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.”
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.
Submitted: October 14, 2013
Amanda (Lang) Eldridge, 2001 Journalism & Mass Communication, lived in four major cities since graduating. She’s now married with two children and finally settling down in Denver.
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.
Submitted: October 10, 2013
Salina Cuddy, 2011 English, has begun a Master of Arts program in Sociolinguistics at the University of York in England. Cuddy’s focus is language and power, looking particularly at language and gender as well as language and class.
Submitted: October 9, 2013
Jamey Brzezinski, 1978, Art, recently retired from teaching after a 32-year career as a professor of Studio Art for various California colleges and universities. For the last 20 years he taught for Merced College, chairing the Art, Music, and Drama departments for 12 of those years. Brzezinski was the editorial cartoonist for the Lumberjack from 1977 to 1978 and Northern California editor of Artweek Magazine from 1991 to 1992. He lives with his wife, also a retired art professor, in Pacifica, Calif. He spends his time making art, playing jazz ukulele and bass, writing, and curating art exhibits for the California State Court Building in San Francisco.
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.
Submitted: October 7, 2013
Ed Scantling, 1979 Kinesiology and Recreation Administration, is in his eighth year as Dean of the College of Education at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Scantling appreciates greatly the education he received at HSU, which created a strong foundation for a wonderful career as a teacher, coach and university administrator. Scantling and his wife, Eve, have two daughters, Hilarie and Ashley, and two grand daughters, Izabella and Gabbie.
Submitted: October 6, 2013
Emily Kratzer, 1976 Journalism, accepted a buyout offer in 2012 during a round of Gannett Company layoffs. While enjoying retirement, Kratzer now volunteers with WCTV.us, community access TV, among other things.
Submitted: October 4, 2013
Jennifer Wood, 1996, Botany, (née Berman), helped develop and co-write the Graduation Pledge of Social and Environmental Responsibility. She went on to earn a Master of Science degree in Soil Science and became a soil scientist with U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service. After 10 years, Wood accepted a position with the Arcata Soil Survey Office. While in Humboldt she founded the Climate Action Project through the Redwood Alliance. In collaboration with Humboldt State students she held a Focus the Nation event about global climate change science and solutions. In 2011 she moved to a position at the USDA-NRCS state office in Davis, Calif. She continues her climate advocacy by leading the Sacramento chapter of the Citizens Climate Lobby.