Mike AndersonCharles M. Anderson, Ph.D., P.E.

a k a Mike Anderson

Emeritus Professor

Department of Environmental Resources Engineering
Humboldt State University

Arcata, CA 95521
Office: House 18
CMA Phone: (707) 826-3617
Dept. Phone: (707) 826-3619
FAX: (707) 826-3616
e-mail: cma2@humboldt.edu

TABLE OF CONTENTS

MIKE'S HSU SCHEDULE

Spring 2008

 

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

0800

ENGR 210

 

ENGR 210

 

 

0900

ENGR 211

 

ENGR 211

 

 

1000

Office

 

 

 

 

1100

 

Office

Office by Appointment

Office by Appointment

1200

 

Dept Meet

1300

 

 

1400

ENGR 211

ENGR 210 Section 2

 

1500

 

1600

 

 

 

1700

 

ENGR 210 Section 1

 

 

 

1800

 

 

 

 

1900

 

 

 

 

2000

 

 

 

 

 

 

COURSES TAUGHT

SUPPORTING ACTIVITIES

EDUCATION

WORK EXPERIENCE

BIOGRAPHY

I was raised in Oroville, California, and graduated from Oroville Union High School in 1960. Growing up in a small, rural community was great, and as kids my younger brother and I loved to play along the banks and swim in the Feather River which flowed through town. On weekends during the summers of my college years I was a lifeguard at Bidwell Bar State Park, one of the really fabulous swimming areas in all of California. Since 1967, sadly, Bidwell Bar has been covered to a depth of more than 500 feet by lake water backed up by Oroville Dam. I attended Chico State College (now CSU, Chico) and received my BS in Mechanical Engineering in 1965.

For five years beginning in 1965 I worked as a Test/Process Engineer for General Electric Company at the Vallecitos Nuclear Center in Pleasanton, California. During that same time I earned my registration as a Professional Engineer in Mechanical Engineering, and I attended graduate school part-time at Santa Clara University and received my M.S. in Mechanical Engineering (Thermo-Fluids) in 1969. I also earned my NAUI SCUBA certification and spent many weekends SCUBA and free diving in the Pacific Ocean between Monterey and Salt Point. In the fall of 1969 I left GE and began full time graduate studies at Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, and in August 1973 I received my Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, with a specialization in Air Pollution.

In January 1973 I returned to California to teach here at Humboldt State University in the Department of Environmental Resources Engineering. I served as Chair of the department from 1980 to 1983 and again from 1999 to 2003. I was the faculty advisor for the Environmental Resources Engineering Student Association (ERESA)/ ASCE Student Chapter) for twenty-five years, from 1974 through 1999, working with ERESA officers and members to support the academic, professional and social interests of our students. Perhaps my most important contributions as ERE Chair, aside from the day-to-day operation of the department, were the initiation and coordination of the 2000 EREnewal fund raising campaign, and coordination of activities associated with developing two new ERE instructional laboratories (the ERE Design Studio in Science D and the Energy Systems Lab in Jenkins Hall).

I love the beauty, climate and small-town atmosphere of Arcata and the North Coast. During 1975 I developed and used civic/political skills as Vice-Chair of the Arcata General Plan Development Committee. In 1980 my former wife and I bought property in Arcata adjacent to Arcata Redwood Park, and we built a garage structure with a second-story apartment that we lived in while building the main house. During my last two summers as an undergraduate student at Chico I had worked as a carpenter's apprentice, and I had been looking forward to using my building skills on my own house. Following up on that here in Arcata, I hired students and professional building crafts people to work with me, and I really enjoyed sawing the boards and pounding the nails. Today I live in the main house and rent out the apartment.

