangeland Resource Science, worked as a rangeland management specialist with the U.S. Forest Service, first in the Bridgeport Ranger District of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest and then in the Salmon-Cobalt Ranger District of the Salmon-Challis National Forest upon graduation in 2017. In February of 2024, Kaelie accepted the position of Nevada state coordinator with Pheasants Forever where she will coordinate partnerships amongst NGOs and state and federal agencies across Nevada to accomplish habitat restoration and conservation work.

Claire Roth, 2017 Environmental Studies, lives in Eugene, Oregon, and works as a program manager with the educational nonprofit Better Eugene-Springfield Transportation (BEST). BEST advocates for better, more convenient, and safer transportation for everyone, no matter their mode of choice or ability, and believes that community partnership and collaboration are the keys to finding sustainable and equitable solutions to transportation challenges and that the voices of the most vulnerable users of the transportation system should be continuously elevated. Roth also serves on two local nonprofit boards: Shift Community Cycles and the Whiteaker Community Council. She believes that nonprofits fill the gap that governments cannot cover.

Jenny Werthman, 2017 and 2020 Politics, has taught high school history (mostly juniors and seniors) since 2021, after earning her degree in Political Science and credential in Social Science for Secondary Education. She is entering her third year of teaching. She lives in Rancho Cucamonga, California, and teaches in the inner city of San Bernardino for mostly at-risk youth. She loves helping kids and teaching them about the real world. She uses everything she learned in Humboldt in her classroom and is forever grateful! She is now married with two young kids!

Albert Bernales, 2018 Business Administration, is among the first Peace Corps volunteers to return to overseas service since the agency’s unprecedented global evacuation in March 2020. The Peace Corps suspended global operations and evacuated nearly 7,000 volunteers from more than 60 countries at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. "My professors shared their experiences as Peace Corps volunteers during their lectures, and it seemed very impactful on their own personal and professional development,” Bernales says. "As a business volunteer, I hope to share an entrepreneur's mindset with community members in Fiji and hopefully get them excited about business.”

Anna Petersen, 2018 History, returned to her native country of Hungary in 2019, along with her husband, Jared, and son Tibby. After working for a bilingual education nonprofit in Budapest, where students learn English in a fully immersive environment with lessons co-taught by native Hungarian and English-speaking instructors, she joined the fintech company Wise in 2022 in an anti-money laundering role.

Leah Rankin, 2018 Psychology, started at Humboldt as a single mom juggling home life, work, and school. They obtained a job in the behavioral health field and learned quickly that supporting individuals living with co-occurring disorders was their calling. They've been providing services in the field for ten years and have worked up to becoming the program administrator at a social rehabilitationprogram that prepares our persons served for community reintegration. Rankin encourages people to continue to follow their passions and dreams, to stay focused on what they wish to accomplish, and to remember it's never too late to get started.

Iris Luana Salamanca, 2018 Wildlife, had the opportunity to serve as a biological technician, public information officer, resource advisor, natural resource and education specialist and obtained her red card, allowing her to assist on four wildfires and two prescribed burns this year alone for the Bureau of Land Management Grand Junction Field Office in Colorado. After four years, she is transferring over to the U.S. Forest Service White River, where she will continue to grow as a natural resource specialist and continue assisting with wildfires in various roles.

Crystal Betances, 2019 International Studies, is working with Politics4her on a research project in partnership with the Apolitical Foundation, an organization based in Berlin. The project’s focus is on regions with ongoing programs to increase women’s political involvement, seeking to create deep partnerships with those leading the political leadership incubators in the region. The project will also highlight the barriers to women’s political participation. Betances attributes her interest in this project from her time as an International Studies undergrad and takes with her the research skills learned during that time.

2020s

Adam Cashman, 2021 Environmental Science & Management, is among the first Peace Corps volunteers to return to overseas service since the agency’s unprecedented global evacuation in March 2020. Cashman wanted to travel to a different country and work in a different ecosystem and hoped to learn more about agriculture, restoration in subtropical ecosystems, and African culture. He is looking forward to making friends along the way and will serve as a volunteer in Zambia in the environment sector.

Alexander Gant, 2021 Psychology, is working for Hazel Health as an Associate MFT. Hazel Health partners with school districts across the country to provide medical and mental health services to students via telehealth.

Anne Howard, 2022 (M.A.) English, has accepted a position as communications manager for Tacoma Arts Live. The English department wishes to congratulate Anne on her new role!

Leah Meyers, 2022 Botany, was hired as a botanist under Stantec to work in environmental consulting in August 2022 and has recently completed her first year there. She moved to Santa Barbara for this job and has had a wonderful experience working with other biologists and getting out in the field. Living in Santa Barbara is a blast, and Meyers is grateful to be a part of protecting California's amazing wildlife—but she says her heart is always in the Redwoods!

Albert Ochoa-Castillo, 2022 Chemistry, is currently in the second year of his Ph.D. studies at Colorado State University, focusing on the fundamentals of plant cryopreservation. He recently received the prestigious NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, one of the country’s top STEM fellowship programs. Ochoa-Castillo crafted a method to visualize sucrose in plant cells and proposed a technique for simultaneous imaging of two molecules in plant tissue. His research explores cryoprotectant-cell interactions using advanced microscopy methods. After graduating, Ochoa-Castillo aims to teach chemistry at a primarily undergraduate institution, prioritizing research inclusion for first-generation and Hispanic students to enhance diversity in scientific fields.

Abbey Ramirez, 2022 Environmental Studies, moved to Sonoma County on Pomo and Coast Miwok land, where she is the head gardener for Traditional Medicinals Tea Company—the company that makes Throat Coat! She tends the educational garden, which serves as an herbal library, displaying many medicinal herbs the company uses in its teas. She is also the zero-waste coordinator working with the environmental department on getting the tea company recertified as a zero-waste facility. Ramirez is still working with CCAT as a member of the Steering Committee and is always proud to say where her education came from!