Breadcrumb
Alumni Updates
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.
Christie L. Fairchild
Natural ResourcesEnv. Ed., 1976
Christie Fairchild, Natural Resources, 1976, feels that HSU and, in particular, Dr. Rudy Becking, launched her career as a passionate, environ-mental activist. Job-wise, she enjoyed many years as a seasonal National Park Service ranger, working from Pt. Reyes to Redwood to Olympic to Denali to North Cascades. She settled and homesteaded in North Cascades National Park, in upper Skagit, in 1982. In addition, she worked for six years for the US Forest Service in fire, visitor services, and interp planning. She also spent 20+ years as an environmental educator for two different non-profits. Fairchild met and married her husband Art Olson here and they homestead and grow food as well as have 30 acres of hay for sale. They also raise and use their mules in the fields as well as on back country trails. Fairchild is now living with ALS.
David E. Howell
Forestry & Wildland ResourcesForest Management, 1974
David Howell, Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1974, served in the U.S. Air Force active duty for four years and flew in Phantom F-4C, D, and E primarily out of George Air Force Base. He retired from career civil service after 37 years of active duty with the Bureau of Land Management. Howell's duty stations included, Susanville, California, Roseburg, Oregon, Ukiah, California, Hollister, California, Washington D.C. Headquarters, Vernal, Utah, and Anchorage, Alaska. Positions included entry level Forester, Natural Resource Specialist, Area Manager, District Manager, Branch Chief and Deputy State Director for Resources.
Chris Brey
Fisheries Biology, 1987
After earning his degree, Chris Brey, Fisheries Biology, 1987, served as an aquaculture extensionist in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic. After that he worked for several years as a field biologist and a fish culturist, and then went on to earn an MS in Environmental Management at the University of San Francisco. He currently heads the Facilities and EH&S department at a Bay Area biopharma company, is married and has two children in college.
Michael M O'Boyle
Forestry & Wildland Resources, June 1971
Michael O'Boyle, Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1971, spent 16 years with the USDA Soil Conservation Service, and ended up as a district conservationist. He then served in New Mexico and California. Afterward, O'Boyle completed 20 years with the Madera County Animal Control Department in California, retiring in 2010.
Aneesh Kumar KV
Fisheries Biology, 2014
Aneesh Kumar, Fisheries Biology, 2014, is currently working as Project Scientist at Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology. Their area of research is Eco-morphology of deep sea fishes and Otoliths.
Julianne Fernandez
Oceanography, 2014
After earning her degree, Julianne Fernandez, Oceanography, 2014, interned with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District in Illinois. As a Physical Science Technician in Water Quality she assisted in monitoring the upper Mississippi River. Fernandez worked on her M.S. in Geology at the University of Cincinnati, where her research focused on methane emissions from Lake Erie. Fernandez completed her M.S in 2017 and soon decided to pursue a PhD. She’s currently a Marie Slodowska-Curie Postgraduate Research Assistant in the Department of Earth Sciences at Royal Holloway University of London, UK. She studies urban methane emissions from London and other European metropolitan areas.
Janelle Thompson
Forestry & Wildland ResourcesForest Management, 1993
In 2019, after 28 years with the U.S. Forest Service in a position as a timber sale administrator, Janelle Thompson, Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1993, was promoted to Tahoe National Forest, Sierraville Ranger District Timber Management Officer. Thompson began her career in 1987 as a temporary employee on the timber marking crew at Sierraville. She received a permanent career appointment in 1991 as a forester with an emphasis in timber sale administration. During the last 20 years she has also worked as a support dispatcher (EDSD) for major wildland fires and other incidents across the United States. September of 2022 Thompson will be eligible to retire with over 31 years with the U.S. Forest Service.
David Justice
Fisheries Biology, 1995
David Justice, Fisheries Biology, 1995, was promoted to CEO of Alta Vista Credit Union in Redlands, California in November of 2019. Justice married a College Professor who teaches Geography and they have two adult boys who are off to college next year.