Alumni Updates

Kate Nixon

Journalism, 2005

Since graduating and spending a life-changing week in New Zealand, Kate Nixon ('05, Journalism) has survived 11 years in broadcast news, working their way up from Humboldt County to Southern Oregon as a newscast director, technical supervisor, and eventually accomplished producing a 3-part series about school teachers and the costume department at the world-renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival. After a few years back in their native San Francisco Bay Area where they served as an apprenticeship manager, they finally moved cross country to live in Asheville, NC, where they now run a national conference on the historic Arts & Crafts Movement.  

Joshua Brookshire

Geography, 2004

Is working for bandelier National Monument as a lead helitack crewmember.

Nicholas J Osborne

Sociology, 2004

In 2010, I completed my doctorate in educational administration and leadership at the University of California-Davis. I was recently hired at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign as the Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Veterans Programs. My research areas include veterans, emotional intelligence and community-building, and gender –specifically men and masculinities. I miss the sacred and tranquil Humboldt region!

Robert P. Robinson

EnglishEnglish Language Arts with a minor in Ethnic American Literatures, 2004

After teaching K-12 for 11 years, Robert Robinson, English, 2004, pursued a PhD in Urban Education with a concentration in Africana Studies at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. In March 2020, he remotely defended his dissertation with distinction. His doctoral research project, Stealin’ the Meetin’: Black Education History & the Black Panthers’ Oakland Community School, tells the story of the Panthers’ educational center as a site for understanding Black self-determination, the Black radical imagination, and the shift in mainstream curriculum.

Mark Pignatelli

Geography, 2004

Mark's time at Humboldt State in the early 2000s had a profound impact on the man he is today. His graduation pledge was to use his life to actively work toward a more socially and environmentally responsible world. 

Shortly after graduating, his professional career began in the renewable energy and energy efficiency space. For the past 20 years, his profession has focused on energy efficiency consulting. He is currently a Director with ICF and leads a team of consultants who design, implement, and evaluate programs that help our clients achieve energy, environmental, and economic goals. His skills include project management, sustainable development, energy assessments, and building science. His passion is to create innovative solutions that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance energy security, and improve the quality of life for communities. The energy efficiency programs he supports are designed to help builders, developers, and homeowners adopt high-performance building practices, technologies, and standards that increase energy savings, comfort, and durability.

Mark says Humboldt was and will always be a magical and inspiring place to live, learn, and love. His Humboldt professors, friends, and family opened doors of perception that allowed him to see and understand the world through a new lens. These influences and learnings resulted in his passion for the environment and the precious home he calls Earth. 

Devin Theobald

Politics, 2004

After 20 years of service working with the County of Humboldt, Devin moved to rural Northern Alabama with his wife and two daughters, where he started a small family farm raising pigs, turkeys, chickens, and produce. For his 'retirement job', he oversees operations at a small landfill. 

Robert Robinson

EnglishSingle Subject Education, 2004

I've been teaching in San Diego for seven years. I taught at a private school for two years and a public school for five. I continued graduate work in education, focusing my attention on Ethnic American Literatures, Social Justice Education, Parent Contacts, and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy. I teach in the AVID program, working to increase the college enrollment of underrepresented students.

Jenny Farrell (Perez)

Communication, 2004

After earning my M.A in Communication Studies at University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2009 I was hired as a full-time lecturer there. I teach Interpersonal Com, Public Speaking, and Honors Public Speaking. I have been happily married for 10 years now and we had our first son last year! Couldn't be happier!

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.

Joel Correia

Geography, 2004

Since graduating from the HSU Geography program I have worked in a variety of international development jobs from a non-profit in Kenya, to serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay, and also designing my own projects to increase educational opportunities for rural youth in Paraguay. The last project took me on a six month, 5,000 mile bicycle tour through South America to raise funds and awareness about the project. In May of 2012, I graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Latin American Studies from the University of Arizona. I am excited to continue my education in geography at University of Colorado at Boulder where I will pursue a PhD.