Alumni Stories

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A photo of Chris Manning

From Humboldt's Redwoods to Hollywood Soundstages

Chris Manning ('90, Journalism) is deeply passionate about the art of storytelling through sound. His career has involved performing at Wembley Stadium, creating immersive soundscapes for iconic scenes like “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and recording Santana’s 1999 album “Supernatural.”

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A photo of Amy and Steve Bohner from Alchemy Construction and Alchemy Distillery.

Trailblazers in Community Building and Craft Distilling

Steve (‘95, Speech Communications) and Amy Bohner’s journey from Humboldt students to successful entrepreneurs underscores the profound impact that their education and experiences at Cal Poly Humboldt had on their lives.

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A photo of Ariel DeLara wearing sunglass near a beach.

Alum's Journey to Environmental Stewardship

Ariel DeLara (‘15, Rangeland Resource Science) now works as a district conservationist for the Natural Resource Conservation Service, where he's dedicated to environmental stewardship and conservation.

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A photo collage of Lucinda and Gary Jensen and Jayda and Taiden Partlow

Lumberjacks in Love

Those who attend Cal Poly Humboldt often discover their love for the outdoors, their community, or a particular discipline—some even find the love of their lives.

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A photo of Ron Holcomb

Triaging Environmental Disasters

Ron Holcomb ('76, Journalism, Biology, and Natural Resources) grew up near the Santa Barbara coast and mountains. He loved surfing the pristine beaches and hiking the Santa Ynez mountains.

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A photo of Jade Takimoto-Soriano

Building Inclusivity in the Video Game Industry

Playing video games was always a way for Jade Takimoto-Soriano ('16, International Studies) and her family to connect and spend time together. Her love for video games has come full circle as she is now the recruiter of diversity and Inclusion at Bad Robot Games, a video game company founded by renowned filmmaker J.J. Abrams, who made films like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Mission Impossible, and Star Trek.

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Rebecca Beard is on the Privacy Leadership Team at Meta

Protecting Privacy in the Metaverse

Being part of the Privacy Leadership Team at Meta, Facebook’s parent company, which focuses on developing augmented and virtual reality technology, means thinking outside the box.

Alum Amplifies the Importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

When a small pebble is dropped into a still body of water, it creates a small ripple. When another pebble is dropped, it creates another ripple. For Eddie Pate (‘88, Wildlife, ‘93, M.A. Sociology), dropping a continuous pebble of intentional inclusion, diversity, and equitable (IDE) actions gradually changes the flow of systemic inequalities for a more inclusive environment for underrepresented people.

From Forestry to Fire Chief

When Kurt McCray ('93, Forestry) came to Humboldt in the late 1980s, he knew he didn’t want a career that kept him inside. 

Giving Inspires Giving

Sherman Schapiro (‘86, Environmental Systems) is proof that giving inspires giving.