Breadcrumb
Alumni Updates
Rick Williams
Wildlife, 1977
Ricky retired in 2022 after a 45-year career as a wildlife biologist that began with waterfowl research for CDFG and USFWS, including a memorable stint chasing then-endangered Aleutian Canada Geese across their California wintering grounds. From 1980-2022, he worked as a terrestrial biologist and program manager in the private sector, primarily focused on water and energy projects in California and other western states. He credits the late Humboldt professors, Drs. Stan (Doc) Harris and Charles F. (Chuck) Yocum for guiding him into career-long service with The Wildlife Society-Western Section, including terms as President and Representative to the TWS National Council.
Dennis Ray Kogl
Fisheries Biology, 1962
Dennis received his Master of Science in Fisheries Biology from the University of Alaska in 1965. He worked at various jobs with the state in Sport Fish Division in Fairbanks, Alaska, got married, and decided that he was ambivalent about the program in Fairbanks with the state and gravitated to the Denali National Park area, where he started a family and worked seasonally with the National Park Service. After many years, Dennis left the dog driving business and worked full-time with NPS running their Water and Wastewater Systems. He retired in 2004 and stayed in the area.
Richard Sayre
Biological Sciences, 1974
Dr. Richard Sayre is a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer for Mercury Bio Inc. (www.mercurybio.com) based in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Mercury Bio Inc. focuses on the targeted delivery of therapeutic RNAs and small molecular weight drugs to human cells to address various viral and genetic diseases. Dr. Sayre recently introduced Mercury Bio's platform drug delivery technology to the pharmaceutical industry at Boston's third mRNA-Based Therapeutics Summit.
Greg Williams
Environmental Resources Engineering, 1980
Greg is the former co-owner of a Humboldt County solar design and build company. His son is also a Humboldt graduate. Greg and his family migrated to the western Washington area where Greg is a Senior Solar Design Consultant, NABCEP certified, and an active pilot flying aerobatics and shares his aviation skills with the next generation. Currently, Greg is working on a team building an Electric motor glider for pilot training. He was recently awarded the FAA 50-year Master Pilot award.
Rick Meilan
Forestry & Wildland ResourcesForest Science, 1983
Bill Bigg died on 13 April 2023. He was hired as a professor by the Forestry Department at HSU in 1979 (retired in 2007). He taught several courses in Forestry, including Tree Physiology, Tree Improvement, and Regional Silviculture. Bill also taught courses in a variety of other departments. He was respected and admired by his students for his knowledge, lecturing style, fairness, sense of humor, and approachability. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him. He is survived by his wife, Donna, who faithfully assisted Bill in all aspects of his life. Donna can be contacted at DJBCOM1-Humboldt@yahoo.com.
Rita Carman
Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1978
Carman graduated from HSU in 1978 with a degree in Forestry Science and a minor in Geology and worked for the USGS Water Resources in Carson City, Nevada, from 1979 to 1998 as a Hydrologist. She then went on to Nevada State from 1998 to 2016. She has been happily retired since 2016, is involved in the community, and a member of the Carson City Kiwanis since 1991. Living the good life!
Marilyn Taylor
Mathematics, 1977
Marilyn Taylor, Women of the Year, 1976, HSU, passed away on March 15, 2023, in Spokane, Washington. Marilyn, and her 99 Humboldt State teammates, broke the old record of a 100-mile Relay Race, with the time of 12:26:13 (1976). Marilyn set the PA-AAU record for a One-Hour Run on the track (1977) and holds the Avenue of the Giants Women's Marathon record, 2:45:40 (1984), which stands today. Despite her many winning races, Marilyn Taylor felt the highlight of her track career running in the historic First Olympic Women's Marathon Trials, on May 12, 1984, in Olympia, Washington.
Sean Haas
Physics & Astronomy, 2018
Sean Haas is currently working as a Senior Software Developer for LibSyn, Inc. He manages software for podcast statistics and large data sets. Sean also hosts and produces the Advent of Computing podcast (https://adventofcomputing.com/), a show that covers the history of computing with a special focus on untold or under-reported aspects of the story. Last year (2022) he was invited to be a keynote speaker at the Association of Computing Machinery's HUMAN'22 conference where he presented his research on the early origins of hypertext(https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3538882.3542792).
Emily Frances Klee
Environmental Resources Engineering, 2017
After graduating from Humboldt State, Emily went off to grad school and got a Master's in Mechanical Engineering. She then moved out to Huntsville, AL, and worked at NASA in the Environmental Control and Life Support System Branch. After 2 years of loving her job, but hating the area, she decided to move to Fort Collins, CO. She is now an Operations Manager at a local non-profit food rescue, Vindeket Foods.
Mary Colleen "MC" Hannon
ZoologyMarine Biology, 2015
MC graduated in 2015 with a double major in Marine Biology and Zoology. During her time at Humboldt State, she was the captain of the Women's Ultimate Disc club and worked at the University Center Information Desk. On March 8th, 2023 MC successfully defended her Ph.D. dissertation at Texas A&M University at Galveston with a study describing the reproductive biology of a local polychaete worm (Family Nereididae). She has accepted a postdoc position at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC where she will continue her research looking into polychaete vision in the open water column.