Daniel Mandell, 1979 History, has been given the 2016 award for Distinguished Literary Achievement by the Missouri Humanities Council, in recognition of his six books and two dozen articles on Native Americans in New England between 1600 and 1900. For more details, see http://dmandell.sites.truman.edu/files/2012/02/MHC_AwardsProgram2016-extract.pdf

Michael T. Rains, 1968 Forestry, recently retired from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service after 48 years of public service. Rains began his career as a wildland firefighter and rose through the ranks to become deputy chief for the agency. His last assignment with the Forest Service was director of the Northern Research Station and the Forest Products Laboratory. Rains is known for his authorship role in the National Fire Plan for the Department of Agriculture and advancing biomass uses—cellulose nanomaterials, green building construction, advanced wood for energy —as a way to help America's forests become more resilient to disturbances. Along the way, Rains earned a master’s degree in Secondary Education and now enjoys substitute teaching math and science at the middle school level in Pennsylvania.

Julia Clark, 2015 Environmental Science & Management, was elected to the board of directors of the Society for Conservation GIS, a non-profit organization that assists conservationists worldwide in using geographic information systems through communication, networking, scholarships, and training.

Robert Deane, 2007 History and Journalism, is a library technician at the Oregon Institute of Technology, after working for the Butte Valley Unified School District as the district library technician for six years. He is currently looking to return to school to earn his Master’s Degree in Teaching from Western Governor's University.

Heather Sundblad-Rhoade, 2003 Journalism, served on many nonprofit boards, and then as a paid staff member serving as development director for the Education Foundation of Forest Grove after graduating. After two years, she shifted career focus and accepted a seat on the foundation’s board as communications director. In 2016, she became the marketing and tasting room manager at the award-winning Plum Hill Vineyards in Gaston Ore.

Jocelyn Keranen, 2013 Geography, served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tanzania, where she worked on agriculture and gender empowerment projects in a small village near the Great Rift Valley and Masai Steppe. After two years living in a village she added another year onto her service. Currently, Keranen is serving in Dar es Salaam as the National Malaria Coordinator. After my service, she plans on pursuing a Master’s of Public Health in Global Health

Robert T. Lackey, 1967 Fisheries, was recently named a Fellow of the American Fisheries Society at the society’s 146th Annual Meeting in Kansas City, Mo. He has worked on an assortment of natural resource issues from various positions in government and academia. Most recently, he retired after 27 years with the Environmental Protection Agency’s national research laboratory in Corvallis, Ore., where he served as Deputy Director, Associate Director for Science, and in other senior leadership positions. Dr. Lackey has long been an educator, having taught at five North American universities and, currently, he teaches a graduate course in ecological and natural resource policy at Oregon State University. He has published over 100 articles in scientific and professional journals.

Leticia-Andrea Snoots is currently in her final year of graduate school at the University of the Pacific. Snoots is working on a Master's of Education with a concentration of Student Affairs. Snoots adds, "I am supported in this journey by my partner of five years, James, who I met as an undergraduate at Humboldt State University! Life couldn't be better!"

Rocio Avila, 2016 Politics, started working with Humboldt County’s North Coast Rape Crisis Team as an advocate for survivors.

Kamilah Barajas, 2015 Critical Race, Gender, and Ethnicity Studies, is on the steering committee for Next Generation Eureka, a nonprofit that works to make Eureka, Calif., a more attractive place for young adults. Barajas worked at North Star Quest Camp for girls following graduation and just recently started at North Coast Rape Crisis Team as a full-time Client Advocate.