Breadcrumb
Alumni Updates
Kent K Willis
Biological Sciences, 1969
Kent Willis, Biological Sciences, 1969, earned his teaching credential the next year at Humboldt State. He taught middle school in Fortuna, California for 42 years, as an 8th grade teacher, basketball and track coach, and vice principal. He earned two master's degrees and a doctorate over these years. His wife Marsha (Gallon), who is also a teacher, graduated from Humboldt State as well. They have two children, one who also graduated from Humboldt State. He retired from teaching in 2013, but has continued to coach 8th grade boys' basketball. A memoir, Teaching 42+, of his years of teaching has been published by Amazon, as has his most recent book, An Auto Biography, that has stories of him driving the bus for biology class field trips at Humboldt State.
Tyler Smurr
Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1995
Tyler Smurr, Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1995, was recently promoted to Vice Principal for an elementary school in San Antonio, Texas.
Jon Mann
Biological Sciences, 2014
Since leaving HSU Jon Mann, Biological Sciences, 2014, has created and launched his own business, a laboratory calibration company.
Bob Freeman
Biological Sciences, 1976
Bob Freeman, Biological Sciences, 1976, retired from his job as a public health microbiologist and lab director but is still writing software for the laboratory information management system. Freeman is now writing SciFi and his work can be found at
www.smashwords.com/books/view/1023599 and www.smashwords.com/books/view/1029727.
Nancy Ross-Flanigan Pokerwinski
Biological Sciences, 1976
After a rewarding career as a science writer for the Detroit Free Press and the University of Michigan, Nancy Ross-Flanigan Pokerwinski, Biological Sciences, 1976, is now focused on writing memoir and fiction. Her memoir, MANGO RASH: COMING OF AGE IN THE LAND OF FRANGIPANI AND FANTA, was published by Behler Publications in 2019, after winning first place in the memoir/nonfiction category of the Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Awards. Like most authors, she had to cancel or reschedule all the in-person events she had scheduled for spring and summer of 2020, and is exploring options for virtual events. Meanwhile, she is working on a novel about creativity, outsider art, and madness.
David Justice
Fisheries BiologyCriminal Justice, 1995
David Justice, Fisheries Biology, 1995, moved back to southern California after graduating from Humboldt State and worked in retail as a regional ranager for aquatic systems at a large pet retailer. He then went back to school to earn a MBA in Finance. After graduating, he began a career in banking, starting as a teller and working his way up to the executive level. Last November, he was promoted to President/CEO of Alta Vista Credit Union. "Go Jacks!'
Daniel Zevin
WildlifeFisheries Minor, 1988
After graduating, Daniel Zevin's, Wildlife, 1988, career took many twists & turns. He is currently getting back to his wildlife roots assisting UC Berkeley's Fung Fellowship launch a new, biodiversity-focused Conservation + Tech undergraduate training program. Zevin also serves as an Advisory Group member for the Climate Readiness Institute, and previously spent three years as Program Director at NatureBridge, five years as Project Manager/Associate Zoologist with The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii, and two years as a Research Assistant supporting captive breeding programs at the LA Zoo. There's also an 11 year career at UC Berkeley's Space Sciences Laboratory, plus two more gigs that just won't fit :). What a long strange trip it's been!
Ed Gullekson
Oceanography, 1973
After graduation Ed Gullekson, Oceanography, 1973, joined the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as a commissioned officer where over six years he served on three different ships and at a NOAA fisheries lab at Tiburon, California. He then earned a master's degree in management science. From there he spent the next 30 years as a management consultant and executive coach. During that time he continued to scuba dive, enjoying the underwater world as a hobby. On retiring in 2014 he started volunteer scientific diving in Puget Sound for the University of Washington, helping on a variety of projects. One in particular, Sea Star Wasting Disease, he has contributed many hours of underwater observation. You can see his observations on his youtube channel.
Paul Valentich-Scott
Oceanography, 1970
Paul Valentich-Scott, Oceanography, 1970, began working at the School of Oceanography at Oregon State University designing and participating in benthic surveys in the eastern Pacific Ocean. In 1982, Valentich-Scott changed career paths and became a curator at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History where he retired at the end of 2019. While at the museum Paul published dozens of papers on marine bivalves, including three books on the bivalves of the eastern Pacific. Valentich-Scott and his wife Lynne fund an annual HSU Oceanography scholarship.
Jim Craig
Fisheries Biology, 1985
After graduation Jim Craig, Fisheries Biology, 1985, worked as a Foreign Fishery Observer in the Bearing Sea. Next he took a job with the Washington Dept of Fish & Wildlife. Craig then joined the US Fish & Wildlife Service where he worked at fishery offices in Red Bluff, Stockton, and from 1987 to 2000 at the Arcata Fish & Wildlife Office. Craig then took a job as Deputy Project Leader at the USFWS's Mid-Columbia Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office (MCFWCO) in Leavenworth, Washington. In 2008 he became Project Leader, and in 2020 he became Manager of the Leavenworth Fisheries Complex which consists of the MCFWCO and Leavenworth, Entiat, and Winthrop National Fish Hatcheries. Craig lives with his wife Lisa in Cashmere, Washington.