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Alumni Updates

Aquila Flower

Geography, 2004

Aquila Flower, 2004, Geography, lived out of a backpack in New Zealand and South America, in a coffee shack in Hawai'i, and on a tiny sailboat in the San Juan Islands after graduating. Flower then moved to Victoria, British Columbia, where she completed a Master of Science in Geography and worked as a geospatial and statistical analyst at a climate change research institute. She fell in love with teaching and with dendrochronology research, and is pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Oregon. Flower has accepted her “dream job” as Assistant Professor of Geography at Western Washington University in Bellingham, where she teaches Physical Geography and geographic information systems.

Ali R. Chaudhary

SociologySociology (BA-2002), MA-2009

Ali R. Chaudhary, 2009 Sociology, went on to earn a Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of California, Davis. In 2013, Chaudhary advanced to candidacy and started dissertation research on migrant-serving non-profit organizations in London, Toronto and New York. While conducting fieldwork, Chaudhary has been hosted as a visiting scholar at the Munk School of Global Affairs, the University of Toronto and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. In fall 2013 Chaudhary was a visiting fellow at the University of Oxford's International Migration Institute. Chaudhary’s first sole-authored, peer-reviewed journal publication will appear in the International Migration Review in summer 2014.

Owen Jacob Krebs-Grimsich

International StudiesFocus in Globalization. Double minored in Spanish and Economics., 2013

Owen Jacob Krebs-Grimsich, 2013, International Studies, took his first International Studies class with Professor Suzanne Pasztor and was hooked right away. International Studies has enabled Krebs-Grimsich to travel and experience places in the world he would have never imagined. Krebs-Grimsich also became fluent in Spanish as part of the major’s foreign-language component. Krebs-Grimsich recently accepted an invitation from the Peace Corps to travel to Mozambique in 2014, where he will work on HIV Education/Prevention—an opportunity he credits to his experience in the International Studies program.

Cynthia (Cindy) Rawlings (formerly Rawlings Rohde)

ArtKHSU volunteer and staff 10 years, 1983

Cynthia Rawlings (previously Rawlings Rohde), 1983, art, received Citizen of the Year recognition from the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce in 2013 for organizing the Downtown Coos Bay Wine Walk. Since 2007, the event has earned over $130,000 to support local non-profit organizations including Coos Art Museum and the Egyptian Theatre Preservation Association. Rawlings has lived in the Coos Bay-area since 2001 and has worked at The World newspaper for nearly 8 years. She was president of the Bay Area Rotary club in 2010-11.

Bridget McGraw

International Studies, 2012

Bridget McGraw, 2012, International Studies, began at Internews Network, an international non-profit organization. At the organization’s headquarters in Arcata, McGraw is subgrant analyst focusing mostly on a new project promoting independent media in South Sudan. McGraw writes, “Every day at work I use the skills and experiences I gained at university.”

Julie King

Music, 1985

Julie King, 1985, Music, (née Reich) went on to earn a Master's degree in music (choral conducting) but pivoted her career to the nonprofit sector. King is currently vice president of Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group and engages in executive search as well as advising nonprofits on capacity building. She also serves on the Board of Directors of BeadforLife, a social enterprise serving women living in extreme poverty in Uganda. King and her husband, Chuck, live in Redwood City, Calif., where Julie rows on Bair Island Aquatic Center's competitive crew team.

Monica Topping

Journalism, 2009

Monica Topping, 2009 Journalism, launched the Small Town Big Art calendar project after successfully funding the project via KickStarter. The calendar profiles prominent Humboldt County artists. Topping was inspired to start the project the U.S. Census published a statistic that Humboldt County has more working artists per capita than any other county in California.

Jed Haley-Brooks D'Abravanel

Politics, 2007

Jed Haley-Brooks D'Abravanel, 2007, Politics, is currently attending law school at American University.

Anthony Medrano

Politics, 2000

Anthony Medrano, 2000 Politics, worked at Ohio University for a few years and moved back to Hawaii before finally settling down near Lake Mendota, Wis., where he is a doctoral candidate in the Department of History at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Currently, Medrano is several miles away in Malaysian Borneo, conducting dissertation research as a Fulbright fellow. Medrano’s interest in the social history of oceans stems from his formative years at Humboldt and its intellectual ecology.

Marisa Penkauskas

Journalism, 2012

Marisa Penkauskas, 2012, Journalism & Mass Communication, is the marketing manager for Interactive Fitness, a company producing interactive stationary bikes, based in Sunnyvale, Calif.