Alumni Updates
Michael Fritschi, Environmental Resources Engineering, 2005
Submitted: May 24, 2019
Michael Fritschi, Environmental Resources Engineering, 2005, is currently enjoying working as the District Manager for the South Suburban Sanitary District in Southern Oregon. Life is exceptionally good, and in complete balance with his wife and jack Russell.
Christopher Swarth, Biological Sciences, 1978
Submitted: May 16, 2019
After graduating, Christopher Swarth Biological Sciences, 1978, moved back home to Oakland where in 1983 he received his MS in Zoology from Cal State East Bay. After working for Point Reyes Bird Observatory, Lawrence Hall of Science (UC Berkeley) and Diablo Valley College, he married in 1987 and moved to Maryland. There he spent 23 years as director of the Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, one of the components of the Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. In 2013, he moved back to northern California to work and teach at UC Merced, where he was the director of the 6,500 acre Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve adjacent to campus until he retired in 2016. He lives in Mariposa.
Heidi Gehlhaar Oriol, Environmental Resources Engineering, 2001
Submitted: May 8, 2019
Heidi Gehlhaar Oriol, Environmental Resources Engineering, 2001, is a licensed Civil Engineer and has worked for water and wastewater utilities in the Bay Area and Sacramento since her graduation from HSU in 2001. She currently works as a Senior Civil Engineer in the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs office for the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (Regional San) and the Sacramento Area Sewer District (SASD). She enjoys her role as a regulatory advocate and is also very excited to be supporting a project to bring recycled water to agriculture in southern Sacramento County. Heidi believes use of recycled water will reduce groundwater pumping, raise groundwater levels, increase flows in nearby streams, and improve wetland and vernal pool habitats.
Thomas Eley, Wildlife, 1969 and 1975
Submitted: April 12, 2019
Thomas Eley, Wildlife, 1969, worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a Refuge Manager and Refuge Officer. He is now retired and lives in Alaska.
Jolene Saldivar, Biological Sciences, 2017
Submitted: April 9, 2019
Jolene Saldivar, Biological Sciences, 2017, has committed to the University of California, Riverside's Plant Biology PhD program and will begin this summer. She is also the recipient of the Eugene Cota-Robles Fellowship, which is the most prestigious diversity fellowship offered at UC Riverside.
Brian Galvez, Fisheries Biology, 2014
Submitted: April 4, 2019
Brian Galvez, Fisheries Biology, 2014, graduated from Delaware State University with a M.S. in Natural Resources with a focus on Fisheries Biology. His thesis was titled "Trophic ecology of juvenile Weakfish (Cynoscion regalis) from the Delaware Bay using stomach content and stable isotope analyses". He is currently writing a manuscript for publication in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society with the work presented in his thesis. He represented Humboldt State Fisheries Biology Department by having the best thesis defense in the Delaware State University Natural Resources Graduate Program according to multiple people, including a Delaware State fish biologist and the department chair of his program.
Marshall Jett, Natural Resources, 1989
Submitted: March 27, 2019
Marshall Jett, Natural Resources, 1989, has been living in Washington since leaving Humboldt's grad program in Biology in 1993. He worked as a park ranger for Olympic National Park and many other parks for years and was a science instructor at Catalina Island Marine Institute. In 2001, Marshall began teaching (K-8 elementary school) in Seattle after graduating with a teaching certificate from Western Washington University. His passion for cooking finally won over - and Marshall founded Veraci Pizza, Inc. in 2004. Marshall now has three busy Italian restaurants and a mobile catering department. He lives with his teenage daughter Olivia in Tacoma, Washington and is an avid sailor, gardener, and musician.
Dr. Jessica K. Rendon, Environmental Science & Management, 2008
Submitted: March 10, 2019
Dr. Jessica Rendon Environmental Science, 2008, recently received her PhD. in Entomology from the University of Idaho. She currently works for the Oregon Department of Agriculture, working to protect Oregon’s agriculture and natural resources from invasive species. She was recently promoted to Japanese Beetle Eradication Specialist. She says: "Experiencing HSU education, student life, and its inspirations greatly shaped my desire for further education, and future career, which I so enjoy. It also made me fall in love with the Pacific Northwest." Starting volunteering experiences at HSU, she continues to volunteer on habitat and riparian restoration.
Richard Mattson, Fisheries Biology, 1971
Submitted: February 4, 2019
Richard Mattson, Fisheries Biology, 1971, retired after 30+ years with Douglas Island Pink & Chum, Inc. (DIPAC) in Juneau Alaska. DIPAC is a major producer of hatchery chum, king, and coho salmon in southeast Alaska. He began in fish culture there and then spend most my career as an aquarist maintaining the visitor center marine aquariums and conducting our education programs. He still works part-time maintaining aquariums on contract to the NOAA Ted Stevens Marine Research Institute in Juneau. He also volunteers for various organizations and will be continuing to do more with his extra time. Travel with his wife Peggy is definitely on tap, and he also just enjoys reading, learning Finnish, and outdoor activities.
