Alumni Updates

Jonathan Souza

Music, 2001

Jonathan Souza, Cal Poly Humboldt Class of 2001 (Humboldt State University), earned his B.A. in Music Education and has built a distinguished career as a music educator, arts leader, conductor, and advocate for equitable access to arts education. He currently serves the Gilroy Unified School District in dual leadership roles as Teacher on Special Assignment for Arts and Music in Schools Initiative Support while also continuing his longstanding work running music education and choral programs at Gilroy High School.

In Gilroy Unified, Souza has played a central role in advancing arts education at both the school site and district levels. He facilitated the development of the district’s TK-12 Strategic Arts Plan, guiding a collaborative process that engaged educators, administrators, families, and community stakeholders in shaping a shared vision for arts education. He also helped lead the plan through adoption, marking an important step in strengthening and sustaining high-quality arts learning opportunities for all students across the district.

Souza also helped spearhead Gilroy High School’s successful application for the 2026 California Department of Education Exemplary Arts Education Program recognition. His leadership in that process included coordinating data collection, organizing evidence across disciplines, shaping the program narrative, and working closely with colleagues to highlight the rigor, impact, and breadth of arts education at the school. His work reflects a deep commitment to advocacy, collaboration, and the transformative power of the arts in public education.

Alongside his educational leadership, Souza recently reached a major professional milestone with his Carnegie Hall debut as a guest conductor with MidAmerica Productions, leading a festival chorus and the New England Symphonic Ensemble. The appearance reflected both his artistic excellence and his enduring commitment to building meaningful musical experiences that connect performers, audiences, and communities across generations.

Throughout his career, Souza has received numerous school site and district honors in recognition of his teaching and leadership. His broader professional awards include the 2008 North Coast Section California Music Educators Association Music Educator of the Year Award, the 2010 Wells Fargo Outstanding Educator Award from the Humboldt County Office of Education, and the 2022 Arts Leadership Award from the Santa Clara County Office of Education.

Whether conducting, mentoring teachers, leading strategic planning, or advocating for expanded access to the arts, Jonathan Souza’s work is grounded in the belief that music and arts education are essential to student growth, belonging, and success. His career reflects the values of artistry, leadership, and service, and the foundation he received at Cal Poly Humboldt continues to inform and inspire his work.

Lance Torgerson

Geography, 2004

Lance currently works for Off Duty Officers as a security guard and with California State Parks as a Park Aide. His location is Merced, California. He's had several jobs after his 2004 graduation with a BA in Geography in the Eureka/Arcata area and, more recently, in the Central Valley in Merced, CA.

Off Duty Officers

State Parks

Kory Lamberts

Environmental Studies, 2021

Kory came to Humboldt as a transfer student after turning away from a possible career as a football player. Like many students, he had multiple interests, and used his time in college to find a path to combine them. Since graduating, Kory worked with a nonprofit, Negus in Nature, that focused on building bridges between Black communities and natural spaces. While in college and working with Negus in Nature, he became an avid scuba diver, joining the National Association of Black SCUBA Divers, and received multiple opportunities to participate in dives focused on connecting Black people to their histories and connections with the ocean. In 2024, Kory founded the Aquatic Futures Foundation, which he designed to create equitable access to ocean science education and careers, empowering the next generation of marine scientists to build a sustainable future for our oceans and world. Kory also serves as the Chair of the Next Gen Committee for the National Association of Black Scuba Divers (NABS) and a member of Aqua Corps, where he helps teach diving & water safety to communities that have been historically excluded from the conversation. Kory also spearheaded the USC Wrigley’s Scientific Dive Discovery program, where he started his work of training scientific divers collegially over two years. He is expanding aquatic education and safety through community-driven collaborations with organizations that have the same mission, like Diving With a Purpose (DWP), Diverseafy, and the Empowher Institute. A profile about him was written in Humboldt Now: https://now.humboldt.edu/news/finding-belonging-water 

Sydney Verga

Environmental Studies, 2021

Sydney Verga graduated from Cal Poly Humboldt in 2021 and moved to San Diego, California, in 2023 to start law school. Now, they are almost done with their final semester at University of San Diego School of Law. They are actively involved in the campus community and extracurricular activities, including but not limited to competing as part of the Appellate Moot Court team and being Co-Chair and Technology Coordinator for the student-run USD Law Name and Gender Marker Change Clinic. Since starting law school, Sydney has worked as an intern for Legal Aid Society of San Diego's Pro Bono team and a law clerk for the California Department of Toxic Substances Control Office of Legal Counsel. Sydney is currently a law clerk for Singleton Schreiber, a client-centered law firm specializing in mass torts/multi-district litigation, on the Environmental Litigation and Policy Team. They will graduate from USD in May 2026 and sit for the California Bar Exam in July 2026. 

