Ernest Casperson, a Fisheries Biology, 1956, passed away March 5, 2019, in Helena, Montana. He was a teacher in several small California communities. He later started his career with the Bureau of Reclamation on what was then the Auburn Dam and Reservoir project. When the project ran into some structural and political hurdles, it failed to get the needed funding, he retired to Montana where he could spend his leisure time fishing for trout.

David J. Lenhart, Wildlife Management, 56, passed away on February 7, 2019 at the age of 88 in Portland, Oregon. Upon graduating Lenhart started his career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Umatilla, Oregon working with waterfowl. He later transferred to the Division of River Basin Studies, in Portland, Oregon. During his career he worked on projects in Washington, Oregon and California. He later served as Branch Chief of Environmental Contaminants in the USFWS’ Regional Office in Portland. He retired after 33 years of dedicated service.

Michael Stockstill, Journalism, 1971, has been appointed to the board of the Irvine Land Trust, a non-profit building and operating low cost housing in Irvine, California. The Land Trust has and will construct rental and for sale units that will remain in Land Trust ownership forever, guaranteeing the units remain affordable.

Carla Fisher, Environmental Resources Engineering, 1985, retired in 2014 after 29 years at the Environmental Protection Agency and became a part-time technical writer/editor for Akana, an environmental consulting firm in Bellevue, Washington.

Julie Marie Stewart, Environmental Management & Protection, 2013, worked for several years as an outdoor educator in various amazing outdoor-school settings across California. She returned to HSU in 2018 to complete her teaching credential and was hired at Zane Middle School in Eureka as a science teacher in fall of 2019.

Nick Entsminger, History, 2009, was accepted into the Doctorate of Medical Science program at the AT Still Universities, Arizona School of Health Sciences and has recently submitted both a journal article and medical textbook on pre-hospital 12-lead electrocardiogram interpretation for potential publishing. Additionally, through familial research, Entsminger was able to induct his family into both the Sons of the American Revolution as well as the Sons of the Union Veterans of the Civil War. He continues his love of history and views his time pursuing a history degree at Humboldt State as the years that inspired his pursuits.

After working for four summers with the CF&G plus the ADFWG it became obvious to Capt Wayne S. Salmon, 1958 Fisheries Biology, that the wages paid were not sufficient to raise a family. He then entered into the US Navy flight program, where he became an aerial navigator. A beautiful young lady he met on active duty brought him back to Indianapolis where he entered into the Naval Air Reserve program, and got his teaching credentials, and an MS plus 33 semester hours. He then went into Biology/Science teaching which he thoroughly enjoyed. Several of his Humboldt teachers greatly influenced his teaching. He retired as a Navy O-6. He is the former commanding officer of VR-51 at NAS Glenview near Chicago. Want to go fishing? Give him a call.

In June, 2019 Ashley Birkeland, Psychology, 2005, completed her Ph.D. in Education Policy, Organizations and Leadership at the University of Washington. Her research focused on dual-credit course taking in the state of Washington.

Charles Acosta, Biological Sciences, 1985, is retiring in 2021 after spending 34 rewarding years serving high school students. His oldest daughter, Krista (HSU Alum 2012), arranged with the dean to allow him to walk across the stage at her commencement ceremony since he was unable to attend his own. While having breakfast in Eureka the following morning, his photo was captured on the front page of the Times Standard newspaper. After HSU, Charles and his daughter both served in the Peace Corps (Dominican Republic and Honduras) where they both married the love of their lives. Krista married Ekow Edzie and Charles married Leyla Turcios. "Thank you HSU, redwoods, sunsets and APD for the great memories".

After graduation, Jeff Oliveira, Natural Resources, 2001, began working as a California Environmental Quality Act specialist for a consulting firm. He then became an environmental resource specialist with the County of San Luis Obispo managing projects with complex environmental concerns. Eight years ago he started his own consulting firm, Oliveira Environmental Consulting LLC, providing environmental review and permitting support for private and local government clients. Today he is working on a wide range of projects, including mine permitting, CEQA/NEPA review, permitting for local infrastructure improvement projects, permitting for affordable housing projects, construction monitoring, wildlife/botanical surveys, pest species (feral pig) removal, etc.