Carl S. Chavez, Wildlife, 1966
Submitted: February 1, 2019
Carl S. Chavez, Wildlife, 1966, retired in 1998 after a 33-year with California State Parks. Among his many assignments, he was Superintendent of Humboldt Redwoods State Park from 1979-87 as well as all the other redwood parks south of Eureka. In 1985 he was named the department's first Superintendent of the Year. Leaving the redwoods he was appoint Northern Regional Director and later Northern Division Chief. He authored "A Pathway Through Parks" and co-authored with his wife Margaret (Class of 1966), "A Year in Bodie 1966-1967." He retired to Graeagle near Plumas-Eureka State Park, a unit he once managed. Presently he is President of the Board of the Feather River Land Trust.
Paula Golightly, Wildlife, 1982
Submitted: January 15, 2019
Paula Golightly, Wildlife, 1982, has worked for the US Fish and Wildlife Service for 24 years working to restore aquatic and terrestrial habitats for fish and wildlife primarily on private lands in Humboldt County California through voluntary programs within the agency. She was recently promoted to Regional Coordinator for the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program covering Idaho, Oregon, Washington and the Pacific Islands and is now based out of Portland Oregon.
Maria Cecilila Avila, Biological Sciences, 1985
Submitted: January 2, 2019
Maria Cecilila Avila, 1985, is living in Chile.
Dylan Karl, Wildlife, 2016
Submitted: November 9, 2018
Dylan Karl, Wildlife, 2016, completed two years of service as a Peace Corps environment volunteer in Guyana, South America. Karl volunteered as a community conservation promotor. Now that his service is complete, he is looking into going to Bowling Green State University for its Leisure and Tourism program.
Christine Messer, Wildlife, 2013
Submitted: November 7, 2018
Christine Messer (Orlowski), Wildlife, 2013, worked for the California Department of Food and Agriculture before deciding to continue her education. She obtained a Master's degree in Environmental Studies from California State University Fullerton in 2017. While completing her graduate degree she simultaneously worked for the County of Santa Barbara in the Sustainability Division. She currently works for the City of Lompoc as the city's recycling coordinator. She married Kirk Messer ('11, Biology, Zoology) in October 2017. They live in Santa Maria, California and recently returned to HSU for a visit after five years away.
Gene Blankenbaker, Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1977
Submitted: November 7, 2018
Gene Blankenbaker, Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1977, is retiring in January 2019 after over 41 years of service with the federal government. He spent approximately 2 years with the U.S. Geological Survey, Water Resource Division as a groundwater hydrologist, and over 39 years with the U.S. Forest Service in a variety of locations in California, Washington D.C., Arizona, Wisconsin and New Mexico, in positions that included hydrologist, forester, district ranger, forest supervisor, deputy regional forester, and deputy director of human resources for the agency.
Thomas F. Wuenschell, Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1974
Submitted: October 31, 2018
Thomas F. Wuenschell, Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1974, studied Forestry 1972-1974 at Humboldt and got his BS in Idaho later. He retired in 2016 as a forester after more than 30 years with USFS. He has always been a supporter of Save The Redwoods League and is currently on board of directors of his Audubon chapter.
Michael William Ra, Oceanography, 1996
Submitted: October 10, 2018
Michael William Raftery, Oceanography, 1996, worked for Lockheed Martin Technical Operations as a Satellite Engineer (1996-2000), Loral Skynet as a Spacecraft Orbit Analyst (2000-2004), Stevens Institute of Technology as a Research Engineer (2004-2012), received a Masters Degree in Ocean Engineering (Stevens 2009), and is the sole inventor on US Patent 8093736B2 (Wave Energy Harnessing Device) own by Stevens Board of Trustees. He's currently working for Martin & Ottaway in Tinton Falls, New Jersey working to commercialize the SurfWEHD based on US patent 8093736B2.
Jessica Elaine Sepulveda, Biological Sciences, 2017
Submitted: September 10, 2018
Jessica Elaine Sepulveda, Biology, 2017, recently got this amazing opportunity to work in startup using stem cell technology to reduce humans impact on the environment. Unlike most stem cell technology that focuses on medicine, VitroLabs Inc goal is to reduce our ecological footprint by making ethical leather in a lab. Her job entails making induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), differentiating our stem cells into skin cell and generating leather. By producing leather in a lab from iPSCs we can eliminate the need for cow hides will still supplying the market with this particular textile. She finds her work satisfying and is able to fulfill her graduation pledge in several ways: our product is ethical & ecological.
Ana Veronica Parra, Biological Sciences, 2013
Submitted: September 6, 2018
Ana Veronica Parra, Biology, 2013, fell in love with Astronomy after watching “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey” narrated by Neil deGrass Tyson. She is currently taking math and physics courses at San Diego Mesa College and plans to apply to the University of Colorado’s Astrophysics and Planetary Science Ph.D. program in December 2019. Here’s is more info as to what she's been up to: http://www.sdmesa.edu/_resources/newsroom/posts/stem-scholars-ncas.php.
Jonathan Baer, Environmental Science & Management, 2014
Submitted: August 29, 2018
Jonathan Baer, Environmental Science & Management, 2014, got married the year he graduated from HSU. Two weeks after graduating he and his wife moved to Shenyang China where they taught English for a year. This experience convinced him to become a teacher for good. He applied to several schools for graduate programs and eventually decided to go with Southern Oregon University in Ashland. He received his master's degree in teaching with a K-12 teaching license with endorsements in elementary education and secondary social sciences. He subbed for a while and now is starting his second year teaching 6th grade in Baker City, Oregon. We also had a daughter Isabella in October of 2017 who just started walking this last weekend.