Alumni Updates
Terri Bidle, Biological Sciences, 2011
Submitted: August 26, 2014
Terri Bidle, 2011 Zoology, is beginning a new chapter of her life as a marine education program manager in Southern California. After seven years with the USC QuikSCience program, she will be working with ExplorOcean in Newport Beach, Calif., to bring quality ocean exploration to young people.
Ty Robin Collins, Environmental Resources Engineering, 2001
Submitted: August 20, 2014
Ty Robin Collins, Environmental Resources Engineering, was hired as a project manager for Manhard Consulting’s Eureka office, a civil engineering firm headquartered in Vernon Hills, Ill.
Tonja (Olson)Tallent, Biological Sciences, 1998
Submitted: July 17, 2014
Tonja (Olson)Tallent, 1998, Biological Sciences, worked at a winery as a microbiologist, then for a bio-tech company doing the same. She recently left corporate America and started a business with her husband and now happily runs a tea-bar in Fair Oaks, Calif.
Jessica Ann Sellers, Wildlife, 2013
Submitted: June 23, 2014
Jessica Ann Sellers, 2013 Wildlife, spent two summers working on the Wyoming toad recovery project doing captive breeding, research, surveys, and releases. Sellers also spent some time in Key Largo, Fla., interning for REEF doing fish surveys and lionfish research and removals.
Carl S. Chavez, Wildlife, 1966
Submitted: June 6, 2014
Carl S. Chavez, 1966 Wildlife, published his second book, "A Year in Bodie, 1966-1967" co-authored with his wife Margaret (Elmore) Chavez (also class of 1966). The book is about the start of Chavez’s 33-year career as a California State Park Ranger and Administrator.
Marie (Ferguson) Smith, Wildlife, 1980
Submitted: April 16, 2014
Marie (Ferguson) Smith, 1980 Wildlife, has been teaching high school science for the last 25 years after working for the U.S. Forest Service as a Research Technician, I. Smith is married with three sons, two engineers (SDSU and CSU) and one zoologist (HSU). She’s currently living on a mountain outside of Glide, Oregon, and still teaching science (Umpqua Valley Christian School), but dreaming of retirement.
Rion Allbaugh, Forestry & Wildland Resources, 2001
Submitted: April 16, 2014
Rion Allbaugh, 2001 Forestry, met his wife Anne Marie Nielsen (‘01, Child Development) in the Siemens Hall Computer lab in 1999 and have been together ever since. Allbaugh is a Fire Captain for Cal Fire, and Anne Marie is a second grade teacher. They live in the Sierra Nevada Foothills with their son and dog. They look back upon their Humboldt State experience with great nostalgia and, if given the opportunity, would do it all over again in a heartbeat.
Michael Sandecki, Geology, 1979
Submitted: March 11, 2014
Michael Sandecki, 1979 Geology, is currently a water quality analyst employed with the California Coastal Commission.
Deanna (Wade) Carpenter, Environmental Resources Engineering, 1997
Submitted: December 14, 2013
Deanna Carpenter, 1997 Environmental Resources Engineering, (née Wade) is married to Mark Carpenter ('98, Wildlife Management) and was recently promoted to the rank of Commander with the U.S. Navy's Civil Engineer Corps in Newport, R.I. Carpenter is currently serving as chief staff officer of the Seventh Naval Construction Regiment.
Ron Miller, Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1983
Submitted: December 13, 2013
RON MILLER, 1983 Forest Management, is a supervisory forester on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona. His 30-year career has included working for the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Miller has published articles in both American Forests and the Journal of Forestry. He is also the nominator of the largest Chihuahua pine in the United States. Recent travel includes time in Costa Rica and Panama in Central America and Ecuador and Peru in South America.
Dr. Leonard A. Brennan, Wildlife, 1984
Submitted: December 11, 2013
Leonard A. Brennan, 1984, Wildlife, has been a professor at the Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, at the Texas A&M University, Kingsville, since 2001, where he holds the C.C. Winn Endowed Chair for Quail Research. Brennan teaches graduate classes in Ecosystem Function and Models in Wildlife Science. His past positions include director of Research at Tall Timbers Research Station in Tallahassee, FL (1993-2001), and small game research scientist at Mississippi State University (1989-1993). He served terms as editor-in-chief of The Journal of Wildlife Management (2001-2002) and Wildlife Society Bulletin (2012-2013). Since graduating from HSU, Brennan has published more than 160 peer-reviewed articles, five books and more than 100 extension articles.
Kevin Orris, Mathematics, 1998
Submitted: October 31, 2013
Kevin Orris, 1998, mathematics, first went to Humboldt in 1984 as a Wildlife Management major, at which time he met his wife Bonnie. He returned to Humboldt in the mid ’90s and received a degree in Mathematics and his teaching credential. He has been teaching math at Golden Sierra High School for the last 12 years. He loves every minute and is very proud that he has encouraged several students to attend Humboldt.