Maggie Demorest

Environmental Studies, 2024

Maggie graduated with an Environmental Studies Degree with an emphasis in Ecology and Conservation from Cal Poly Humboldt in the spring of 2024. For the next year, she continued working at Freshwater Elementary School as an Instructional Aide, After School Program lead, and Nature Club teacher. She worked there until starting the Watershed Stewards Program (WSP) in October 2025. Her site placement as a WSP Corpsmember is with the Eel River Watershed Improvement Group and the CCC-Fortuna Fisheries Department. This position grants her the opportunity to help restore the Eel River Watershed through habitat surveys, spawner surveys, designing and conducting large wood installations that provide stream diversity and salmonid habitat. She also has the pleasure of being able to plan the Creek Days Environmental Education Fair, which provides over 300 elementary school students with hands-on environmental education every spring. Maggie says it is a blessing to be able to blend my environmental studies background with direct field work while exploring the beauty of Humboldt County every day. 

Paige Williams

Environmental Studies, 2016

Paige has been living in Portland for the past 10 years and working as a software engineer for the past six years, mostly trying to work on applying software to environmental justice issues. Paige worked at a startup that was monitoring air quality in environmental justice communities for five years. She recently started working as a software engineer at Ecotrust, a non-profit based in Portland that works at the intersection of equity, environment, and economy. Paige has been focused on an Indigenous knowledge database, which has been built in partnership with the Tribal Marine Stewardship Network. She is excited about working with tribes in the Humboldt area. Ecotrust also has a partnership with Cal Poly Humboldt on their Indigenous Agroforestry Network. Paige says working here has really felt like a full-circle moment. She cites her interdisciplinary degree as one of the successes she's had over the past 10 years. She feels that it has given her a compass for which to apply her skills.

Ira Goldstein

Geography, 1991

Ira has been a Watchmaker for over 30 years, but he will always be a Geographer at heart. Ira still loves looking at maps and traveling with his wife Barbara, whom he met at Humboldt. Ira owns a Timekeeper watch repair in Eagle, Idaho. 

Steven Berke

Geography, 1974

Steve has lived in North Idaho for the past 40 years. He has had careers as a cartographer, landman, and right-of-way agent. Steve is currently retired and enjoying traveling and golf.

David Mackey

Geography, 1983

David currently serves as the Senior Manager of the Procure to Pay team at Cerus Corporation, where he works at the global headquarters located in Concord, California. He lives in Martinez, California, which is conveniently close to his workplace.

David began his educational journey at Cal Poly Humboldt, graduating in 1983. He then pursued a Master of International Business at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, completing his degree in 1988. His background in geography provided a strong foundation for his specialization in International Trade Management, a focus that has been instrumental throughout his career.

Over the past 30 years, David has held managerial roles in global operations and processes across seven different companies within the Bio-Tech, Pharma, and Medical Devices sectors. His passion for geography has enabled him to make significant contributions to various projects and operations, including establishing new sites worldwide, sourcing materials globally, providing support to international customers, and managing export and import operations along with their associated regulations.

Throughout his career, David has undertaken two expatriate assignments: one in Paris, where he supported the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, and another in Singapore, overseeing operations in the Asia Pacific region. When not on assignment abroad, he primarily operates from an office in the San Francisco Bay Area. For more information about his professional background, David can be found on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/davidwmackey.

Christopher Tuck

Geography, 2024

Since graduating from Humboldt with a double major in Geography and Geospatial Science & Technology, Chris has been working as a Location Intelligence Analyst (GIS Analyst) at GHD, a global Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) firm. He provides GIS support on a wide range of projects taking place across North America and sometimes other parts of the world. His day-to-day roles involve data management, spatial analysis, and figure/map production for contaminated site assessments, environmental permitting, transportation planning, utilities and infrastructure mapping, sea level rise impact assessments, and the list goes on. A recent and significant project that he had the opportunity to work on was a stormwater features data collection effort for Del Norte County, where they gathered the location of nearly 12,000 spatial features, including stormwater pipes, culverts, channels/ditches, junctions, outfalls, manholes, and drainage inlets with a high-accuracy GPS unit. Chris started at GHD's Eureka office as an intern but has since been promoted to a full-time role and relocated to their Concord, California, office in the East Bay Area. 

LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-tuck-b47684283/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_profile_view_base_contact_details%3BDXlkvIq1Qc6%2BgYZi%2BmBZ7g%3D%3D