Alumni Updates

Anthony Erba

Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1987

After nearly 33 years of federal government service, Anthony Erba, Forestry & Wildland Resources, 1987, has retired from the USDA Forest Service to Northern Wisconsin. His last position was as Regional Director (Eastern Region) overseeing environmental planning, litigation, and landscape-scale conservation (lasting 8.5 years). Anthony's career spanned all four organizational levels of the Forest Service, located on six national forests, one national grassland, one region, and the Washington Office.

Never in his wildest dreams would he have been able to predict his career when he graduated in 1987. Anthony is grateful for his experience at HSU, providing him the awareness needed to recognize career opportunities whenever they popped up.

Thomas Cappiello

Fisheries Biology, 1986

Thomas Cappiello, Fisheries Biology, 1986, has retired from Alaska Department of Fish and Game after 21 years of service. Cappiello has been working in fisheries in Alaska for over 30 years. He still lives in Alaska and says he probably won't leave. Cappiello is a steering committee member of the Matanuska Susitna Basin Salmon Habitat Partnership, president of the MatSu Birders Club, and home baker of Artisan sourdough breads and pizza.

Karen J. Haner

Natural Resources, 1986

April 1, 2018 Karen Haner, Natural Resources Planning & Interpretation, 1986, retired from a 36 1/2 year career with the National Park Service. Karen spent the last 20 years serving as the Chief of Interpretation, Education and Cultural Resources at Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northeastern California. She also worked in other national parks in California, Texas, Pennsylvania and Indiana. Karen feels she has had a wonderful career made possible with her HSU degree and participation in the Cooperative Education Program through the National Park Service and Humboldt State University. Now she plans to go to national parks as a visitor and sometimes to volunteer.

Ray Olson

Natural ResourcesMPA (CSU Northridge), 1986

Ray Olson, Natural Resources, 1986, was appointed to a three-year term on the Arcata Wetlands and Creeks Committee by the Arcata City Council.

Dan Severson

Wildlife, 1985, 1987

Severson spent 39 years working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, on eight national wildlife refuges in California, Oregon, South Dakota, Kansas, and North Dakota as Wildlife Biologist, Asst. Refuge Manager and the last 12 years as a project leader over a complex of refuges and wetland management districts in North Dakota. He retired January 1, 2021 and will spend retirement golfing, hunting, fishing, and woodworking. He lives in Jamestown, North Dakota and has three daughters and three grandchildren.

Stephen Oram "SeaCowboy"

Environmental Resources EngineeringI attended HSU 1979-1983, graduated 1985 from Oregon State Univ in civil, 1985

Stephen Oram ('85, Environmental Resources Engineering) obtained his final civil engineering degree from Oregon State University in 1985 after four solid years of Environmental Engineering at Humboldt. He worked in Washington at the Bremerton Shipyard for five years, at a consulting firm in Portland Oregon for some ten years, at the Rosenburg Oregon Department of Transportation for a few years, and then at the City of Springfield Oregon for a few years. He then moved to Australia, Canberra, Cairns, Brisbane, and now Perth. Oram is now retired and surfs every day in Western Australia. 

Kevin Nadin

Forestry & Wildland ResourcesB.S. Computer Science, Chico State University, 1990, 1985

KEVIN NADIN, 1985 Forestry and Wildland Resources, has been with Sierra Pacific Industries for the past 11 years, currently in the position of network administrator. After leaving HSU, Nadin began working in various forestry positions before returning to school at Chico State. He has been married for 18 years and has three children.

Bradley K. Paulson

Oceanography, 1985

After graduation, Brad Paulson joined the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, CA, as a marine geologist to assist in arctic coastal erosion and diving investigations designed to collect long-term data on ice formation in the Beaufort Sea and to study its effect on sediment transport and shoreline dynamics. In 1988, he was hired by an engineering consulting firm (CH2M HILL) as an oceanographer to support various environmental studies and engineering design projects located around the world. In 1993, he earned an M.S. in Geological Oceanography from the School of Oceanography at the University of Washington. He is currently a senior technologist and oceanographer with Jacobs Engineering in the Seattle area. He has a diverse background in coastal and estuarine oceanography, water and sediment quality, contaminant transport, outfall mixing zone/dilution analysis, and engineering design. He specializes in wastewater discharge analyses that include integration of field and modeling programs, outfall design, and NPDES compliance and permitting issues. He also serves as an AAUS-certified scientific diver on the Jacobs dive team.

Carla Fisher

Environmental Resources Engineering, 1985

Carla Fisher, Environmental Resources Engineering, 1985, retired in 2014 after 29 years at the Environmental Protection Agency and became a part-time technical writer/editor for Akana, an environmental consulting firm in Bellevue, Washington.

Douglas Rischbieter

Fisheries BiologyBiology, 1985

Just comlpeted a career-crowning project: restoration of a degraded wetland site in the middle of the Mount San Jacinto State Wilderness.
Coordinating State Park, CCC, Army National Guard, and several vendors' resources, we overcame controversy and successfully implemented a project to repair a rare and fragile montane meadow. To do so required legislation to allow use of heavy equipment for a restoration project in State Wilderness, and we did so with an absolute minimum of public or environmental impact.