J, Chemistry, 2013
Submitted: October 31, 2013
Jeffrey Herr, 2013 Chemistry, found a job working as a laboratory technician in the quality control lab for Traditional Medicinals, which produces tea. Herr’s work is in testing and sampling herbs with names he can barely pronounce. Herr writes, “I already miss HSU.”
Andrew Jensen, Fisheries Biology, 1996 (BS) and 2000 (MS)
Submitted: October 16, 2013
Andrew Jensen, 1996 and 2000 Fisheries Biology, and Melanie Jensen, (’96 Wildlife Biology), met in an Icthyology class in 1992. Then 10 years passed and they bumped into each other in a grocery store in Santa Rosa, Calif., and exchanged phone numbers. After a year or so they got together for dinner, spent several months becoming friends, and got married in 2004. Andrew now works as a senior environmental scientist for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife working on anadromous fish restoration, and Melanie works for PG&E in the Gas Service Engineering Department. They settled in Redding, Calif., and have two daughters, and several pets. In September 2013, they visited HSU and showed their girls where they had met, and let them run around on the soccer field near the Fisheries and Wildlife Building. Andrew writes that HSU was a wonderful place to go to college, and hopes their girls will pick HSU for their college education. Interestingly, Melanie's mother, Dolores Mattax, and aunt and uncle, Patricia Mattax and Jim Ingram, also attended HSU in the early 1950s. Patricia and Jim ended up getting married, and Jim is in the Hall of Fame as a football player and coach for HSU.
Kristi Boring Shelton, Environmental Resources Engineering, 1996
Submitted: October 14, 2013
Kristi Boring Shelton, 1996, Environmental Resources Engineering, worked for Montgomery Watson (now MWH) from 1996 to 2006 in the Federal Unit in Sacramento. Her work included groundwater and soil investigations at various Army and Air Force bases. Then Shelton worked at Secor (now Stantec) from 2006 to 2007 doing underground storage tank cleanups in the Sacramento area. Currently she is working as a water resources control engineer for the Central Valley Regional Water Board.
David, Biological Sciences, 1996
Submitted: October 8, 2013
David E. McLean, 1996, Biological Sciences, is the current president of the Vermont State Dental Society and a delegate to the American Dental Association. McLean earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery in 2000 and now lives in South Burlington, Vt.
Katie Lyn Sherry, Physics & Astronomy, 1996
Submitted: August 12, 2013
Katie Lyn Sherry, 1996 Physics & Astronomy, will be attending medical school at the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biomedical Science. Sherry completed both post-baccalaureate and graduate programs to complete the prerequisites in biology and chemistry before entering medical school. Having gained admission at age 42, Sherry writes, "It's never too late to do what you should have done."
Doug Downie, Biological Sciences, 1994
Submitted: July 19, 2013
DOUG DOWNIE, 1994 Biological Sciences, earned his doctorate in Entomology (Population genetics in grape phylloxera) at UC Davis. Downie spent four years doing postdoctoral research on grape phylloxera, mealybugs, and ants. He took an academic position at Rhodes University in South Africa in 2003, where I stayed to 2011. Downie now works at the Dept. of Pesticide Regulation in Sacramento. Along the way he has published poetry and prose and self-published five books of fiction.
Eugene "Charles" Justus, Wildlife, 1989
Submitted: June 6, 2013
EUGENE "CHARLES" JUSTUS, 1989 Wildlife, was recently promoted to regional conservation officer with Idaho Fish and Game where he has been employed since 1990, soon after graduating from HSU. As RCO he manages the 22 conservation officers in the Southwest Region of IDFG. HSU's wildlife program prepared Justus very well for a career in Idaho, where he excels in bird and 'herp' conservation. Justus is married to Sue Epstein ('89, Wildlife) and has two boys. The family loves fishing, hunting and camping in the wilds of Idaho.
David Honeywell, Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1982 (BS Forestry) 1986 (BS Computer Info Systems)
Submitted: May 8, 2013
DAVID HONEYWELL, 1982 Forestry, 1986 Computer Information Systems, and his wife have finally retired from the federal government; 28 and a half years for Honeywell and over 20 for his wife. During a business trip, he happened to buy a winning Powerball ticket. Honeywell and his wife accepted the winning check for $217 million on Valentine’s Day this year. Soon after, they retired and are now building their dream retirement home and enjoying life. The couple has donated $4 million to charitable organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Food Bank and many others, as well as the goal of also establishing an HSU scholarship in the very near future.