History fascinates me and I love to read history and biographies (a favorite: "The Power Broker" by Robert Caro), although recently I have turned more toward fiction (some favorites: ìSapphoís Leapî by Erica Jong, "The Meadow" by James Galvin, "When Nietzsche Wept" by Irvin Yalom, "The Luck of Huemac" by Daniel Peters, and "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver). I enjoy music and dramatic productions, and have been an HSU Center Arts season ticket holder for many years. I also subscribe often to regional theater groups such as ACT and the Berkeley Rep in the Bay Area, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and Oregon Stage Works in Ashland (some favorite plays and musicals: "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" by Martin McDonagh, "Buried Child" by Sam Shepard, "Man of La Mancha" by Mitch Leigh, Joe Darion, and Dale Wasserman and "Urinetown, the Musical" by Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis. My major contribution to the local music community was through the Humboldt Folklife Society, where from 1990 to 2002 I was the editor of the music events calendar published in the HFS Newsletter. I also enjoy swing dancing.

I believe we should all provide some time and effort to support the community at large beyond our families and close friends. My current community involvement is as a board member of the Bayside Grange, and as a volunteer counselor at Six Rivers Planned Parenthood.

The outdoors is an important part of my life, and I enjoy combining this with travel. To experience free diving in the spectacular Caribbean waters, friends and I traveled twice to the Cayman Islands (just south of Cuba; wonderful people and incredible beaches, reefs and fish) and once to Bonnaire (island just north of Venezuela; wonderful people and beautiful birds). The same friends and I spent a month traveling by car through the former Yugoslavia (wonderful people and incredible daily fresh bread, but the trains were another story!). I traveled alone twice to Chile (wonderful people, a cool bird called the Ibis and a great bus system) to raft the mighty Rio Bio Bio (twice) and climb the 10,000 foot Volcan Callaqui (two attempts, one success). I also spent a week kayaking 75 miles on the main fork of the Salmon River in Idaho. In 2001 I spent the month of July in Queensland, Australia with a friend who participated in the 2001 World Masters' Athletic Competition. After the competition in Brisbane we hiked sixty spectacular miles in three National Parks (Carnarvon, Lamington and Girraween) and snorkled around Lady Elliot Island at the Southern end of the Great Barrier Reef. It doesn't get much better than that!

During a portion of each summer between 1993 and 1999 I was a commercial river guide for Whitewater Voyages, primarily on the spectacular Kern River east of Bakersfield, and I have guided commercial trips on the South Fork American, Lower North Yuba, and Merced Rivers as well as the Upper and Lower Kern. I also enjoy rafting and kayaking on local rivers (primarily the Smith, Klamath, Cal Salmon, Trinity and Van Duzen). I helped initiate the annual two-day ERESA Whitewater Rafting Trip on the Cal Salmon in 1993, and have really enjoyed participating in these trips over the years. I have guided for several of the HSU River Institute annual party and flotilla trips on the spectacular Smith River (North Fork when flows are right). This is a truly special event, in part because all the participants have professional connections to rivers, as hydrologists, fish biologists, geologists, etc.

In 2004 I met Leslie Scopes of Sandy, Utah, and in May 2005 we were married at the Bayside Grange near Arcata. We live adjacent to Arcata Redwood Park in Arcata. Leslie is a graphic artist and regularly donates her artistic skills to support non-profit environmental and social organizations, including the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary (AMWS), and Six Rivers Planned Parenthood. She also volunteers at AMWS as a Visitorís Center staff member and as a docent, and she is on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Arcata Marsh. We enjoy hiking, camping, skiing and boating, as well as attending music and theater events together.

Life is good. To keep it that way, here are some thoughts I try to live by:

* Work like you don't need the money.
* Love like you've never been hurt.
* Dance like no one is watching.
* Paddle like hell, but always with as smile.

Finally, let each of us subscribe to this one universal prayer:

* Let me be treated tomorrow as I have treated others today.

This page is maintained by: Mike Anderson.
Please send any comments to: cma2@humboldt.edu
This page was developed by: Anna Raymond
Last updated on: August 13, 2003.